Podcast Maré Sonora ® video
Sailing and science: Luciano Candisani and Paulo Horta
January 24, 2026 · 47 min · 203 views
What this video covers
Luciano Candisani, underwater photographer and sailor, describes using his sailboat Oceanos as a scientific platform for environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling and documentary photography along the Brazilian coast.2:33 His earlier solo voyage aboard a smaller boat, Rivaoa, produced the book Atlântico Paulista, a photographic survey of marine biodiversity from Cananéia to Rio de Janeiro.6:48 The current Oceanos project maps biodiversity in Baía da Guanabara using eDNA water sampling: crew collect one-liter water samples, freeze them aboard, then process filters onshore to avoid working with fragile lab equipment in 2–3 meter swells.16:34 The method generates rapid species inventories — tens of thousands of species — and will track the bay's ongoing water-quality recovery, evidenced by the return of fish schools near Botafogo.12:59
The second segment features Paulo Horta, marine ecologist and professor at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, who leads the research sailboat Eco, the only oceanographic expedition vessel at UFSC.23:45 Eco serves dual roles: hosting graduate researchers studying pollution and climate-change impacts on marine biodiversity, and bringing schoolchildren and teachers aboard for ocean-literacy programs tied to Brazil's new legislation mandating ocean culture education.28:58 A FAPESP-funded project, nearing contract, will send Eco to Chilean Patagonia to survey kelp forest health and study seaweed as a carbon-sequestration tool highlighted at COP30.38:07 The vessel will not reach Antarctica in its current configuration; Porto Williams, at the southern tip of Chile, is the planned southern limit.40:35
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