The Around the Tropic World Expedition (1983–1986)
Between February 1983 and June 1986, the Institute of Ecotechnics’ research vessel Heraclitus completed its first circumnavigation of the globe—a 40-month expedition that sailed westward from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and returned to the same port after traversing more than 30,000 nautical miles through the tropical regions of the world.
Calling at twenty-five ports across the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterranean, and Atlantic, the expedition carried a rotating crew of seven to nineteen people, with more than one hundred participants representing over a dozen nations joining at various stages of the voyage.
The expedition was conceived as both a scientific and cultural investigation. Its objectives were to document traditional societies living within tropical environments, study biological and agricultural systems that had sustained human communities for centuries, and gather ecological data relevant to the emerging Biosphere 2 Project. The voyage became one of the earliest Institute of Ecotechnics expeditions to explicitly combine ethnographic documentation, ecological research, ethnobotany, oceanography, and applied sustainability studies within a single integrated program.
At a time when concepts such as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), biocultural conservation, and sustainability science had not yet entered mainstream academic discourse, the expedition sought to understand how tropical peoples maintained long-term relationships with their environments and what lessons those systems might offer to the future design of human habitats.
Documenting Traditional Ecological Knowledge
One of the expedition’s central goals was to learn from cultures that had developed sophisticated relationships with tropical ecosystems over hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of years.
The crew documented agricultural systems, fishing practices, medicinal plant use, traditional architecture, food production, ritual life, and environmental management strategies throughout the tropical world. Although the term “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” was not yet widely used, the expedition was effectively documenting exactly what would later become recognized as TEK: the accumulated body of place-based ecological knowledge, practices, and beliefs developed by Indigenous and local communities through long-term interaction with their environments.
By recording traditional farming methods, ethnobotanical knowledge, forest management practices, vernacular architecture, and local resource-use systems, the expedition preserved valuable information about sustainable relationships between people and ecosystems at a time when many of these traditions were already under pressure from rapid modernization and globalization.
The work also had a practical purpose. Botanical, agricultural, and ecological observations gathered during the voyage directly informed the design of Biosphere 2’s intensive non-chemical agricultural system, reflecting the expedition’s conviction that traditional knowledge systems often contain transferable insights applicable to modern environmental challenges.
Journeys to Other Worlds
The expedition’s most visible cultural achievement was the documentary television series Journeys to Other Worlds, produced in cooperation with Zagreb Television in what was then Yugoslavia.
Completed and broadcast in 1988, the twelve-part series documented the peoples, environments, and traditions encountered during the circumnavigation.
Writer, producer, and expedition leader John P. Allen narrated the series and interpreted the cultural and ecological themes emerging from the voyage. Allen and Rio Hahn served as co-producers and co-directors alongside their Yugoslav collaborators.
Rather than approaching communities as conventional travelers or journalists, expedition members sought to participate in local life as respectfully as possible, often spending extended periods building relationships with village elders, chiefs, and community leaders. This approach enabled the crew to gain unusual access to ceremonies, daily activities, traditional technologies, and cultural practices that were rarely documented by outsiders.
The resulting series remains an important visual record of tropical cultures and environments during a period of rapid social and ecological change.
Scientific Achievements
Marine Microbial Collections
The expedition conducted some of the first systematic collections of marine microorganisms from the Indian Ocean for Professor Clair Folsome of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Folsome, a pioneer in the study of materially closed ecological systems, used these collections to investigate microbial diversity and ecosystem function in marine environments. The work would later contribute to biological research associated with Biosphere 2.
Coral Reef and Ocean Health Surveys
Throughout the voyage, diving teams conducted ecological surveys across some of the world’s most important tropical marine ecosystems, including the Great Barrier Reef, the Red Sea, and numerous reef systems throughout the Indian Ocean.
These observations documented reef condition, biodiversity, and environmental health decades before global coral bleaching became widely recognized as a major ecological threat.
Ethnobotany and Economic Plants
The expedition assembled collections of medicinal, agricultural, and economically important tropical plants while documenting their traditional uses.
Particular attention was given to species employed in food production, medicine, construction, fibre production, and agroforestry systems. These investigations provided valuable insights into sustainable resource use in tropical environments and informed later Biosphere 2 agricultural research.
Traditional Architecture Studies
Field studies examined indigenous and vernacular building systems throughout the tropics, documenting architectural solutions adapted to local climates, materials, and ecological conditions.
The expedition investigated how traditional structures addressed challenges such as heat, humidity, rainfall, ventilation, and resource efficiency using locally available materials and generations of accumulated practical knowledge.
Portable Phytochemical Analysis Kit
A significant scientific innovation emerged from a collaboration with ethnopharmacological chemist Dr. Robert Raffauf of Northeastern University, a close colleague of renowned ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes.
Together, expedition researchers and Raffauf developed a next-generation portable field kit for phytochemical analysis, allowing preliminary assessment of biologically active plant compounds under remote field conditions.
Rio Hahn contributed practical experience gained during earlier Institute of Ecotechnics expeditions in the Amazon Basin, helping refine the kit for use in challenging tropical environments.
Biosphere 2 Preparations
Much of the expedition’s scientific work directly supported planning for Biosphere 2.
Studies of tropical agricultural systems contributed to the development of Biosphere 2’s highly productive non-chemical farming program. Marine microbial collections informed biological research programs. Botanical investigations expanded understanding of useful tropical species. Several expedition members subsequently trained as candidates for Biosphere 2 itself.
In many respects, the Around the Tropic World Expedition served as an extended field laboratory for ideas that would later be incorporated into one of the most ambitious ecological experiments ever undertaken.
A Circumnavigation Under Sail
The 25-metre ferrocement research vessel Heraclitus, built in the form of a Chinese junk, departed San Juan in February 1983.
Preparation for the voyage had taken place in Puerto Rico, where crew members also helped establish Las Casas de la Selva, the Institute of Ecotechnics’ rainforest restoration and sustainable forestry project in the mountains of southeastern Puerto Rico.
After transiting the Panama Canal, Heraclitus entered the Pacific Ocean and began the long westward journey that would eventually encircle the globe.
The voyage was marked by both discovery and adversity.
In Western Samoa the vessel was shipwrecked. Following the loss, Heraclitus undertook a difficult thirty-six-day passage to Vanuatu without a functioning engine and without radar, relying entirely upon seamanship, navigation, and the determination of the crew.
After repairs in Vanuatu, the expedition continued to Australia.
There, under the guidance of an experienced reef pilot, the vessel navigated the notoriously hazardous waters of the northern Great Barrier Reef while re-surveying the historic Spanish route through the reef system. This work combined maritime history with contemporary environmental observation.
From Australia the expedition proceeded through Indonesia and Singapore, where the vessel underwent a major refit before continuing to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Djibouti, South Yemen, Sudan, Egypt, France, Spain, and the Canary Islands.
The final Atlantic crossing brought Heraclitus back to Puerto Rico in June 1986.
Upon arrival in San Juan, the vessel was welcomed by the mayor of San Juan and the governor of Puerto Rico, marking the successful completion of its first circumnavigation of the Earth.
Legacy
The Around the Tropic World Expedition established many of the themes that would characterize subsequent Heraclitus voyages: interdisciplinary science, long-duration field research, cultural documentation, ecological exploration, and a commitment to understanding humanity’s relationship with the biosphere.
Long before concepts such as “sustainability science,” “biocultural diversity,” and “traditional ecological knowledge” became widely recognized, the expedition demonstrated the value of integrating scientific inquiry with cultural understanding. Its investigations contributed directly to the development of Biosphere 2 while preserving a remarkable record of tropical societies, ecosystems, and knowledge systems at a pivotal moment in global history.
The expedition stands as one of the most ambitious and wide-ranging field programs undertaken by the Institute of Ecotechnics and remains a landmark voyage in the history of Heraclitus.