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The latest news and articles from marine research on the largest habitat on earth and its far-reaching significance for humanity.

Focus

Mussels and green algae lie on a sandy seabed. — Picture: Dirk Schories

> North Sea and Baltic Sea

Umweltzustand von Nord- und Ostsee

Alle sechs Jahre bewerten Fachleute den Umweltzustand der deutschen Meeresgebiete. Der umfassende Bericht für 2024 zeigt, dass es der deutschen Nord- und Ostsee nicht gut geht.

Meere Online

Focus

Several wind turbines at the ocean, the wind farm Rampion — Picture: Nicholas Doherty, Unsplash

> Marine Engergy

Auswirkungen von Offshore-Windparks

Der Ausbau von Offshore-Windkraftanlagen wird in vielen Ländern vorangetrieben. Welche Auswirkungen hat der großflächige Windkraft-Ausbau in Nord- und Ostsee auf die Meeresumwelt?

Meere Online

Focus

> Ammunition

Munition in the Seas – Current Knowledge and Perspectives

Munitions in the seas and oceans threaten the marine environment and risk their sustainable use and management. For several years, research has been conducted to evaluate the scale of the impacts and to develop solutions for their future remediation.

DAM

Insight

Starfish lying on the seabed — Photo: Dirk Schories

> Ocean Conservation

Marine Protection

The health of the seas and oceans is deteriorating. The trend can only be reversed if marine protection and sustainable use are pushed forward consistently.

Meere Online

Insight

[Translate to English:] Cumulonimbus Wolke über Meereshorizont vom Forschungsschiff Sonne aus fotografiert. — Picture: Ralf Prien, IOW

> The Ocean as a Climate Buffer

The Ocean as a Climate Buffer

The ocean stores large quantities of carbon dioxide and heat and thus, slowing down man-made climate change.

Meere Online

Multimedia

> Restoration

The restoration of the European oyster

The European oyster plays a vital role in maintaining ecosystem functions in its habitat. Currently considered extinct in the German North Sea, it is being reintroduced through a project at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI).

AWI

Website

> Plastic Litter

Round table marine litter

An information platform for all relevant stakeholders on the coordination and implementation of national measures against marine litter. Around 130 experts support the work of the round table, established in 2016.

UBA

Multimedia

> Marine Engergy

Planning areas for offshore wind farms

The interactive map of the Helmholtz Centre Hereon shows the location and size of offshore wind farms and protected areas in the North Sea and Baltic Sea for scenario planning.

Hereon

Press Releases from Marine Research by Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw)

idw (Informationsdienst Wissenschaft)

2025-03-28 09:49 AM — idw

New boost for ecosystem-based fisheries management

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

28.03.2025/Kiel. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN) have signed a cooperation agreement “AWZFISCH”. This expands the 15-year collaboration between the two institutions into a long-term strategic partnership. Over the next five years, the two institutions will join forces to work together on the future of fish stocks in the face of climate change, the sustainable implementation of fishing quotas and the regulation of fishing activities within marine protected areas.

2025-03-28 09:38 AM — idw

After 7000 years without light and oxygen in Baltic Sea mud: Researchers bring prehistoric algae back to life

Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde

A research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) was able to revive dormant stages of algae that sank to the bottom of the Baltic Sea almost 7,000 years ago. Despite thousands of years of inactivity in the sediment without light and oxygen, the investigated diatom species regained full viability. The study, recently published in The ISME Journal, was carried out as part of the Leibniz Association-funded collaborative research project PHYTOARK, which aims at a better understanding of the Baltic Sea's future by means of palaeoecological investigations of the Baltic Sea's past.

2025-03-28 09:08 AM — idw

Regional climate signals pose new challenges for climate science

Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie

Climate science has correctly predicted many aspects of the climate system and its response to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Recently discrepancies between the real world and our expectations of regional climate changes have emerged, as have disruptive new computational approaches. Researchers provide an interpretation for the situation suggesting the field is evolving and that embracing discrepancies is a key path forward.

2025-03-25 01:43 PM — idw

Ocean Eddies – the Food Trucks of the Sea: Study reveals Lipidome Composition of Mesoscale Eddies

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

25 March 2025/Kiel. How is organic matter transported from productive coastal areas to the open ocean? Researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and MARUM - Centre for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen have now shown that eddies play a crucial role in this process. The swirling currents contain large amounts of energy-rich and essential fat molecules (essential lipids), which play a key role in marine food webs and the carbon cycle. The study has now been published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

2025-03-24 11:02 AM — idw

Deep-Sea Biology of the Cape Verde Islands: Expedition M209 investigates biodiversity and foodwebs

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

24 March.2025/Mindelo/Kiel. This weekend the M209 expedition ‘BASIS’ led by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has started. An international team is investigating the largely unexplored deep seas off the Cape Verde islands with the research vessel METEOR. To this end, the sea floor at islands and underwater mountains, so-called seamounts, will be mapped and the biotic communities and food webs observed, documented and sampled - from the water column to the sea floor. The GEOMAR underwater robot ROV KIEL 6000, which can dive to depths of up to 6,000 metres, will also be used.

2025-03-21 03:29 PM — idw

Managing Legacy Munitions in the Baltic Sea: Expedition AL628 investigates suspected sites in German and Danish waters

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

21 March 2025/Kiel/Rønne. It is well known that the Baltic Sea is contaminated with remnants of munitions from past wars. However, many questions remain about the exact locations of these munitions and their condition after decades under water. Three major projects at national, Baltic Sea and European level are currently working to consolidate existing knowledge and develop technologies to safely identify submerged munitions. GEOMAR is contributing to these efforts with three Baltic Sea expeditions. The first mission has now begun: the research vessel ALKOR is testing and further developing state-of-the-art mapping and analysis techniques in German and Danish waters.

2025-03-13 11:48 AM — idw

Global Comparative Study on Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Begins in Kiel

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

13.03.2025/Kiel. How do plankton communities respond to increased alkalinity in different oceanic regions? This question is at the heart of the international research project "Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Pelagic Impact Intercomparison Project" (OAEPIIP). As part of this globally coordinated comparative study, standardized experiments are being conducted at 19 locations worldwide – including at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. In Germany, researchers are using water from the Boknis Eck time-series station (Eckernförde Bay, south-western Baltic Sea), which was collected on Friday.

2025-03-13 11:23 AM — idw

Taking the seagrass taxi: How foraminifera move from the coast to the depths of the Red Sea

Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT)

Foraminifera are single-celled marine organisms with a calcareous shell. They not only provide evidence of past habitats, but also play an important role in sediment formation. Along tropical and subtropical coasts, large benthic foraminifera live on the seabed of light-flooded shallow water habitats, in many cases attached to coral rubble or plant substrates. In the ocean, they can travel long distances by attaching to seagrass or algae and drifting across the sea surface. This journey by hitchhiking – technically known as ‘rafting’ – has rarely been scientifically documented.

2025-03-12 04:23 PM — idw

Embracing diversity for the future of climate modeling

Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie

What's next for climate modeling? Five internationally recognized female scientists have joined forces to come up with an answer. They argue: Instead of picking just one path, climate research should integrate multiple approaches.

2025-03-10 12:55 PM — idw

A “Precautionary Pause” Is the Logical Way Forward for Deep-Sea Mining

Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam

Pressure on the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to finalise and adopt regulations for deep-sea mining is increasing. While some ISA member states are hoping to see progress soon, a growing number of states are demanding more time to research the environmental impact of mining raw materials on the seabed and to develop an appropriate regulatory framework. What are the legal forms such a delay could take and what would the political consequences be? A team of researchers led by Pradeep Singh from the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) have addressed these matters in the journal “Ocean Development & International Law”.

2025-03-07 09:27 AM — idw

Airborne microplastics: Where do they come from, where do they go?

Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie

How tiny plastic particles enter the atmosphere is an important question, as airborne microplastics are a potential health threat. Using a global chemical transport model, researchers have provided evidence that, contrary to previous claims, the ocean is not a major source of microplastics to the atmosphere, but a significant sink.

2025-03-05 12:31 PM — idw

Footprints of Deep-Sea Mining: New Study Examines the Spread of Deep-Sea Mining Sediment Plumes

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

05 March 2025/Kiel. The mining of polymetallic nodules from the seabed can lead to significant and long-lasting ecological changes - both in the mined area, where surface sediments and the fauna living in and on them are removed along with the nodules, and on the adjacent seabed, where the sediment displaced by mining is re-suspended. Independent researchers from the MiningImpact project and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) monitored the testing of an industrial pre-prototype nodule collector vehicle and analysed the spread of sediment plumes and sediment redeposition. Their results have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

2025-02-26 11:14 AM — idw

Impact of Unexploded Ordnance in the Baltic Sea: GEOMAR-Study Detects Toxic Munitions Chemicals in Water Samples

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

26.02.2025/Kiel. The south-western Baltic Sea has about 3,000 kilograms of dissolved toxic chemicals released from unexploded ordnance, according to a new study by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. The substances were detected in almost all water samples taken in 2017 and 2018, with particularly high concentrations in the Bights of Kiel and Lübeck. The levels are still below thresholds for health risk, but highlight the urgent need for munitions clearance to minimise long-term risks. The study has now been published in the journal Chemosphere.

2025-02-25 12:46 PM — idw

Longest-runout undersea sediment flows analysed in unprecedented detail

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

25 February 2025/Kiel. An international team of researchers led by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Durham University has successfully captured the internal structure of the longest-runout sediment flow ever recorded on Earth. Using seismic measurements, the researchers have for the first time been able to analyse in detail the internal structure of these tens to hundreds of kilometres long turbidity currents. The new insights will help improve risk assessments for underwater infrastructure, and refine models of sediment and carbon transport in the ocean. The study is published today in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment.

2025-02-25 12:28 PM — idw

Remote underwater video provides new insights into spawning aggregation dynamics of the black-saddled coral grouper

Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT)

When fish gather to spawn, it is potentially attractive for fishing. High catch rates can generally be expected during spawning times at specific locations. However, these sites are also very important for the conservation of the fish species that spawn there. With the help of remote underwater video cameras, an international team of scientists has analysed the spawning aggregation dynamics of the black-saddled coral grouper (Plectropomus laevis) in the South Pacific.

2025-02-25 12:03 PM — idw

Study explains unexpected recent strengthening of the Walker circulation

Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie

The Walker circulation, an atmospheric circulation pattern in the tropics, has accelerated in recent years, puzzling climate scientists who had anticipated the opposite. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and the University of Tokyo have found out why by revealing the competing effects between the global warming and sea surface temperature pattern effect.

2025-02-21 01:22 PM — idw

Özdemir visits shipyard for the new Polarstern

Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

On Tuesday, 18 February 2025 as part of a specialist appointment, Federal Minister of Research Cem Özdemir visited the thyssenkrupp Marine Systems shipyard in Wismar. There, he was informed about the current state of construction regarding the new research icebreaker Polarstern for the Alfred Wegener Institute. With Bettina Martin, Minister of Science for the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, also in attendance, the importance for the city was underscored. For the AWI, the new ship will represent an important milestone for its future research agenda, and for international collaboration during the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences.

2025-02-21 12:55 PM — idw

Where coastal upwelling and Saharan dust support marine life

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

21.02.2025/Kiel/Mindelo. Last weekend, the expedition M208 led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel started. The expedition with the research vessel METEOR is investigating the physical, chemical and biological processes in the coastal upwelling region off Northwest Africa. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the interactions between the ocean, atmosphere and marine ecosystems. The expedition also serves as preparation for the large-scale FUTURO project, which will focus on the further development of the ecosystem off Northwest Africa from 2027.

2025-02-21 09:53 AM — idw

Amazon rainforest more resilient than assumed

Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie

New evidence suggests that mean annual precipitation in the Amazon region is not going to change significantly even if it were completely deforested. This is contrary to previous concerns that beyond a certain threshold, the Amazon would turn into a savannah. However, the researchers who conducted the study point out that a full picture of the consequences of deforestation requires more than one indicator.

2025-02-20 11:40 AM — idw

New mathematical model shows: Heterotrophic bacteria account for around 10% of global marine nitrogen fixation

Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT)

Using a mathematical model, an international team of researchers has been able to show that heterotrophic bacteria inside sinking particles can fix nitrogen in nearly every part of the global ocean. The scientists from Bremen (Germany) and Copenhagen (Denmark) estimate that these types of specialised bacteria account for 10% of global marine nitrogen fixation. Their findings have just been published in the high-impact journal Science Advances.

2025-02-19 01:46 PM — idw

Resilient algae may speed up Greenland ice melt

Max-Planck-Institut für Marine Mikrobiologie

Tiny algae darken the surface of glaciers and thus accelerate their melting. This is the case, for example, on the Greenland Ice Sheet, which plays an important role in our climate and is already melting increasingly fast due to global warming. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, and the University of Aarhus, Denmark, now shows that the ice algae grow extremely efficiently, despite the fact that there are hardly any nutrients available to them on the ice.

2025-02-19 09:24 AM — idw

Urban environments promote adaptation to multiple stressors

GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel

Study investigates the response of aquatic species to environmental stress factors

19 February 2025/Kiel. Animal populations from urban areas show significantly higher resilience to stressful environmental conditions. This was found by an international team of researchers led by Dr Elizabeta Briski from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany. The mussel and crustacean species studied were able to adapt to disturbed environments, making them more resistant to environmental changes such as climate and land-use change. The study is published today in the journal Ecology Letters.

2025-02-17 04:00 PM — idw

How can Northern Germany's coasts become more resilient?

Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon

5 questions to Dr Insa Meinke about the North Sea coast in the face of climate change

The sea level of the North Sea is rising, storm surges are increasing, and it rains more frequently and more heavily in winter. The water comes from everywhere and threatens the coastal regions of Northern Germany. Dykes alone are not enough to resist the consequences of climate change in the long term. Scientist Insa Meinke from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon advocates new, sustainable measures for resilient coastal development. The new film production “North Sea Coast under Climate Change” from Hereon's North German Coastal and Climate Office shows where these can be applied.

2025-02-12 02:06 PM — idw

Global warming and mass extinctions: What we can learn from plants from the last ice age

Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Global warming is producing a rapid loss of plant species – according to estimates, roughly 600 plant species have died out since 1750 – twice the number of animal species lost. But which species are hit hardest? And how does altered biodiversity actually affect interactions between plants? Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute have tackled these questions and, in two recent studies, presented the answers they found buried in the past. This comparison can offer an inkling of what might await us in the future. The researchers have just published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

2025-02-07 10:36 AM — idw