Archive of News and Press Releases

[Translate to English:] Krilllarven unter dem Meereis des Weddellmeeres
Online news

International online Workshop on Krill

The SCAR Krill Action Group, led by AWI biologist Prof. Bettina Meyer (SKAG), has an online meeting this week on: Evaluating change in Antarctic krill population.
Fig. 3: Meeting in the Channel
Weekly report

We continue on the northern hemisphere – Bremerhaven is awaiting us

We have reached the northern hemisphere and are moving further north at a good speed. The beautiful and warm weather has accompanied us for almost a week, which tempted one or the other to enjoy a sunbath on the helideck during the lunch breaks – sometimes ending with a little sunburn.
Rintu Daniel and Martin Schiller in Finland
Short news

The Unexpected Success Story of a Sea-ice App

When German coastal researchers head for the North Sea to measure the nutrient load in the water and, for the first time, whenever they use a scientific instrument, it is automatically recorded by an app, above all they’ll have the ingenuity of AWI sea-ice engineer Martin Schiller to thank for the new service. After taking part in a search operation in the Arctic, he developed FloeNavi, a system for navigating and locating measuring sites on sea ice. The AWI Computing Centre has since expanded the system’s most popular function into a separate app. Read…
[Translate to English:] Schwämme hinterlassen Spuren
Press releases

Surprise in the deep sea

Sponges: They are considered to be one of the most primitive forms of animal life, because they have neither locomotion organs nor a nervous system. A team around deep-sea scientist Antje Boetius has now discovered that sponges leave trails on the sea floor in the Arctic deep sea. They conclude that the animals might move actively - even if only a few centimetres per year. They are now publishing these unique findings in the journal Current Biology.
The letters #HTF2021
Online news

Final Report of the High-Tech Forum 2019–2021

The High-Tech Forum has published its key recommendations for the future innovation strategy in Germany. Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research is a member of the central committee that advises the Federal Government on implementing the High-Tech Strategy 2025 and contributed to the report on the results. The Forum urges promoting and demanding greater courage and implementation strength in the service of the Sustainable Development Goals. It maintains that it is important to…
Fig. 1: Group photo on the heldeck
Weekly report

We have crossed the Equator

The smooth transit cruise is still heading north. In the meantime, we have reached the intertropical convergence with its correspondingly humid climate. From time to time, another cargo ship crosses our track.
[Translate to English:] Prof. Dr. Jörn Thiede
Online news

Happy Birthday, Jörn Thiede!

The German polar and marine research community pays him high respect and tribute. Prof. Dr Jörn Thiede, founding director of today's GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and long-time director of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, celebrates his 80th birthday today. Due to Corona, instead of a large festive event with many guests, many companions sent him their birthday wishes in personal video messages.
Fig. 2: At the BBQ
Weekly report

Heading North

We are still sailing northwards through the subtropics and heading for the tropics, free from corona concerns. Nevertheless, the pandemic remains a dominant subject, even with everyone enjoying the time without masks and lockdown.
[Translate to English:] Granaten
Online news

Sunken ammunition: danger with long-term effects

Stormy weather and strict hygiene regulations put the science crew to the test. After a delay of almost two days due to weather conditions and several days of scheduled quarantine, the captain of the HEINCKE gave the command "cast off" on Thursday morning and set course for Helgoland. The research team of the "North Sea Wrecks" project collected samples around the wreck of the warship SMS MAINZ off the North Sea island. They will be used to investigate the extent to which the ship from the First World War, which was sunk together with its ammunition,…
Bunker operations
Weekly report

Escaped from Corona again!

After a two-week quarantine in Bremerhaven, we once again escaped Corona without any infection and thus, able to enter our "infection-free bubble" on the ship for the return journey to Bremerhaven.