The international seabed is the ‘common heritage of mankind’ (or humankind). In principle then, it your heritage, and mine. It is a place, as global citizens, we have rights to. But is it somewhere we can actually access? How can we enact our rights to the seabed?
The ocean is most often seen as an empty space, for example in maps, where it is most often depicted as a blue shaded area next to colorful lands, mountains and valleys, forests and deserts, towns and roads. This is due to the traditional approach to creating maps and thinking about landscape (the clue is already in the term), people going as far as they can and writing about the things they find. The ocean in contrast is an inhospitable place to wander for humans, only with the aid of devices such as boats it becomes possible to leave the shore, creating the image of a vast desert in our minds.
This blog post is part of the ‘Plastic or Planet?’ blog series where we discuss the National Geographic exhibition ‘Planet or Plastic?’ hosted in Oldenburg during the summer of 2022. We are part of an interdisciplinary group of early career researchers working at the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB). Here, we focus on ...
My summer spent at the Helmholtz Institute of Functional and Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) has broadened my horizons and strengthened my research skills. The HIFMB allowed me to explore new areas of research and further develop my interests in advancing how we communicate complex scientific topics to the public.
I was interested in coming to the HIFMB and becoming a part of the MARISCO project, to learn more about oceanic and interdisciplinary research as part of a summer Global Sustainability Scholars scheme. My coursework in environment and biology often mentioned the ocean, but it never went sufficiently into depth or breadth.
Art-science collaborations and the ‘Ocean Decade’ - The United Nations (UN) Ocean Decade (2021-2030) is well under way. One of the primary aims in what the UN is calling a 'revolution', is to create an "inspiring and engaging ocean" where society understands and values the benefits of protecting the seas. However, asserting such universalising narratives are complex and never apolitical as there are many layers of communities who are often excluded from society.
Bio-acoustician Irene Roca is a postdoctoral researcher at HIFMB. In March and April 2022, she takes part in a research cruise of the FS Polarstern through the Southern Ocean. The expedition starts in Capetown, traverses the Weddell Sea and ends in Punta Arenas in Chile. Logo of the Polarstern expedition “PS129” The mission of the ...
Lately, people worldwide have been caught off guard from hearing the news about the volcanic seamount eruption in the Tongan sea. This eruption caused tsunami waves—sweeping the Pacific Islands, including Tonga Island. This pacific island nation also suffers from fiber optic cable malfunctions laying on the seafloor, often undisturbed by human activities.
Tension. What springs to mind when you think of tension? Images of frustration and anxiety might arise; situations you may not want to revisit, interactions you’d rather forget. As someone who suffers from anxiety and PTSD on a daily basis, it seems counterintuitive for me to argue that tension can be good. But I think it can be.
Tropical coral reefs are changing. Some researchers suggest that modern tropical reefs could take the shape of habitat mosaics. Each patch of the mosaic are small patch-habitats of different regime types (e.g. coral-, sponge-, or algae-dominated) that coexist next to each other.
