SEACHANGE researchers embark on fieldwork campaign in Brazil
During the first two weeks of April 2025, SEACHANGE researchers from the Universities of Exeter, York, Mainz, Copenhagen and Barcelona embarked on a fieldwork sampling campaign in the Babitonga Bay area of Southern Brazil.  The purpose of this fieldwork was to collect sediment cores in order to investigate the sedimentary records of the Acaraí Lagoon, to recover environmental information that can be directly compared to pre-colonial and historical human activities in the region.
The first few days of the trip were spent examining potential coring locations around the Acaraí State Park. During the planning stages of the fieldwork, Professor Celso Voos Vieria and Dr Thiago Fossile (from the collaborating institute of Univille, University of the Region of Joinville) had identified several proposed sites which needed to be evaluated for accessibility and sediment type. This also gave the researchers a chance to get an overview of the environmental context being studied as well as gaining knowledge of the pre-history of the Babitonga Bay area.
Examining coring locations in the Acarai State Park
During this time, the group met up with researchers from Museo Arqueologico de Sambaqui de Joinville who took the group to visit a variety of sambaquis (giant shell middens) in the Acaraí State Park and around the city of Joinville. They also gave the group a guided tour of their museum. The insight provided by these experts was key to helping the SEACHANGE scientists to understand the cultural transitions and human impact to the Santa Catarina region and how this has altered over the last few millennia. Visiting the sambaquis also gave the SEACHANGE shell experts a chance to examine the species of bivalves which make up the middens, in order to identify whether there are any opportunities for analysis through sclerochronology.
Exploring Babitonga Bay and visiting some huge sambaquis (30+ metres high).
During the evening the research group visited Univille’s campus in Joinville and were welcomed by the university’s leadership and explored the resources available for scientific collaboration. The group visited the Instrumental Analysis Laboratory and the Molecular Biology Laboratory, getting to know the facilities that support marine and environmental research at Univille. After the tour, Professors James Scourse, Oliver Craig and Bernd Schöne delivered a presentation about the SEACHANGE project to undergraduate and graduate students.
Visiting Univille (University of the Region of Joinville)
Over the subsequent days the team revisited the sample sites to collect a series of cores. Cores were collected from the centre of the Acaraí Lagoon using a raft system built by Prof Vieria and team. These cores were then extruded on land, sampling sections every 1cm for paleoecological analysis and every 5cm for eDNA analysis.
Coring the Acaraí Lagoon.
Terrestrial cores were also collected along a transect through the Atlantic rainforest towards the ocean. The sediments collected here are from the historical lagoonal system and will provide a record of how the marginal lagoon environment has evolved as relative sea level has changed. A boardwalk provided the team with access deep into the jungle, without which access would have proved very difficult. Doing their best to avoid hungry mosquitos, the team used land coring techniques to collect a series core samples of varying depth.
Terrestrial coring from the boardwalk in the Atlantic rainforest.
The fieldwork campaign proved very successful and on the final day of work, Prof Vieira and team hosted a get-together at Univille’s São Francisco do Sul campus, where the group had a BBQ whilst listening to live music. The following morning (with a few sore heads) the research group met after breakfast to discuss repatriation of equipment and core samples to the UK and the proposed analysis to be undertaken.
After the fieldwork has been completed, a few members of the group took advantage of being on the other side of the world and embarked on an excursion to see the truly spectacular Iguaçu Falls which are on the border with Argentina. A great way of ending a productive trip before flying back to the UK.
Visiting the spectacular Iguaçu Falls
