SIR ALISTER HARDY FOUNDATION FOR OCEAN SCIENCE

THE HARDY EXPEDITION

Safeguarding the Health of our Oceans Since 1931

Power of Plankton

Plankton are vital…

‒ Plankton are microscopic drifting plants (phytoplankton) and animals (zooplankton)

‒ Through the process of photosynthesis, phytoplankton fix carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere and convert it to sugars, proteins and lipids; the base of the oceanic food web

‒ Phytoplankton produce half the oxygen we breathe, they are the planet’s second lung

‒ Zooplankton eat phytoplankton, zooplankton are food for fish

‒ Fish are an important part of the human food supply, what they eat, we eat

‒ All marine sea-life, from seabirds to sea turtles to whales, are dependent on plankton (they fuel the production of marine ecosystems)

Plankton are key environmental change indicators…

‒ Plankton forewarn us of ecosystem health and environmental issues for the world’s oceans

‒ Plankton are excellent and rapid indicators of environmental change in our oceans from short-term pollution events such as oil spills to long-term changes

‒ By charting plankton diversity since 1931, in parallel with scientific endeavour, SAHFOS monitors the pulse of the ocean

‒ In launching The Hardy Expedition, we can act together to safeguard a critical resource, contribute to maintaining a healthy and sustainable ocean and encourage corporate social responsibility. By investing in SAHFOS, you are investing in the future of the oceans

Advancing Marine Science

SAHFOS has been described as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of UK marine science and is a unique

organisation in the world of marine science. Based in Plymouth, UK, our plankton research

helps to:

‒ Address pressing global issues such as pollution, climate change, biodiversity and over-

fishing

‒ Educate and alert the public, scientific community and increasingly industry and business

on the pollution and status of our seas

‒ Inform and support commercial decisions and operations for food suppliers, fisheries,

shipping and exploration

‒ Influence and shape fishing and environmental government policy at national, European

and international levels

‒ Combat human health challenges

Using the unique Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey, SAHFOS data archives are an

irreplaceable resource and source of information for ocean science research and

management.

Ensuring Our Global Reach and Extensive Impact

Extent:

Most geographically

extensive and longest

enduring marine

biological survey in

the world

Duration:

First CPR towed in the

North Sea in 1931

(over 8 decades of

analysis)

Miles towed (1931-

2014):

6,377,956 (10,000

nautical miles each

month)

Countries /Routes:

23 routes passing

between 20 different

countries

Regular tow routes:

‒ North Atlantic

‒ North Sea

‒ Arctic

‒ Pacific Ocean

‒ Southern Ocean

Occasional tow routes:

‒ Indian Ocean

‒ Gulf of Mexico

‒ Gulf of Guinea

‒ Baltic Sea

Longest Route:

Port Alberni, Canada

to Sendal, Japan

(3,870 nautical miles)

Data:

We count over 800

plankton taxa

Archive:

Contain 500,000+

samples

Researchers/ Marine

Managers:

100’s of scientists

around the world

using CPR data

More than 120,000 nautical miles of data

analysed annually – the equivalent of

circumnavigating the world 5 ½ times!

With our eminent scientists and experienced taxonomists, the benefits of SAHFOS’s research

are far-reaching:

Influencing Global Government Decisions

SAHFOS expert evidence helps to protect the marine environment. Government

departments, public agencies and non-profit organisations have based their work and key

decisions on data provided by SAHFOS in:

The European Union (EU) – the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Vulnerability Assessment of the North East Atlantic

Shelf Marine Ecoregion to Climate Change

The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) – Input into

fisheries modelling

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – Charting Progress 2

European Environment Agency (EEA) – Indicator development

United Nations (UN) – the World Ocean Assessment

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – USA East Coast Fisheries

The extent of SAHFOS’s guidance and scientific reputation is evident in our public policy work.

For example, our contribution to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)

has been fundamental to key decisions within the stock assessment aspect of the EU

Common Fisheries Policy.

SAHFOS At Work

The last 50 years has seen some plankton species shift up to 1000km Northward.

In the example given below, we can see the cold water species, Calanus finmarchicus (a food

favourite of Cod) has been replaced by the more warmer species, Calanus helgolandicus.

The warmer water Copepod is not as nutritionally rich as its cold water cousin and this has a

knock-on effect on cod populations in the North Sea.

This research

shows a ratio

between the cold

water species

(blue) and the

warm water

species (red) over

the last 50 years in

the North Sea, the

warm water

species is clearly

increasing. The

distribution of the

two species are

also shown in the

two maps (warm

water species top

map and cold

water species

bottom map).

Working With Business

Many industries have an interest in the ocean and through the study of plankton we can

assist them. SAHFOS research has facilitated key decisions across the corporate sector. Our

work has impacted the oil and gas industry (see below), shipping companies, supermarkets

and those involved in the leisure business. Additionally, from a corporate social responsibility

perspective, SAHFOS is engaging with financial services and technology interests.

For example, in the oil and gas industry, plankton distributions can impact significantly on

filtration systems. While plankton blooms are highly variable and difficult to predict, SAHFOS

has worked with North Sea oil producers to investigate plankton patterns. Our research has

aided the advancement of oil and gas exploration logistics and has the potential to provide

multi–million pound operational savings, as well as cost-effective environmental impact

assessments.

SAHFOS works with 22 shipping companies from around the world, who provide generous

support in our Ships of Opportunity program, where they volunteer to tow CPRs, a critical cog

in SAHFOS’s operations. There is a valuable education opportunity to teach ship’s operators

and crew about the importance of plankton. Indeed with Brittany Ferries we take this a step

further by providing information boards and articles in company magazines to educate

passengers.

Preserving Ocean Life and Our Food Supply

New research at SAHFOS is investigating the distribution of plastic debris in the oceans.

Some microplastics, are too small for the naked eye. A single plastic item degrades into

millions of microplastic pieces, making them ingestible to zooplankton, with the potential for

physical and toxicological harm.

It remains unclear whether the chemicals released from microplastics are transferred to

zooplankton and then further up the food chain to fish and seabirds in high enough

concentration to cause damage.

The image displays a copepod wrapped in plastic fibre, image taken during laboratory

analysis at SAHFOS.

SAHFOS data has revealed widespread abundance of microplastics in the North Atlantic

Ocean with an alarming increase in its prevalence over the last 10 years.

Zooplankton are at the bottom of our food chain – what they ingest, we ingest. Funds are

requires to investigate the impact of microplastics in the ocean.

Protecting Human Health

Cholera bacteria adhere to solid surfaces, especially to

plankton with chitinous exoskeletons, like copepods.

As sea temperatures rise, the potential for cholera (a warm

water bacteria) to become endemic increases.

SAHFOS can play a leading role in analysing and predicting

cholera outbreaks, along the African Indian coastline in

particular.

Copepod analysis helps to identify potential cholera

outbreaks in localised regions.

Targeted vaccination (rather than attempting global

vaccinations) can be introduced into affected areas.

This must be a priority

research area for SAHFOS.

With appropriate funding,

SAHFOS hopes to make a

breakthrough to help

determine the connection

between the movement of

copepods and cholera

bacteria.

Why Our Work Matters

SAHFOS is responsible for the longest running

geographically extensive marine biological survey in the

World. Our work today is even more relevant in our fast

changing natural world than when we started over eight

decades ago.

SAHFOS research acts as the ’sentinels of the sea’ –

about problems that we know are going to happen – and

perhaps more importantly, pre-emptive research, alerting

us to potential problems that we have not considered

might happen. These include invasions of species from

elsewhere that might have huge costs to us, through to

insight of global changes such as how the ocean is

acidifying due to our carbon emissions.

It is in our collective interest to sustain and expand

SAHFOS, since it monitors the pulse of the ocean.

Investing in EVERYONE’S Future…

SAHFOS research:

Enables us to study the

ocean and how it is

changing – repeated

monitoring gives us a

baseline against which we

can observe change in the

plankton and upper ocean

Forms a critical part of the

jigsaw of information

needed by governments on

which to make key

decisions about the

management of our seas

Helps us to understand

and manage risk and

thereby make significant

business decisions

Informs us about issues

that really matter to us –

like fish and human health

Embarking On The Hardy Expedition

As the marine world faces continued rapid changes,

SAHFOS seeks to expand upon the scope and impact of

our work – for the benefit of industry, fisheries, the public

and our ocean environment.

We want to gather more data; widen our research;

increase access to it and make our data more widely and

freely available to inform and influence a broad audience.

Our ambitious plans are driven by the legacy of one of the

UK’s finest ocean explorers.

With your involvement, we plan to continue our voyage of

scientific discovery and embark on The Hardy Expedition.

Sir Alister Hardy

As a scientist,

educationalist and

innovator, Sir Alister Hardy

made an enormous

contribution to marine

zoology

After serving as an officer

in the First World War, Sir

Alister Hardy joined the

great age of Antarctic

exploration as zoologist on

the RRS Discovery from

1925 to 1927

While on board the

Discovery he designed and

constructed a sampling

system called the

Continuous Plankton

Recorder (CPR) which he

first launched in 1926

The Hardy Expedition…To The Beating Heart of

the Oceans

In response to the growing need for a more holistic view of

the ocean’s health, our focus is two-fold: increasing the

geographical range and scope of our research and thereby

enhancing the reach and influence of SAHFOS’s work.

Research

‒ SAHFOS will expand our geographical coverage by ten

new routes. On these and current tows, we will apply

modern instrumentation. In so doing, SAHFOS will:

‒ Provide more comprehensive analysis, coupling

together biological, physical and chemical aspects

‒ Explain the changes in the oceans

‒ Enable more informed decision-making by policy-

makers and the corporate sector

‒ SAHFOS will establish Hardy Fellows, attracting and

retaining the best scientists. These brilliant minds will

explore new research areas and exploit the wealth of

knowledge contained in our data holdings.

Developing New Tow

Routes

SAHFOS’s goal is to phase in

three routes per year, for

example:

Arctic: These will provide

more comprehensive

examination of climate

change

Tropical Indian/Atlantic

Ocean: Research in these

waters will enable greater

analysis of fishery changes,

for example tuna

African coast: Further

analysis in this region will

expand research in the

fight against cholera

Our Goals

Impact

Building on SAHFOS’s scientific integrity and strong

reputation, we will broaden education on oceanic issues

and increase awareness of them.

More in-depth research will enable SAHFOS to:

‒ Communicate ocean changes and their impact to

industry, policy makers and the public

‒ Influence business behaviour by substantiating the

mutual benefits of marine conservation and

sustainable industry activity

‒ Inform national and international marine policy by

providing research which is both world class and of

global coverage

Establishing “Oceans Mean

Business”

Under the leadership of

SAHFOS, Oceans Mean Business

actions will:

Provide knowledge

exchange ‘from primary

school to Prime Minister’

Produce accessible,

attractive and current fact

sheets about the health of

our oceans

Prompt debate on key

marine challenges

Educate staff, suppliers,

partners and

Establish business link

through our trading

subsidiary, Ocean

Monitoring (CPR)

Investing in The Hardy Expedition

SAHFOS is a non-profit organisation with an annual turnover of some £2 million. In

recognition of our value to the international community, we are fortunate to receive a large

proportion of our funding from international Government agencies, including from the UK,

Norway and Canada.

To ensure success for The Hardy Expedition, we need to secure an additional £5 million over

the next five years. This will allow us to develop new tow routes and associated priority

research in the Arctic (for climate change studies), tropical ocean (ocean fisheries such as

tuna) and coastal Africa (prevalence of cholera).

A wide range of investments will be sought from corporations, individuals, trusts and

foundations. These Discovery Partners will be at the forefront of scientific research funding

named Discovery Routes and Hardy Fellows. In so doing, they will help to:

‒ Establish new scientific tow routes in some of the world’s under-sampled areas

‒ Facilitate in-depth research

‒ Provide instrumentation on the route to allow more comprehensive research

Joining SAHFOS as a Discovery Partner

As SAHFOS continues to grow, we have ambitious yet

achievable plans for our future. It is our goal to build

relationships with like-minded businesses and groups to

achieve common objectives. A special partnership with

SAHFOS will enable you to:

‒ Make a tangible, measurable and global difference to

our world’s oceans

‒ Improve relationships with customers, aligning with

their interests

‒ Enhance your reputation for corporate social

responsibility and the importance of green issues

among your staff, stakeholders and customers,

impacting on operations and profitability

‒ Help sustain product supply and respond positively to

customer demand

‒ Be associated with a reputable, strong, British

scientific organisation

It is only with your help

that we can protect and

sustain the health of our

oceans and thereby all of

our futures.

Thank you.

Leading The Hardy Expedition

Given the urgency of ensuring the well-being of our seas, a

special Task Force has been recruited to drive The Hardy

Expedition.

Members include esteemed individuals from science,

academia and industry reflecting SAHFOS’s global reach

and the acknowledged importance and impact of our work.

Current members include:

Dr. William Wilson, Director,

SAHFOS

Professor Geoff Boxshall FRS,

Merit Researcher, Natural

History Museum, London

Richard Coombs, Chairman,

South West Investment Group

Karen Morgan OBE, former

Chairman UWE; former Board

member Environment Agency &

former Council member NERC

Dr. Dan Laffoley, Ocean

Conservationist and Marine

Biologist

Professor Howard Roe, Director

Emeritus, National

Oceanography Centre

Dr. Graham Shimmield FRSE,

Executive Director, Bigelow

Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Professor Bess Ward, Chair of

Geosciences Department,

Princeton University

We invite you to:

Serve as an advocate for SAHFOS, sharing what you

learned today with your network

Take a meeting with Dr Willie Wilson, to discuss potential

involvement in The Hardy Expedition

Introduce SAHFOS to others

For further information please contact:

SAHFOS

The Laboratory, Citadel Hill

Plymouth, Devon

UK, PL1 2PB

Tel: 01752 633288

E-mail: nicric@sahfos.ac.uk

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