Charles Darwin sailed round the world in his ship Beagle in the nineteenth century. During the voyage, he came up with his theory of evolution 'On the Origin of Species'. In this Darwin Year, dozens of scientists and artists are re-visiting the places where Darwin carried out his research. Now, everyone can take part thanks to a multimedia project of the Dutch public broadcaster VPRO and the Flemish public broadcaster VRT.

"After having been twice driven back by heavy south-western gales ,Her  Majesty's ship Beagle, a ten gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, RN, sailed from Devonport on the 27th of December, 1831."

So begins the travel account of Charles Darwin on board the Beagle. His journey was to last five years. On the way he collected plants and animals, made drawings and noted accurately everything he experienced, from indigenous ways of life to the smells of the places he visited. He described his experiences in two books: The Voyage of the Beagle and – about twenty years later – his earth-shattering masterwork On the Origin of Species, in which he set out his theory of evolution.

Listen to Willemien Groot's report for Newsline:

Clipper 'Stad Amsterdam'
On 1 September 2009, the clipper Stad Amsterdam leaves from Plymouth for an eight month journey on the trail of Darwin. This time, it’s not the origin of species that is central, but their future, explains editor-in-chief Lex Runderkamp:

"First of all we will use Charles Darwin's voyage as a mirror. And we want to try to use scientific investigations on board our ship and on land, where Darwin also travelled, to find out in what state the earth is at this moment. We hear so many stories about the threat to our future, that mankind will be annihilated. I think it's important because it is such a vital question for the future of human beings that we should investigate what's going on with the rainforests, what's going on with El Nino in the oceans. Just to find out if the fear that we are having now is it fact or is it propaganda."

Nightmare
During the coming eight months, the clipper Stad Amsterdam will sail all over the world, from Brazil to Patagonia, the Galapagos Islands, the Pacific and Australia. Scientists have their own laboratory on board. There’s also a radio & TV studio, and a permanent stream of messages via the Beagle website, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. Everyone can become actively involved in the project. A logistical nightmare, sighs Lex Runderkamp.

Great-great-granddaughter
The key figures in the project Beagle, in the Footsteps of Darwin, are the Flemish evolution biologist Dick Draulans and biologist Sarah Darwin, the great-great-granddaughter of Charles. For the past nine months, she could hardly think of anything else. Apart from her own research projects, she also hopes to learn more about her famous great-great-grandfather.

"Have a glimpse if I can of the various processes that he went through during this voyage. Simply being on a boat for five years in an environment that was alien to him, visiting all these places. He left as a twenty-two year old man, just a graduate from university and he came back as a man who everybody wanted to meet. All the scientists wanted to talk to him about what he'd seen. So there was a big change that took place on this voyage from just out of boyhood to a respectable scientist."
 

Nobody is prepared to make any predictions about the outcome of the journey, not even Sarah Darwin. “Ask me that in eight months’ time when we’re back”, she says.
 

All photos © Willemien Groot, RNW 2009
 

RNW translation (as)