RESEARCH

UNDER SAIL.

We aim to provide a platform that produces; less noise, less emissions, more data, more time at sea, aiding researchers in carrying out their pivotal work in an effort to better understand and protect our coastal waters and oceans.

The Mission

The goal is to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. The vessel will be an alternative platform for the marine sciences, and will help to enrich ‘data poor’ areas to advocate policy change; improving stewardship and providing a deeper understanding of our coasts and oceans, and doing so under sail.
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The Need

With the start of the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, we are looking to play our part. And the best way we believe we can achieve this is to help the researchers working towards a better future.

We may just be a small fish in a big ocean (!) but we are facing issues from the prevalence of fish farms using fish-feed sourced from poorly monitored, dwindling global stocks to increasing frequency of extreme weather events and ocean acidification, and the accumulation of plastics on our coasts. There is an irrefutable need for better stewardship of our coastal waters and oceans. Policy change can only truly occur when there is sufficient evidence to support it.

90%

of global marine fish stocks fully exploited or overfished

Of the fish that end up on our plates, it is estimated that 1 in 5 were caught illegally. Biologically sustainable fish stocks have reached a new level of decline with wild capture fisheries struggling without sound regulatory frameworks and strong enforcement. Our oceans can no longer be viewed as a vast and infinitely exploitable resource. With 3 billion people, the majority in developing countries, relying on the oceans for their livelihood, this is a tragedy of the commons that needs to be better addressed.

1 in 4

tons of co2 from fossil fuels absorbed by the oceans

The ocean is a major sink for anthropogenic emissions. The resultant pH shift is causing a threat to marine biodiversity. 20% of coral reefs have been destroyed globally in the last several decades, with another 20% having been degraded. Nitrogen fertiliser run-off is additionally creating algal blooms that consume most of the oxygen in the water. This has adverse effects on marine life, leading to an estimated 405 ‘dead zones.’

8 MM

(MILLION) tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year

The amount of plastic flowing into our oceans annually is the equivalent of 16 shopping bags of plastic waste sitting on every meter of coastline around the world. Under UV light from the sun, plastic is degrading into “microplastics” that are almost impossible to recover and that are disrupting food chains and degrading natural habitats.

Our Work

CORUS works in 3 core areas: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, and ADVOCACY. We want to remain flexible to allow those who use our platform the ability to customise their programme therefore we do not pre-prescribe our passages. We will however share existing expeditions when there is still availability if you would be interested in joining the team.

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