Joint press release of Kiel University and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
LITTORINA’s operators are GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Kiel University.
In the 1970s, marine science in Germany, especially in Kiel experienced positive developments. In 1972 the Institute for Marine Science at Kiel University moved into its new building directly on the Kiel Line, the sea promenade in the heart of Kiel. Soon afterwards, the German Research Foundation (DFG) granted the collaborative research center (SFB) 95, which was established at Kiel University. Until 1985, the center rendered fundamental insight on the interaction between sea and sea floor. In order for the SFB not to constantly have to charter ships from others, the DFG granted the construction of an own cutter. On June 27th 1975, exactly 40 years ago, the LITTORINA was officially put into service. Last Saturday, scientists, current and previous crew members and representatives of related shipping companies celebrated the jubilee onboard. “Forty years is a proud age for a research vessel. That the LITTORINA is still so reliable is something special,” says GEOMAR ship coordinator Dr. Klas Lackschewitz.
The LITTORINA was built at the Julius Dietrich ship yard in Oldersum. The construction costs amounted to 3.4 million German marks. The name symbolizes the cooperation between marine biologists and marine geologists. The periwinkle Littorina littorea is one of the most abundant sea snails. It was already the name sake for an early development stage of the Baltic Sea, the so-called “Littorina Sea”, which existed approximately 8500 to 2500 years ago.
After the expiration of the SFB 95, Kiel University took over responsibility for the LITTORINA. Today the University shares the staff and operational expenses with the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, which also coordinates LITTORINA’s expeditions. The cutter is currently operated by the OFFCON GmbH in Kappeln together with NSB Niederelbe in Buxtehude. All areas of marine research and sample retrieving can be conducted with this ship. It is mainly taken across the North and Baltic Sea; however its shipping permission reaches up to the Lofoten off the coast of North Norway.
Besides the possibility of retrieving samples from the water or the sea bed, the LITTORINA was designed for research divers. It is equipped with a diving room and a dinghy and therefore the training courses and work by the research diver team of the Centre for Geosciences at Kiel University mainly take place on the LITTORINA.
A monthly trip to the long-term station Boknis Eck is also on the LITTORINA’s agenda. Since 1957, oxygen levels, nutrient concentrations, plankton growth and other biological, chemical and physical data have been measured at the end of the Eckernförde Bay. Thus the station is one of the oldest, continuously sampled sea spots in the world.
“With the LITTORINA we still have a reliable and frequently used platform for scientific work in the North European Marginal Seas,” emphasizes ship coordinator Dr. Klas Lackschewitz. “Nevertheless, we must think about what will happen after her service time. After 40 years, this is not such a distant topic.”
Links:
www.geomar.de/en GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
www.uni-kiel.de/index-e.shtml Kiel University
www.bokniseck.de Boknis Eck Station
www.ifg.uni-kiel.de/947.html The research diver team at Kiel University
Foto material:
At www.geomar.de/n3884 Material is available for download.
Contact:
Jan Steffen (GEOMAR, Communication & Media), Tel.: (+49) 431 600-2811, presse@geomar.de
Claudia Eulitz (Kiel University, Press), Tel.: (+49) 431 880 2104, presse@uv.uni-kiel.de
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