The research projects MINOS+ (since June 2004) and MINOS (1/02-3/04): An overview of current work
16.05.2008 - Final reports are available
The final MINOSplus project reports of the MINOS-projects 3, 5 and 6 finished and available as pdf-files.
You can get the reports in German here, in English the results are pulished as a book. 10.01.2008 - Closing event MINOS+-projects has been a great success
More than expected the closing event in Hamburg satisfied the organizers of the conference. Some 120 participants used the event as a platform for diskussions.
Scientists from Büsum, Kiel and Stralsund talked about the potential ecologic consequences of building and running of offshore wind plants on the wildlife in North Sea and Baltic Sea.
Recent methods and new results were reported and discussed by the participants of the conference.
A incredible high number of hours of scientific work led to new results about the ecology in North Sea and Baltic Sea. Thousends of miles by plane and ship took part of the recent data base.
The knowlegde about distribution and behaviour of marine mammals an seabirds has increased significantly during this six years period of research. More detailled informationen will be published in a book about the projects results.
Press release (only german) http://www.minos-info.de/material/PM_10Jan2008.htm
06.11.2007 - Period of registration ended
The final MINOSplus project conference will take place in Hamburg (D), 9./10.1.2008. Further details dowloadable als pdf-file here.
19.08.2007 - Closing event registration now possible
The final MINOSplus project conference will take place in Hamburg (D), 9./10.1.2008. Further details dowloadable als pdf-file here.
17.4.2007 - Advance notice of final status seminar
The final MINOSplus project conference will take place in Hamburg (D), 9./10.1.2008. For further details and program see above.
27.9.2006 Press release (in German) on the occasion of the second MINOS+-status seminar.
12.6.2006 - Advance notice of status seminar 2006
The next MINOSplus project conference will take place at the German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund (Baltic Sea, near the Island of Ruegen), 5./6. September 2006. Further details and programme will follow.
12.6.2006 - What happened during the previous months? The Interim report 2005 may be downloaded from this website since May. And here are some new results of 2006:
Seabirds: Due to adverse weather conditions in March, only the April surveys could be carried out completely. A flying visit in the middle of May showed, that most of the divers had already left the German Bight towards their breeding grounds.
One topic of the current MINOS+ research is the sensitivity of sea ducks and divers towards shipping traffic. First results on the behaviour of the investigated duck species towards much frequented shipping lanes may be interpreted as kind of a habituation effect. In contrast, divers clearly avoided the traffic separation scheme along the East Frisian coastline.
Careful attention should be paid to recreational boat traffic as an important disturbing factor, especially in the Baltic Sea and during summer.
Harbour porpoises/Aerial surveys: The aerial surveys during March and April were carried out successfully, except for the Doggerbank. The field research of this subproject is now practically completed. The statistical evaluation of the results will be continued. Updated abundance estimates for Germany should be available in autumn, at the next status seminar.
Harbour porpoises/T-PODs Baltic Sea: Due to the cooperation of different projects, the German Oceanographic Museum was able to increase the number of
in the Pommeranian Bay (Baltic Sea) from 8 to 19 in 2005. Investigations so far had shown that harbour porpoises were only detected every now and then in this area. The summer data of 2005 showed the same pattern. So it was something of a surprise to see that more porpoises were registered during the following winter 2005/2006, and more than expected at all.
Harbour porpoises/T-PODs North Sea: MINOS+ has currently placed 10
in the North Sea. In June, there will be a scientific cruise to the Doggerbank, where different methods of recording harbour porpoises will be applied in parallel:
1) sightings from aboard the ship 2) a towed automatic system for acoustic surveying 3) PODs deployed. In case of suitable weather conditions, there will also be aerial surveys at the same time.
Seals: During April and May a total of 21 seals was provided with telemetrical devices at the Islands of Helgoland and Rømø and at the sandbank Lorenzenplate. For the first time, even a group of 2 year old youngsters could be equipped. There are still two devices missing from last autumn´s campaign.
Hearing tests: The temporarily suspended audiometric tests with the Danish harbour porpoise Eigil are continued (Kerteminde, Island of Fyn).
5.12.2005 Press release (in German) on the occasion of the first MINOS+-status seminar.
11.10.2005 - MINOS+ status seminar at the end of November
The first MINOS+status seminar will be held at Tue/Wed 29./30.November 2005. Place and programme will be posted soon.
18.8.2005 - What happened between April and August?
Seabirds: Remarkably high numbers of guillemots, northern gannets, and kittiwakes were observed in April in the southeastern parts of the German North Sea -
. A complete survey of the German Baltic Sea was conducted in June. The summer surveys concerning the moulting of common scoters were successfully completed in the Pommerian Bay. But due to bad weather conditions some flights across the North Sea are still missing. During August there will be another aerial survey to count little gulls around the Island of Usedom (Baltic Sea).
Harbour porpoises: The aerial surveys during March and April were carried out successfully - even along the remote offshore areas like the Doggerbank. The summer flights (June-Aug) covered the Baltic Sea pretty well, but due to adverse weather some parts of the North Sea could not be examined yet.
The new surveys confirm the observations of the preceding years: The number of harbour porpoises at the Outer Sylt Reef starts to increase as of April and decreases again towards autumn. In the easter parts of the German Baltic Sea less harbour porpoises can be sighted than in the western parts. This pattern corresponds to the findings of the POD - research.
Harbour porpoises/PODs: Some of the North Sea - PODs were ripped off, but new ones are currently installed instead. The German Oceanographic Museum has placed 42
into the German Baltic Sea within the framework of MINOS+ and two other related projects. The new data confirm the previous results: The numbers of POD-registered encounters with harbour porpoises show a general decrease from west to east. Seasonal variations are observed in addition - with increasing numbers during spring/summer and declining numbers in winter.
Seals: After weeks of uneasy waiting some of the dead-reckoners which were attached in April have eventually arrived at the IFM-GEOMAR. The devices have assumably detached from the seals during the annual moulting (because there was still some hair on it). The logged data indicate that moulting might has taken place earlier this year than usual.
Hearing tests: After alreay joining the dead-reckoner-project, the seal lady "Deern" of the Friedrichskoog seal station is now getting into the audiometric research as well. After months of training her hearing ability can hence be measured. And in addition the temporarily suspended audiometric tests with the Danish harbour porpoise Eigil will be continued soon (Kerteminde, Island of Fyn).
April 20th, 2005 - First insight into our new interim report
The first interim report is currently in process. Analysing the variability of seabird distributions is one of the topics. Here is an example of the so far available results: The distribution patterns of fulmars in the German Bight correlate well with water transparency (measured with a Secchi disc): see figure. From this it can be deduced that fulmars are associated with the central North Sea water bodies, not with coastal waters.
April 17th, 2005 - seals
At April 12th 8 fit and fat seals were equipped with dead reckoners at the sandbank "Lorenzenplate" - 4 females and 4 males, as desired. A few days later for the first time 2 seals could be equipped at the island Helgoland. One of them was a pregnant female. The 75 grey seals who were resting there at the same time (photo) remained undisturbed, as MINOS+ is concentrating only on seals.
Dec 3rd, 2004 - Final report now available in German
You may download the final report of the first MINOS project now. The first english abstracts will probably be available in the middle of December.
Nov 23rd, 2004 - Picture of an exhibition
MINOS will soon be a part of three natural science and environmental exhibitions in Northern Germany: The Multimar Wattforum (Wadden Sea Forum), Tönning, and the Seal Centre in Friedrichskoog at the North Sea as well as the German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund at the Baltic Sea. There will be an information column in each of it. Each consists of an interactive computer unit, stack and touch games for children and of course a lot of facts concerning offshore windenergy, the MINOS project and a special animal issue. The opening in Stralsund will take place at December 2nd, 13:00, within the German Conference on "Marine Nature Conservation 2004". You may throw a first glance at it looking at this photo.
Oct 12th, 2004 - The final report will be late
Due to our changes in the staff we cannot keep on schedule and unfortunately have to to postpone the delivery of our final project report to the end of October. It will be available at this website after our federal project management organisation has then released it.
Oct 5th, 2004 - Changes in staff Thank you to our previous project leader Dr. Adolf Kellermann for the good cooperation! He has moved to Copenhagen to become head of ICES`s scientific programmes since 1st October (www.ices.dk). We wish him every success with his new job and much pleasure in it. And we welcome Dr. Klaus Koßmagk-Stephan from the Nationalparkamt (National Park Office) as our new head of the recent MINOSplus - network.
Sept 1st, 2004 - Retiring from public life for while
We will retire from public life during September because we are too busy producing the final report (look and see!).
Aug 5th, 2004 - The subsequent project MINOSplus
Our subsequent research proposal "MINOS plus" was finally accepted in July and the field works for this new project have already started (duration: 6/1/04 - 4/30/07). There will be information on the ongoing project work at this website further on. At long last, the final report of the first project will be available at the end of September.
Mar 25th, 2004 - The first MINOS project ends
The MINOS-project will end at March 31st. A subsequent project called "MINOS plus" is currently in the pipeline, it is assumed to start in May. As a result we cannot keep on schedule and have to postpone the final project report of the first MINOS to about end of June.
Mar 11th, 2004
MINOS will be represented at the "Scientific Forum of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) on Offshore Wind Energy Utilisation",
23 - 25 March 2004, Berlin.
Feb 6th, 2004
By now all field works are concluded. At the moment all MINOS-projects are evaluating and assessing their data. The final project report is scheduled for end of March.
Dec 12th, 2003
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
November 27th, 2003 One of the seal telemetrical devices was found in the middle of October after an eleven month odyssey through the North Sea (map). After detaching from the seal the device was blown across the North Sea by strong easterly winds (see Feb, 7th). When it subsequently drifted back to the European mainland the satellite signal was too weak to be detected (battery too low). We did not know where it was until German tourists found the bright orange device in a little fjord at the Fosen peninsula in Norway. They sent it back to our colleagues in Kiel and received the usual reward of 50 Euro in return. (see
on telemetry)
September 29th, 2003 Press release (in German) on the occasion of the second status seminar.
September 22nd, 2003
Please do no longer sign up for the MINOS seminar. We are fully booked.
September 12th, 2003
At the moment we are preparing for the second status seminar and expert panel meeting to be held at 25-26th September at the Research- and Technology Centre in Büsum (D). The seminar is open to public. Should you be interested, please contact us until Sept 19th: +49-(0)4861-616-48.
August 18th, 2003
Our colleagues of the German Oceanographic Museum have currently placed 11 porpoise detectors (
) within the German Baltic Sea. They are situated in the Fehmarn Belt and along the shipping route of the Kadetrinne as well as along the shores of the German country Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and within the outer parts of the German
north and east of the Island Rügen. Every few weeks the devices are taken out of the sea and maintained. The data are uploaded to a PC. As far as possible this is all done on board a dinghy (photo). The devices are marked above water with buoys and flags (photo).
July 14th, 2003
We successfully concluded the combined airborne and ship-based porpoise counts last week. A mobile
was thereby town behind the ship (photo). These work is done in order to
the different recording methods with each other.
June 26th, 2003 (figures were updated on July 9th)
So far five of the seal data-loggers attached in April have been recovered and three are still missing. There is yet no trace of the remaining four devices attached in November.
The MINOS colleagues at the Institute for Marine Research (Kiel) have already analysed the data included in the loggers of eight seals. This includes the analysis of a total of 33,000 single diving events which were conducted at water depths of more than 2 m. On an average each seal dives down to these depths nearly 280 times a day. One individual holds our depth record of 42 m, another one just established the current MINOS time record of a little more than 13 min.
June 24th, 2003
Today the sites designated according to EU directives to be marine protection areas in Germany were made public. Results of the MINOS project contributed to the selection of these areas. For more information on the sites see www.HabitatMareNatura2000.de (only in German).
May 30th, 2003 Airborne surveys of cetaceans across the Doggerbank (North Sea) spotted not only 90 harbour porpoises but also two minke whales. This is something really special because minke whales are rarely sighted in German waters (more information on this species).
The Research- and Technology Centre Westcoast (FTZ) at Büsum conducts these surveys as part of the MINOS project and as part of a further project that aims at designating marine protection sites in Germany. The data are available for both projects, see June 24th.
April 24th, 2003
The airborne seabird counts in the German parts of the North Sea (February, March, April) and in the Baltic Sea (February, April) were successfully concluded today. Thus completes the overall surveys of the last winter half year. The data will be analysed during the next months. The next extensive surveys will be carried out during the winter half year 2003/04. However, single flight days during the summer may be possible.
April 9th, 2003
Today the first eight seals in 2003 were equipped with
and satellite/radio transmitters. Five of them also got
. All caught seals again were checked by a vet. Moreover our scientists could successfully carry out audiometrical examinations of a free-living seal at the haul-out site.
They even met an old friend: One of the seals still carried his empty backpack (will loosen during the close next moult of his fur). This is probably that seal, whose telemetrical device was recently washed ashore the Island of Hooge. This device is still the only one of last November´s devices, that could be found until now. It is assumed that the other four are floating somewhere near Norway. They do not send satellite signals any longer since their batteries have run out (see Feb 7th).
Feb 26th, 2003
Today the first out of five telemetrical devices arrived at the Institute for Marine Research in Kiel (see Feb 7th). It was found at the German island Hooge.
During the recent fine weather period, aerial surveys of birds were
carried out successfully in the Baltic Sea. Counts of porpoises will
follow.
Over the last couple of weeks the seals at the Cologne zoo have been
undergoing tests on their hearing capacity.
Feb 7th, 2003
The five dead reckoners that were attached to seals at Nov 12th are still drifting somewhere in the North Sea. Heavy and steady winds were blowing from East at the time the devices came off the seals´ backs which mean that the units were driven far westward - three of them even crossed the North Sea and were detected near the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Since then, however, they have drifted back somewhat and can be found somewhere between Britain and the continent and near Bergen, Norway. The fourth device cannot be located at the moment and the fifth is somewhere around Denmark and Norway. The approximate positions of the devices can be determined by the transmitted satellite signals. But the positional data are too imprecise to allow us to fish them out of the sea. We have to wait until they are washed to the shores (
).
Dec 6th, 2002 Press release (in German) on the occasion of the first status seminar.
Nov 22nd, 2002
The devices that were fastened to five seals at the 12th November are transmitting data to the ARGOS satellite.
At the moment the seven single MINOS projects are preparing for the first status seminar to be held at 4-5th Dec. Subsequently the expert panel meeting will take place, too.
Nov 13th, 2002
At Nov 12th we successfully caught seals in the Wadden Sea for telemetrical investigations. At first the animals were sized, weighed and checked by a vet (photo). Five of them were equipped with dead reckoners and data-loggers (photo). Afterwards the seals were immediately released - they did not need to be told twice (photo). The data loggers will now log the seal´s actions every 15 seconds for a period of about 7 weeks (one of the instruments logs every 3 sec). Hopefully these will give us first insights into the life of the seals during winter time. For more information on telemetry
.
Apparently all of the caught seals were in good health - as far as can be judged from the first checks. This may indicate that only the healthiest individuals could survive the recent seal epidemic. After all they seem to be well prepared for winter. The results of the blood analysis will give more information on their general condition.
Three out of five
could be removed from the measuring site near Sylt/North Sea. The retrieved data now have to be evaluated. The other instruments will be retrieved at the next opportunity.
Oct 30th, 2002
This year´s seal epidemic seems to be almost over in Germany. Telemetrical investigations might possibly start during the next weeks.
The results of the airborne surveys of harbour porpoises show first indications of seasonal habitat preferences.
Since the beginning of October five porpoise detectors (
) are measuring in the North Sea near the island of Sylt, another one is fixed to a measuring pile somewhere else. As soon as the weather is favourable, the scientists will go out by ship, take out the PODs, retrieve the logged data and put the PODs back to the sea. During the last days of October the stormy weather prevented maintenance.
September 2002 - The seal epidemic rages in the Wadden Sea
Since the seal disease (Phocine Distemper Virus, PDV) has spread within the German Wadden Sea, we had to defer the telemetrical observations indefinitely. The animals must not be disturbed by research activities in addition to the disease. A telemetrical device, which was fastened to a seal in April this year, was found in the meantime (photo). But the data-logger had only worked for three days. As far as can be seen, the seal lingered around its haul-out site in the Wadden Sea during these days.
Due to the period of fair weather during the last weeks, the airborne surveys for counting birds and harbour porpoises could be carried out as planned. The first data have been analysed.
The first PODs were placed into the Baltic Sea already at the end of July, more will be deployed during the next weeks. In the middle of September a couple of PODs shall be installed within the investigation area near the island of Sylt (North Sea).
Thank you to our previous project leader Dr. Adolf Kellermann for the good cooperation! He has moved to Copenhagen to become head of ICES`s scientific programmes since 1st October (www.ices.dk). We wish him every success with his new job and much pleasure in it. And we welcome Dr. Klaus Koßmagk-Stephan from the Nationalparkamt (National Park Office) as our new head of the recent MINOSplus - network.
One of the seal telemetrical devices was found in the middle of October after an eleven month odyssey through the North Sea (map). After detaching from the seal the device was blown across the North Sea by strong easterly winds (see Feb, 7th). When it subsequently drifted back to the European mainland the satellite signal was too weak to be detected (battery too low). We did not know where it was until German tourists found the bright orange device in a little fjord at the Fosen peninsula in Norway. They sent it back to our colleagues in Kiel and received the usual reward of 50 Euro in return. (see
on telemetry)
Airborne surveys of cetaceans across the Doggerbank (North Sea) spotted not only 90 harbour porpoises but also two minke whales. This is something really special because minke whales are rarely sighted in German waters (more information on this species).