Superyacht Science: Yacht Owners Aid Scientists in Ocean Conservation and Research

A growing group of private yacht owners are doing more than just talking about ocean conservation—they’re directly helping scientists conduct essential research.

This article was written by Rachel Ingram.

The yachting industry has been driving ocean conservation efforts long before Greta Thunberg became the face of modern environmentalism. High-profile owners such as the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen have often lent their yachts to scientists for research, while others have established foundations to protect the world’s oceans.

Statistics reveal that private yachts have been behind the discovery of 30+ species of marine wildlife previously unknown to science, and many are currently involved in projects ranging from ocean floor mapping to marine migration charting.

A superyacht, and in particular an explorer yacht, is the ideal platform for high-impact conservation–one reason being its capability to visit remote, hard-to-reach destinations which often feature marine wildlife and ecosystems that are of scientific interest. Yet despite their potential, most yachts are underutilized. The Water Revolution Foundation revealed that, on average, superyachts only cruise for 10 percent of the time, with the remainder spent at dock or anchor. This is something that Yachts for Science is working to change.

Yachts for Science (yachtsforscience.com) is a “matchmaking” platform that aims to utilize the thousands of yachts traveling the globe as platforms for research by pairing owners and crew with marine scientists and researchers.

“The more time people spend at sea and witness its majestic wonder and understand the essential function of the ocean to support life on Earth, the more people are compelled to act to support ocean science and conservation,” says project lead Rosie O’Donnell.

“Bringing a group of scientists on board and guiding yacht owners and guests into discovering remote areas of the globe and seabed is providing experiences beyond traditional yacht ownership.”

The program’s first match was scientist Erika Gress and businessman Mark Robba, owner of the 51-meter Indonesian phinisi Dunia Baru, who embarked on a research trip to Indonesia. During the expedition, Gress and his team gained valuable insights into the abundance and diversity of black corals and their role as fundamental habitat providers in Raja Ampat’s reefs. They have since built a learning center where marine conservation and sustainability skills are taught to children in West Papua.

“As a boat owner, I have never felt so fulfilled,” says Robba. “I’m always looking for a new challenge, but this was in a different league.”

Another successful pairing was Jill Zwaans, founder of yacht charter company Yacht Story, and Simon Hilbourne from the Manta Trust. Together they set about studying manta rays in the Indian Ocean. “I’m studying a population of endangered oceanic mantas which pass through the south of the Maldives every year for a couple of weeks in March or April,” says Hilbourne. “Up to 200 pass through during this finite window every year and we try to collect as much data as we can and then they are gone for another year. The research is vital to survival of the oceanic manta ray.”

O’Donnell reveals a “large increase” in sign-ups to Yachts for Science in recent years. “More and more yacht owners are seeing the urgent need to support ocean science and conservation and wanting and willing to do their bit to help,” she says. “If you have the passion and want to have a positive impact, then it’s simple.”

Individuals needn’t own a yacht to participate. Irene Reynold Schier and Enrico, for instance, chartered a private vessel to support scientist Franco Ferretti’s Great White Shark Chase—a series of expeditions that detect, film, and tag high-endangered Mediterranean white sharks.

But O’Donnell shares the caveat that not all research trips may not be suitable for all owners or guests. “Not all science is a spectator sport and can require dedicated vessel time and support from the crew to maximize their productivity and outcomes,” she says. “That said, there are always ways that it can work wonderfully when owners or charterers are aboard and that requires careful planning and managing expectations on both sides.”

Like many charitable initiatives, such work is seldom publicized, but that doesn’t mean it’s anything new. “The superyacht sector has gotten involved in conservation projects for as long as superyachts have been built,” says Charlotte Thomas at the Superyacht Life Foundation. “Yachting is a leisure activity–not a commercial one–and so owners, guests, charterers, and crews all have more of an affinity with the ocean environment, and, of course, also more of a vested interest in preserving it.”

And it seems that a move toward conservation and science is not just a generational thing–it is true of younger and older yacht owners and yachties alike. “There has always been a contingent of owners and yachts who have had a more proactive approach to conservation, but this has really accelerated in the past few years,” Thomas says. “This is being driven by a number of things–the growing awareness of the fragility of our planet, a growing desire to nurture and preserve our oceans as a place to be enjoyed, not destroyed, and the growing number of next-gen owners and crew for whom a focus on conservation and environment is far more inured.”

And there’s an additional benefit of change being pushed from within yachting, an industry made up of some of the wealthiest, most powerful individuals in the world. “This interest raises core awareness in a group of people who not only have the financial means to make a real difference, but who also have a high degree of influence with those who make policy and with other factions whose opinion or actions can make a significant difference in ocean conservation and research,” Thomas says.

Some of these people include the Bertarelli family, experienced superyacht owners who established the Fondation Bertarelli, which has worked with governments, NGOs, and local communities to support the protection of two million square meters of ocean. Ray Dalio, owner of Alucia and Alucia 2, founded the OceanX organization, which combines next-gen technology, science, and storytelling to educate, inspire, and connect the world with the ocean. HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan, owner of Golden Odyssey, set up the Living Oceans Foundation, a non-profit research organization established to help preserve, protect, and restore the world’s oceans.

Taking another approach, venture capitalist Tom Perkins and American billionaire Ray Dalio are just a couple of individuals on a growing list of owners who have built yachts and submersibles purposefully geared toward ocean exploration. A tally compiled by the Explorer Yacht Forum revealed that entering 2023, there are 88 ongoing explorer yacht projects, while the global explorer yacht fleet comprises of 740 vessels, nearly all of which have research capabilities.

Many new boats come with a suite of toys that offer an opportunity to dive deep into the ocean. And as technology improves, so does a yacht’s capability. “By pushing the boundaries of technology and by installing scientific and editing suites, owners such as these poured millions of their own money into improving how we can monitor and interact with the ocean environment,” Thomas says. “There are several superyachts that track data points from the ocean and atmospheric conditions 365 days a year from wherever they are, and this data is making a real difference to climate models and to other oceanographic studies, including, increasingly, migratory patterns of ocean mammals and other elements of ocean monitoring.”

Archimedes, a 68-meter Feadship superyacht, for instance, is engaged in ongoing data collection that’s helping to chart the ocean floor and redefine climate models.

“As of last year, only a fifth of the world’s ocean floor had been mapped–yachts are helping to make that 100 percent by 2030,” Thomas says.

In a time when the world of yachting is being judged on the actions of a few, it’s important to highlight such ambitions and successes, and encourage others with the means to get involved. After all, without a healthy ocean, we have no industry.

Other organizations making an impact on the world’s oceans:

BLUE MARINE FOUNDATION

The organization undertakes numerous
“citizen science” projects in its 2030 mission to see at least 30 percent of the world’s ocean under effective protection, and the other 70 percect managed in a responsible way.
BLUEMARINEFOUNDATION.COM

WATER REVOLUTION FOUNDATION

The foundation’s IMMA project identifies the areas of the ocean that are important to marine mammals and highlights them for conservation and protection.
WATERREVOLUTIONFOUNDATION.ORG

INTERNATIONAL SEAKEEPERS SOCIETY

The society’s Discover Yacht Program collaborates with numerous organizations, academic institutions, and government agencies to set up and complete scientist-led expeditions.
SEAKEEPERS.ORG

YACHTAID GLOBAL

The organization’s Operation Swimway program invests in equipment for ocean conservation and enables owners to partner with distinguished scientists working in the preservation of critical marine migration corridors.
YACHTAIDGLOBAL.ORG

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