Image of the month: January 2020

Our picture of the month shows the research vessel POSEIDON during the expedition POS532 in February 2019 off the island of Fogo, which belongs to the archipelago of Cape Verde. This was one of the last expeditions that took the steel lady into the tropical northern Atlantic for deep-sea research. The aim of the expedition was to study gelatinous macrozooplankton as a carbon reservoir. Gelatinous zooplankton occurs in large quantities in the sea, is small, almost transparent and serves as a food source for many more highly developed organisms. Among others, jellyfish or tunicates belong to this form of plankton communities. During the expedition the submersible JAGO was also used, which the POSEIDON has served as a mother ship on many research trips. The high volcanic mountains and the slopes of the Cape Verde Islands to the deep sea provide excellent and calm conditions for deep sea work. This allowed the observation of the behavior and associations of the plankton and the collection of some living animals to study the effects of the plankton as a carbon sink.  The oceans themselves absorb up to 30 percent of the CO2 caused by human activity. The zooplankton, in turn, binds large amounts of carbon and transports it to deeper layers of the ocean. In this way, they balance temperatures and thereby regulate the CO2 content in the atmosphere. However, there are still uncertainties as to how long this will continue to be the case. Therefore, this research trip of POSEIDON is an important component to gain new insights for climate research.
The POSEIDON itself, which will no longer be used for scientific purposes from this year, has served as a research vessel for more than four decades and has carried out more than 500 expeditions. "POSEIDON is and will always remain for us the most beautiful and well-proportioned ship in the German research fleet. A steel lady, whose slim bow most elegantly cuts through the waves, and who has provided so many generations of POSEIDON users with countless data, scientific careers and above all unforgettable experiences. Thank you to POSEIDON and its capable crew for many great trips together - we will miss the old lady and you," said Dr. Karen Hissman, Scientific Director and Coordinator of the JAGO team.

Further information:

Article on the expedition POS532 to the capverdean islands

Further informations about the Ocean Science Center in Mindelo