On Wednesday 9 September 2026, moored to an ice floe, the Tara Polaris I expedition started its several-month drift deliberately trapped in ice. The scientific expedition is the first of ten expeditions aboard the Tara Polar Station aiming to study the Central Arctic Ocean, a sentinel of global climate changes.
Aboard the Tara Polar Station, a true scientific hub, an international team of scientists, including Swiss-based researchers, will progressively initiate research and its extensive sampling protocols once the ice around the station has fully stabilised under the Arctic winter cold. The results of this and the following expeditions aim to refine climate model predictions and improve governance policies for the Arctic and the global Ocean. At SPI, we are proud that our colleague and biology engineer Nina Schuback is on board for this overwintering adventure in the Arctic. You can hear Nina share her vision of the journey here:
Since 2018, the Swiss Polar Institute has been one of the scientific partners of the Tara Polar Station project contributing to the definition of the scientific programme on board. Signed in 2024, the MoU between SPI and Tara Ocean Foundation has enabled collaborative synergies between the two organisations and their respective scientific communities. The SPI Flagship Initiative ARKTIS – Arctic Research and Knowledge Transfer Initiative Switzerland (ETH Zurich, EPFL, Eawag, Empa) is a fine example of such collaborative efforts to explore the changes in the Central Arctic Ocean and improve our understanding of their impacts on both sides of the Arctic circle. Through two consecutive transpolar drifts aboard the Tara Polar Station (Tara Polaris I 2026-27; Tara Polaris II 2028-29), the ARKTIS Initiative aims to generate an unprecedented multi-year dataset, establishing a critical baseline for understanding interactions at the ocean-ice-atmosphere interface. We wish them a safe drift and a fruitful expedition!
More information:
- Tara Ocean Foundation – Press release with link to media kit (10.09.2026)
- SPI Flagship Initiative ARKTIS website
Header photograph: Tara Polar Station begins its drift after following in the wake of the Xue Long 2, a Chinese oceanographic icebreaker, that enabled it to reach its target of 82°24’N 155°03’E ©Sébastien Devrient – Tara Ocean Foundation