This week, the team behind Free Range Ocean will depart Aotearoa New Zealand bound for Tonga on the first leg of the Bluewater Pathways 2026 expedition series aboard sailing vessel FREERANGER.

The 1,100 nautical mile voyage will support research into endangered oceanic manta rays in collaboration with Manta Watch Aotearoa New Zealand, while also collecting environmental DNA (eDNA) samples for Citizens of the Sea and contributing to additional ocean citizen science projects along the way.

For us, this story is particularly special.

Free Range Ocean was co-founded by Another World Adventures founder Larissa Clark and her husband Duncan Copeland, and the organisation exists to help more people participate in ocean science and conservation through travel, adventure and exploration.

It’s also why every booking made through Another World Adventures helps support Free Range Ocean’s work. A donation from each trip booked through AWA contributes to projects that connect travellers, sailors, researchers and coastal communities with practical opportunities to better understand and protect our ocean.

The Tonga expedition is a great example of that mission in action. By turning a sailing passage into a platform for research, storytelling and citizen science, the team hopes to demonstrate how people moving through the ocean can contribute useful knowledge to science and conservation.

We’ll be following the voyage closely over the coming weeks and sharing updates from aboard FREERANGER as the team heads north across the South Pacific.

Learn more about the expedition on the Free Range Ocean website linked here.

Follow Free Range Ocean’s new insta account: https://www.instagram.com/freerangeocean 

Follow the Free Range Crew for behind the scenes life on board: https://www.instagram.com/thefreerangecrew