Parade of Research Vessels on Kiel Fjord
ALKOR and POSEIDON in their home port Kiel
The fact that all four research vessels of 91̽»¨ Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel are united at the pier occurs only once every few years. But their sailing side-by-side on Kiel Fjord has probably never happened before, so last Wednesday’s meeting was a first-time opportunity. ALKOR departed for southern Sweden to recover experimental equipment, so-called mesocosms, after completing a long-term experiment on ocean acidification. POSEIDON had just returned from an excursion off the coast of Norway, during which the research submersible JAGO examined and sampled cold-water coral reefs. This coming weekend, POSEIDON will leave Kiel again for the North Atlantic. In December, the ship will then return to Germany for a routine shipyard stay.