Marine research honors the present and commemorates the past

A terrorist attack ended the lives of four marine researchers in Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden on March 18, 1987. In a group with other scientists, Annette Barthelt, Daniel Reinschmidt, Marco Buchalla and Hans-Wilhelm Halbeisen were waiting on site to go on an expedition to the Indian Ocean with the research vessel METEOR. The explosion of an explosive device in a café killed a total of 13 people, including the four scientists from Kiel. Others survived seriously injured.
 
In memory of the Kiel victims, colleagues and survivors founded the Annette Barthelt Foundation. This foundation is intended to honor not only the past, but also the future of marine research. It has therefore been awarding prizes to excellent master's and doctoral theses in the field of ship-based marine research since 1990.
 
"Today more than ever, terrorism is an issue that can also affect us in marine research," said Professor Arne Körtzinger, first chairman of the foundation and a scientist at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR). "However, in addition to commemorating the victims, we also want to set a positive impulse and a sign for marine research with the award ceremony. With the prize, we support young talents every year, and thus also invest in the future of marine sciences."
 
The 2022 award winners are:
 
Lena Holtmanns with her master's thesis on the spatial distribution of four seabird species in the German Bight (North Sea) in June 2019. The title is "Analysis of the spatial distribution of seabirds, fish and plankton in the German Bight". The work investigated the influence of different variables, such as water temperature, salinity, fish or zooplankton abundance, on seabird distribution. It was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Jens Floeter at the Department of Biology, University of Hamburg. There was also collaboration with second examiner Dr. Kai Borkenhagen from the Research and Technology Center (FTZ) at Kiel University.
 
Dr. Stefanie Haase with her PhD thesis "Interlinked patterns in movements and otolith formation of cod (Gadus morhua) in the southern Baltic Sea", in which she studied the ecology and behavior of cod. To do this, the animals were captured alive, fitted with external markers and internal data loggers, and released. The sensors collected data on water depth, temperature and time. Dr. Haase was able to read this information when a tagged cod was caught and returned by anglers or fishermen. The data allows conclusions to be drawn about the migration patterns of each fish. Because the sensors cannot record positions, Dr. Haase has further developed a model for the Baltic Sea to use the temperature and depth data to reconstruct which path the cod took between release and recapture. In addition, the research approach provided new insights into cod behavior in relation to oxygen and salinity. The work was supervised by Dr. Uwe Krumme from the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries in Rostock and Professor Dr. Axel Temming from the Institute of Marine Ecosystem and Fisheries Sciences (IMF) at the University of Hamburg.
 
"A better understanding of the behavior of marine organisms and the interactions with their environment has always been one of the major concerns of marine research. In times of progressive loss of biodiversity, overfishing and the need for sustainable use of our oceans, this knowledge becomes even more important," emphasizes GEOMAR Director Professor Dr. Katja Matthes. "Both award winners make excellent contributions to this. I thank them for this and congratulate them warmly on their well-deserved award."