In August 2023, the historic Dutch tall ship Oosterschelde set sail from Plymouth on an extraordinary two-year global voyage called Darwin200. Having just completed its 43,000 nautical mile voyage, we thought it was a good time to look back at the last two years and the wonderful opportunities this project has brought us!
Almost two centuries after Charles Darwin set sail from Plymouth to explore and document the natural world, the historic tall ship Oosterschelde was ready to set sail and re-trace Charles Darwin’s famous journey. The Darwin200 crew took the same route as the famous naturalist, with the aim to inspire young people around the globe to take an interest in protecting the natural world, and become the conservationists of tomorrow.
Before the Oosterschelde departed, we were able to host two workshops on board for our Ocean Squad alumni, to teach them all about the theory of evolution, as well as give two tours of the ship to our passionate community groups. We then hosted a gala dinner at our Centre of Ocean Excellence, the National Marine Aquarium, to celebrate the launch of the expedition.
As part of this incredible expedition, ‘Darwin Leaders’, aged 18-25, joined the ship at various points, to carry out important work with conservation charities and NGOs, at locations which Darwin visited on his epic voyage. We were delighted to have two of our very own OCT staff to be selected as Darwin Leaders. Two of the Support Biologists from our Husbandry Team headed out to Fernando de Noronha, Brazil to study the Brazilian Reef Octopus and coral reefs in the area, with the aim to improve the protection of this species and habitat.
With the excitement that the Oosterschelde being in Plymouth brought, we decided to theme our annual STEMFest event in 2023 around Charles Darwin, his epic voyage and his theory of evolution! Stu, our Schools Programme Manager, had flown out to meet the boat during their stop at the island of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil in October 2023. He delivered free, curriculum linked live digital engagement opportunities for schools whilst aboard, which were live streamed straight into the National Marine Aquarium, for the 1,000 children who took part in STEMFest. Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution was such a popular theme in 2023 that we even brought it back for STEMFest 2024.
Throughout the two years, we also contributed to many of the Worlds Most Exciting Classroom sessions. These one hour episodes were streamed weekly throughout the voyage, intended to inspire curiosity and passion for learning! They included quizzes, updates from the ship, competitions and curiosities of the week. Special guests hosted segments, and we delivered several of these covering many interesting marine topics such octopuses, sharks, Ocean acidification, scuba diving, seagrass, eggcases, target feeding, jellyfish, rockpooling and much more!
In July 2025, we were excited to host two Darwin Leaders ourselves, at our Centre of Ocean Excellence. Cassia, a MSc Marine Biology student and Rithu, an MSc Aquatic Biology student, joined us for four days to learn all about our marine conservation efforts. They spent time in our seagrass lab to gain an understanding of our habitat restoration efforts of the past, present and future. They even got to see some of our local seagrass meadows on a snorkelling trip, where they learnt more about how we monitor our restoration efforts and how our HMS OCToPUS device has revolutionised the planting process. They explored the Aquarium with our schools team to see how we engage the wider public with the Ocean, and they even got to dive into our snorkel pen to see some of the Aquarium’s inhabitants up close!
Finally, the majestic tall ship sailed down the River Thames, and we headed up to London to mark the end of the incredible two year voyage! HRH the Duke of Edinburgh visited the ship to kick off a week-long celebration of the voyage and the incredible role Darwin200 has had in promoting conservation and youth leadership around the world!
As we look back on the two years of the project and some of the key achievements, we are delighted to have been a part of it. Since the Oosterschelde departed in August 2023, the 43,000 nautical mile journey retraced the route of HMS Beagle, stopping at 31 ports. Over 100 Darwin Leaders from 45 countries joined in at the ports to take part in immersive conservation leadership training programmes, and with the support from expert local partners, these Darwin Leaders contributed to the safeguarding of over 105 species of plants and animals. A truly incredible two years!