The IOTA 2 campaign followed a first teaching cruise carried out in 2016 (IOTA). The first objective was to take the students of the Master's degree "Biodiversity and tropical ecosystems" on board an research vessel to give them a first experience of working at sea. The aim was to show the implementation of classic equipment for studying the ocean from a biological point of view. It is also about involving students in working at sea and being in a real professional situation. Finally, the data and samples collected provide data sets and results that can be used for Master's courses (CM, TD, TP). Some data was also collected for PhD students to supplement existing datasets.

initially we wanted to have regular cruises, but the realities linked to the scheduling of the fleet's ships did not allow us to have a ship regularly, despite applying annually to the call of the French the fleet and the good evaluation of the proposal.

The problems encountered by the ship during its route to Reunion necessitated an extended technical stopover in South Africa. This led to the duration of the campaign being reduced from 4 legacies of 3 days each to 3 legacies of 2 days each. Under these conditions, activities were more limited.