From tooth fish to food webs, from molecular genetic tools to underwater acoustics: dive into our current research
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HIFMB at COP30 – BioAgora: Bringing Ocean Science to Policy
At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Dr. Josie Antonucci di Carvalho from the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) will highlight Europe’s efforts to bridge science and policy for marine biodiversity.
Did you know?
Unicellular plankton covers a size range that is comparable to the size difference between a small fish and a city like Oldenburg.
Mirrors – Following the Acoustic Journey of the Minke Whale
Mirrors is a sound installation that follows the acoustic journey of the Minke Whale as it travels from Antarctica to Namibia. A collaboration between artist-researcher Geraint Rhys and Marine Acoustic scientist Dr Ilse van Opzeeland it charts how the vocalizations of the Minke changes with a change in location as it migrates across the oceans.
Unpacking Plastic Oceans – Placing Photography in Environmental Storytelling
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 …
Activity Book on Deep Sea Mining
Deep-sea mining is a potential new industry in which non-renewable resources could be extracted from the bottom of the deep sea. However, as little is known about the ecosystems of these depths and the impacts of this industry, the prospect of mining these resources poses a great risk.
“The ship has reached the shore!”
With these exhausted but happy words, Rena Lee, President of the UN Negotiations on a Protection of Biodiversity in International Waters, announced that the member states had reached an agreement on March 7, 2023, after more than years.
Polar Sounds: Remixing the Sounds of the Arctic and Antarctic Seas
Polar Sounds is an art-science collaboration in which sound artists from around the world were able to use 50 sound clips from the Arctic and Antarctic seas to create their own compositions. Nearly 300 artists from 45 countries applied for the opportunity to reinterpret these sounds.
Traces of Diversity
Every litre of seawater is full of genetic material from all kinds of different organisms. Biologist Silke Laakmann and her team are pioneering techniques that use these DNA traces to determine the biodiversity of marine communities.






