The Return of Tara

In late October, the research schooner returned to Lorient, France, aft er spending two and a half years collecting and studying samples from coral reefs in the Pacific, home to 40 went through the Panama Canal to Japan, New Zealand then to China, collecting over 36,000 samples from 32 reefs along the way. Comprised of coral reef biologists, geneticists, oceanographers, reef fish and plankton specialists, bioin-formaticians and doctors, the team hopes to eventually pinpoint optimal conditions for reef health and understand the adaptive abilities of the organisms in these ecosystems. This information will, in turn, be used to bolster future rehabilitation and conservation efforts.