Archive of News and Press Releases
Into the Weddell Sea
9. January 2017 - 3 weeks and 3 days at sea.
Yesterday evening Polarstern managed to push herself free between what was formerly fast ice by about half a ship´s length with the ebbing tide.
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The Sound of the Ocean
For nearly three years, AWI researchers used underwater microphones to monitor the Southern Ocean and listen to a “choir” of whales and seals. The sounds recorded offer new insights into the ocean’s natural soundscape, as well as the animals’ behaviour and distribution.
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At Neumayer Station
4 January 2017, 2 weeks and 5 days at sea.
The morning finds Polarstern alongside the ice shelf edge, or, more precisely, at the north-eastern berth of Atka Sea Port.
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Expedition Diary
21 December, 5th day at sea.
Today, an (unintended) premiere is high up on the agenda. A bottom pressure sensor equipped inverted echosounder (PIES), which was deployed in 2010, shall be recovered.
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German Arctic Office to act as consultant to politics and industry
The rapid climate changes in the Arctic are no longer just the domain of scientists. The shrinking sea ice and collapsing permafrost coasts are now also becoming topics on the agenda of international politics and industry. To be able to offer direct scientific advice to decision-makers, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) has now set up an office for Arctic affairs at its Potsdam site. The German Arctic Office officially commenced work on 1 January 2017 and draws its expertise from a network of scientists…
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When the Arctic coast retreats, life in the shallow water areas drastically changes
The thawing and erosion of Arctic permafrost coasts has dramatically increased in the past years and the sea is now consuming more than 20 meters of land per year at some locations. The earth masses removed in this process increasingly blur the shallow water areas and release nutrients and pollutants. Yet, the consequences of these processes on life in the coastal zone and on traditional fishing grounds are virtually unknown.
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We are leaving Cape Town
16. December, day of departure
As planned, Polarstern pushes away from the pier in Cape Town at 6pm, taking off for her 103rd expedition to the Antarctic.
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Manganese nodules as breeding ground for deep-sea octopuses
Manganese nodules on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean are an important breeding ground for deep-sea octopuses. As reported by a German-American team of biologists in the current issue of the journal Current Biology, the octopuses deposit their eggs onto sponges that only grow locally on manganese nodules. The researchers had observed the previously unknown octopus species during diving expeditions in the Pacific at depths of more than 4000 metres - new record depths for these octopuses. Their specific dependence on manganese nodules for brooding eggs…
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Large amounts of meltwater on the East Antarctic ice shelf
The East Antarctic ice shelves may be more vulnerable to climate change than previously assumed. A research team in cooperation with the Alfred Wegener Institute has detected large amounts of meltwater on the Roi Baudouin shelf ice. This is due to strong winds that blow away the snow. This is the result of a study which has now been published in the online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change.
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Climate change and its effects on marine life in Kongsfjorden
Kongsfjorden situated in western Spitsbergen is a Mecca for marine biologists and climatologists. Consequences of global change become apparent fast and are clearly visible on a small scale.
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