Submersive Atmospheres

Many tropical seaweed farms experience the periodic occurrence of infestations with macroalgae pests. Few centimeters long filamentous algae grow on the surface of the cultivated seaweeds, and even penetrate into the cultivated seaweed tissue. This hampers seaweed farming activity and reduces significantly farm yields with the consequence that in some areas farming activity has stopped. One problem is that it is not fully understood which species are causing the harm. Many species are so called ‘cryptic species’, meaning that they are not distinguishable by their morphology. It is also unclear whether in different regions the same or distinct species occur.

For this project the research team obtained these surface growing macroalgae species from seaweed farms and other habitats from Tanzania and Madagascar. They use a combination of morphological assessment, i.e. images taken under the dissecting microscope, to categorize individuals into taxonomic groups. They then use molecular techniques that generate DNA barcodes for unbiased species identification. Through these techniques they explore species community composition and map their occurrence. This project also analyses species distribution and thus explores pathways of introduction into the farms. This project aims to provide information to help to improve management of farming activity.

Resources provided

You will have access to contextual information like photos from seaweed farms, infested seaweeds, potentially short videos from within seaweed farms, raw data that we use for our science such DNA sequences and microscopic images of the epiphytes. Currently under preparation are graphs that summarize our findings. These include bar charts, phylogenetic trees and maps. Through online meetings you will also have access to the expertise of natural scientist Dr Janina Brakel and her colleagues.

This project focuses on the complexity of food webs. Food webs are intricate networks of predator-prey relationships essential for maintaining the balance within ecosystems. Take the Arctic as an example: polar bears need seals to survive, seals rely on arctic cod, cod depend on zooplankton, and zooplankton need phytoplankton. Meanwhile, zooplankton also serve as food for baleen whales, which are preyed upon by orcas. And these are just small components of a vast interaction network. This research searches for patterns within these networks — patterns that might also exist in other food webs and, when examined in isolation, might reveal new insights into the dynamics of these systems and their responses to environmental changes.

Resources provided

You will have access to theoretical models, equations and graphs depicting different networks and the patterns of ocean food webs under investigation. Through online meetings you will also have access to the expertise of natural scientist Melanie Habermann.

Typically, the way we know about the seafloor is either through geo-science or legal description. While, indeed, such understanding matters as it provides a way of imagining the geological features of the seabed and, to some extent, their economic values through commercial seafloor mineral reserve estimations, this imagination does not capture what being under the seabed feels like. In other words, it does not bring to the surface the anxieties and joys of intimate interaction between humans, the seabed, and its watery world. Offering an alternative to the dominant geological and legal ways of knowing the seabed, this project illustrates an intimate and immersive experience of divers with the seabed pits, a hole under the seafloor produced by the offshore tin recovery, off Bangka and Belitung Islands in Indonesia.

Resources provided

You will have access to videos, images and audio recordings from tin diving operations from Indonesia. Through online meetings you will also have access to the expertise of social scientist Merdeka Argus Saputra.

Under the Antarctic Treaty, the waters surrounding Antarctica are designated as international waters and do not belong to any single nation. The management and protection of marine living resources in the Southern Ocean are governed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

In 2009, CCAMLR committed to creating a representative network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) around Antarctica. Since then, two MPAs have been established within the Convention Area: The South Orkney Islands MPA in 2009, the first MPA beyond national jurisdiction, and the Ross Sea Region MPA, the largest MPA in the world. Additionally, four other MPAs have been proposed but are still awaiting approval despite years of discussion.

One of the proposed MPAs is the Weddell Sea MPA (Phase 1) (WSMPA P1), initiated in 2013 and led by Germany under the EU. The rationale behind the WSMPA is to conserve one of the world’s last pristine marine areas with known vulnerable marine ecosystems and unique biodiverse habitats and to use the WSMPA P1 as a powerful tool for managing the region’s resilience to climate change. Due to its ice cover and favourable currents, the Weddell Sea is likely to be used as a refuge by cold-adapted species in the future, as it is expected to be one of the last regions in the Southern Ocean where the consequences of climate change will manifest.

Over the years, the WSMPA P1 proposal has received more and more support from CCAMLR member states. By 2023, ten co-sponsors had endorsed the proposal submitted by the EU and its Member States. However, unanimous adoption by CCAMLR has not been achieved. Some CCAMLR Member States strongly oppose the need for MPAs, as demonstrated at the CCAMLR Special Meeting on MPAs held in Santiago, Chile in 2023. During this meeting, no agreement was reached on a roadmap for adopting a representative system of MPAs, and no other constructive outcomes were achieved.

A recent Russian oil discovery in the Weddell Sea region (https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-oil-antarctica-putin-1900233?) emphasises that all the discussions and the blockade in CCAMLR (concerning MPAs but also fisheries issues) reflect not only genuine scientific concerns but also political motives (e.g., a matter of national importance or even sovereignty). If in the future individual CCAMLR members attempt to exert their influence in Antarctica through means other than scientific research, this may have an overall impact on CCAMLR’s work under the Antarctic Treaty.

One pressing question is therefore: What is the state of nature conservation in times of geopolitical upheaval? Can forces be mobilised to break the deadlock in CCAMLR?

Resources provided

You will have access to a diverse portfolio consisting of a fact sheet and a video trailer about the Weddell Sea ecosystem and the planning initiative, as well as infographics about the entire history of WSMPA planning under the CCAMLR regime, in addition to scientific papers and diverse map material. All information is compiled and freely available on the WSMPA website (www.wsmpa.de/en). You will also have access to the expertise of natural scientist Dr Katharina Teschke and her colleagues.

The Polar regions are experiencing significant and rapid transformation due to increasing air and water temperatures driven by global climate change. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average, resulting in a sea ice cover loss of over 30 percent since 1979. In light of this development, new opportunities are emerging for commercial shipping to explore shorter routes around the North Pole. This predicts an increase in maritime vessel traffic. The narrow Bering Strait, located between the Russian Federation and the United States of America, is especially affected, due to its connection to the Northern Sea Route (NSR). These changes pose a variety of challenges to the efficient and safe marine management of human and non-human activities in the Bering Strait region, including local shipping, commercial exploitation of natural resources, subsistence hunting, and the protection of marine ecosystems and their migrating species, e.g., endangered whales. For this reason, the U.S. government and its executive hand, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), conducted a Port Access Route Study (PARS) to establish a new vessel traffic separation scheme (TSS) in the Bering Strait to manage the predicted vessel traffic increase. This Bering Strait PARS was held under public participation between 2010 and 2018. This project provides the first in-depth study of this scheme, examining the consultation process and the motivations and voices of all stakeholders involved. 

Resources provided

You will have access to response letters from all stakeholders involved in this PARS, including important milestones, legal framework, stakeholder groups and their positions with quotes from the response letters and related academic literature. Through online meetings you will also have access to the expertise of marine social scientist Laura Niemeyer.

The Arctic is one of the fastest-warming regions on the planet. Key features are the partial coverage of sea ice and the strong changes in light availability in summer and winter. As the water in the Arctic is warming, it should provide a more suitable environment for small algae (phytoplankton) from temperate regions (10-15°C). However, these photosynthetic algae face either 24 hours of sunlight in summer, or no light in winter. As they rely on photosynthesis to gain energy, this project is interested in analysing the mechanisms behind the ability of arctic algae to grow and how temperate algae fare under these conditions.

This project involves investigating a range of microalgae (2-30 µm) from different branches of the tree of life. These differ by size and shape (chain forming squares, to perfect little balls that zoom around or long needle shapes), and colour. The algae cultures range from brown and red cells to light green. Their photobiology partially explains the colour of these algae, as they can use different pigments to support photosynthesis. By relying on different pigments, they can also harvest different wavelengths of light. This research involves exploring different colours and intensities of light, as wells as shapes, sizes and colours of photosynthetic algae.

Resources provided

You will have access to a selection of images from algae which were isolated around Norway and Danmark (Atlantic), Greenland and Svalbard (Arctic). You will also have access to video clips of the mobile cells. Through online meetings you will also have access to the expertise of natural scientist Dr Avril von Hoyningen-Huene.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has been branded as a major threat to oceans. Frequently depicted as having profound societal impacts and operational synergies with other forms of criminal activities, which justify the need for a so-called global fight against IUU fishing to protect the marine commons. Whereas industrial fishing is the prime culprit, policy reforms are being promoted to regulate and formalise small-scale and artisanal fishing practices. This raises questions on how enforcement and formalisation processes are translated into practice and are shaped by economic interests within and beyond the ocean. Our research focuses on the governance of IUU fishing in Colombia, anchoring our critique into two acts —the act of criminalisation and the act of impunity— which seek to uncover the theatre of enforcement at sea. We show how punitive approaches to governing IUU fishing criminalises precarious fish workers and fishing communities, while foreign and transnational capitalist actors continue to operate, exploiting oceans and workers labour with very limited control. Moreover, our work reveals that the fight against IUU Fishing in practice emerges as a fight against fisher peoples’ ways of living and livelihoods, not ocean grabbers —a wave of violence and criminalisation with differentiated impacts at the intersections of class, gender, and race.

Resources provided

You will have access to a short perspective piece on challenging the dominant push for enforcement as central to saving oceans as well as news media coverage of the cases analysed. Through online meetings you will also have access to the expertise of natural scientist Dr Paula Satizábal and her colleagues.