This new cruise-ship activity is surprisingly popular

6 hours ago 2

Scientists are always short of research funds, but the boom in the popularity of expedition cruising has given them an unexpected opportunity to access remote places.

Instead of making single, expensive visits to Antarctica, for example, scientists hitch rides on cruise ships that make repeat visits and provide the opportunity for data collection over an entire season.

Science on the Barrier Reef with Coral Expeditions.

Meanwhile, cruise passengers’ willingness to get involved in a “citizen science” capacity is proving invaluable for crowdsourcing data on everything from whale migration and microplastics to seabird populations. And it isn’t only the scientists who benefit. Guests get a better insight into the environments in which they sail, and feel that they’re doing their bit to understand and preserve the wildlife and landscapes around them.

Citizen-science projects produce tangible results, among them that ships in Antarctica now sail under 10 knots after a study showed that, at that speed, whales have a far greater chance of avoiding or surviving ship strikes. In 2023 Viking Cruises encountered rare giant phantom jellyfish in Antarctica, and in 2024 discovered a new chinstrap penguin colony near Antarctica’s Astrolabe Island.

Viking’s expedition ships have a Science Lab and the company works with prestigious partners such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Norwegian Polar Institute. Expedition lines with visiting scientist programs include Chimu Adventures, Lindblad Expeditions and Quark Expeditions, which works with Penguin Watch to study the impact of avian flu.

Seabourn encourages guests to gather and share data on seabirds, micro-plastics and cloud formation. Its newest collaboration this year is with EyeSea on marine pollution.

Citizen-science involvement is now so common on cruise ships that you can pick your area of interest. HX (formerly Hurtigruten) works on the Whales & Arctic Vessels Project (WAVE), but with two citizen-science projects on every voyage that might study anything from phytoplankton to the aurora borealis, you never know what might catch your attention.

Select HX guests participate in citizen science research.

HX’s science program donated more than 1100 cabins and supported over 20 projects to facilitate scientific research in 2024. Luxury expedition company Ponant also gives scientists serious support. Its icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot has dry and wet laboratories, and a new Sea Ice Monitoring Station antenna constantly measures ice thickness in polar regions. Scientists share research in on-board talks, and guests participate in air, water and ice sample collection.

Meanwhile, Australian company Aurora Expeditions will run two cruises in the 2026-27 Antarctic season in partnership with New Scientist Discovery Tours during which guests will learn about glaciology and marine biology.

If your dislike of the cold outweighs your interest in science, then Coral Expeditions co-operates with The Australian Geographic Society and Great Barrier Reef Legacy on citizen-science opportunities. A Coral Futures cruise in December 2025 will get you involved in coral monitoring, while on a Citizen Science on the Great Barrier Reef cruise in March 2026 you can do field work on turtles and manta rays.

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