#15
Yachts for Science: Partners in polar science research
Since 2024, Secret Atlas has been proud to partner with Yachts For Science, combining our passion for sustainable exploration with their mission to connect polar science research teams and expedition yacht operators.
Together, we are opening new frontiers – where travel, science, and conservation meet in the most remote corners of our planet.
Who are Yachts for Science?
Yachts for Science is a non-profit initiative that helps further marine research and ocean conservation. The project connects scientists in need of access to the ocean with private yacht owners and operators willing to support meaningful missions.
The platform enables researchers to conduct vital studies in remote marine environments by matching them with available yachts travelling through these areas. In doing so, Yachts for Science transforms private vessels into platforms for exploration and discovery, and traditional expedition cruises into polar science expeditions – facilitating groundbreaking work on topics such as coral health, marine biodiversity, ocean mapping, and climate change.
The future of travel is meaningful: Yachts for Science and Secret Atlas
Our oceans are under unprecedented pressure. With less than 20% of the ocean floor mapped, countless species still undiscovered, and marine studies crucial to climate change research, there has never been a more critical time to encourage oceanic research and explore responsibly.
By supporting this initiative, Secret Atlas and our guests play a direct role in protecting the ocean, while scientists gain invaluable access to regions they might not otherwise reach. Together, we can help unlock a better understanding of the marine world and promote a more sustainable future for our seas.
Enriching our guest experience with polar science expeditions
Secret Atlas has partnered with Yachts for Science since 2024, providing a space for polar science researchers aboard specific Arctic expeditions.
These expeditions are greatly enriched by having scientists on board, with guests witnessing cutting-edge ocean research being conducted, interacting with scientists, and feeling part of a movement to reorientate cruising and polar tourism.
Our polar science expeditions with Yachts for Science researchers aboard don’t change course and remain true to the Expedition Micro Cruise concept for our guests. The scientific research element doesn’t impinge on the guest experience – it is an enriching addition on top.
Secret Atlas x Yachts for Science polar science expeditions
We’re actively integrating Yachts for Science missions into our expedition schedule, with Dr Paige Maroni returning
Every expedition is designed with a low environmental footprint, small groups, and the chance to engage with real-time research that shapes our understanding of the planet.
Join us and guest scientist Dr Paige Maroni on journeys to Svalbard and Greenland.
Northeast Greenland National Park Micro Cruise
76°50'N, 29°99'W
The ultimate Greenland experience – a unique two-week adventure into Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest national park, and Scoresbysund, the longest fjord system on Earth.
- 12 guests
- 12 days
Svalbard Summer Micro Cruise
78°22’N, 15°65’E
Set sail in summer, when Svalbard blooms with life, the best time to spot wildlife in Europe’s last great wilderness.
- 12 guests
- 10 days
Inside a Secret Atlas polar science expedition with Dr Paige Maroni
A postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Dr Paige Maroni is a marine biologist studying seafloor biodiversity in understudied environments.
In 2024, as part of the Yachts for Science programme, Dr Maroni joined two of our 12-guest Svalbard Expedition Micro Cruises aboard MV Freya. Across 20 days, Paige and her colleague Tim MacDonald conducted 22 dives with a remote-controlled ROV underwater vehicle, studying the most biodiverse waters across the archipelago.
They found the ocean floor surrounding Svalbard to be teeming with life – from scallops and urchins to red coral, anemones, tube worms, brittle stars, and kelp. By identifying the most abundant and fragile areas, conservationists know where to focus their efforts.
As our expedition team led guests across the archipelago on an uninterrupted itinerary, Paige and Tim conducted their important work – and they were able to keep guests updated with their progress at the end of each day.
Of course, with so many polar enthusiasts on board, it wasn’t long before our guests were joining Paige and Tim as they conducted their ROV dives, watching the screen light up with the unexpected life and colour hiding deep below the surface of Svalbard’s icy waters.
Paige and Tim secured the baseline data they needed, and our guests returned home with a deeper appreciation of Svalbard’s marine ecosystem and a more fiercely held commitment to protecting it.
Read more about their scientific research project here:
Join an expedition that makes a difference.
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