GeoLog

German Bight

Imaggeo on Mondays: The calm before the storm

January 20, 2019
Imaggeo on Mondays: The calm before the storm
Kielwasser / Wake behind FS Heincke. Credit: Markus Benninghoff (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

The picture was taken during the 2015 research cruise HE441 in the southern German Bight, North Sea. It features the research vessel Heincke, on a remarkably calm and warm spring day, forming a seemingly steady wake. The roughly 55 metre long FS Heincke, owned by the German federal government and operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, provides a great platform for local studies of the North Sea ...[Read More]

GeoSciences Column: Catch of the day – what seabirds can tell us about the marine environment

September 22, 2017
GeoSciences Column: Catch of the day – what seabirds can tell us about the marine environment
An adult northern gannet mid-flight . Credit: Andreas Trepte , distributed via Wikimedia Commons .

Off the coast of Germany, a male northern gannet (for ease, we’ll call him Pete) soars above the cold waters of the North Sea. He’s on the hunt for a shoal of fish. Some 40km due south east, Pete’s mate and chick await, patiently, for him to return to the nest with a belly full of food. Glints of silver just below the waves; the fish have arrived. Pete readies himself. Body rigid, wings tucked in ...[Read More]