Text & Photos: Marine Sensor Systems Research Group Ein bisher noch eher unscheinbares Element unserer Forschung auf der METEOR sind die Oberflächendrifter. Diese kleinen Schwimmkörper treiben mit der Oberflächenströmung mit…
Posts tagged as “ForscherInnen in Aktion”
Text & Photos: Isha Athale, Maia El-Zahab Hi! We are Isha & Maia, the marine microbiologists on board the METEOR! Both of us are international students who left our home…
Text & Photos: Mira Kehr & Martin Pöppelreiter Durch die Straße von Gibraltar und vorbei an den Kanarischen Inseln haben wir nach erfolgreichem Passieren der ersten beiden Stationen nun eine…
Mein Name ist Lea, ich bin Master-Studentin an der Universität Oldenburg und bin das erste Mal auf einem Forschungsschiff unterwegs. Ich versuche euch heute das Forschen und Leben auf der R/V Falkor durch einige meiner ersten Eindrücke zu vermitteln.

The focal point of our research on board are bacteria in seawater and sediment. These bacteria are so small that they can only be seen under a microscope. But we are also interested in something that can’t even be seen with a microscope: dissolved compounds that are found in amazing variety in seawater. We want to understand where these compounds come from and how they are used by bacteria.

The smallest forms of life in the ocean, bacteria, are the central focus of our research on board. Bacteria are single celled life forms; they are so small that we cannot see them without a microscope. Nevertheless, we want to know how many bacteria there are in the ocean; how are they counted?

The brand-new CTD from ICBM – Germany’s largest CTD - is being used for the first time during this research cruise with the Sonne. In addition to valuable data, the CTD brings 24 large bottles of seawater from different depths on deck. Not ‘just’ water, but up to 480 liters with every cast.