📋 Tender Overview
By: Ivonne Montes, scientific researcher at the IGPThe ocean is our great silent ally in the face of climate change. It has absorbed more than 90% of the planets excess heat and more than 20% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity. Thanks to its complex physical and biogeochemical capabilities, the ocean acts as a gigantic buffer to the global climate.
However, this generosity comes at a cost. Warming, oxygen loss, water acidification, and disruptions to marine ecosystems are clear signs that the ocean is paying the price. These changes are felt both in the open sea and in coastal areas and also affect the Peruvian sea, one of the richest and most productive on the planet, where El Nino-type events remind us from time to time of the close relationship between the ocean and the climate. Therefore, understanding what is happening beneath the surface is no longer just a scientific task, but a national need.
With this perspective, the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) implements phase 2 of the SEPICAF project, an international and regional scientific initiative led by France, together with Peru and Chile, within the framework of the IGP-IRD (Research Institute for Development) and IGP-TASA (Food Technology S.A.) agreements. This stage seeks to strengthen ocean monitoring and better understand its role in the climate through the launch of 15 Argo-type floats.
These autonomous instruments - donated by the IRD - dive up to 2,000 meters to record temperature, salinity and, depending on the model, other key parameters such as oxygen, transmitting the data to the satellite in near real time. Each float is, in essence, an eye under the ocean that sends valuable information about its status and evolution. Currently, four of the fifteen floats have already been launched and seven more will be deployed soon.
What is notable about the project is its exemplary synergy. SEPICAF, in Peru, unites the scientific experience of the IGP with the logistical support of the national fishing industry, which makes its fleets available for deployment on the high seas. This collaboration demonstrates that science and the productive sector can row in the same direction when the objective is common: caring for the ocean.
On the part of the IGP, not only specialized researchers participate, but also technical and administrative teams that ensure the logistics, monitoring and operation of the project. It is a synergy that combines knowledge, management and commitment to the country.
In a world that seeks solutions to climate change, Peru is committed to knowing and protecting one of its greatest treasures: the sea. There, under the waves, are the keys to understanding and preserving the future of the planet. Science to protect us, science to advance.
Opinion column published in the newspaper El Peruano
