Hello from Bornholm Basin in the central Baltic Sea! With a team of 12 scientists and 11 permanent crew, we are currently operating in Baltic waters (see Figure 1) with research vessel Alkor to improve understanding of this beautiful but also heavily impacted and rapidly changing system.

For this purpose, we measure physical parameters (temperature, salinity and oxygen) from the sea surface to the sea floor and sample microbial, plankton and fish communities for projects in our Research Unit Marine Evolutionary Ecology at GEOMAR and for collaborations with other groups and institutes.

In doing so, we also add yet another puzzle piece to the 38-year Baltic Sea Integrative Long-Term Data Series, a sample and data treasure that represents “a finger on the pulse” on the Baltic Sea and helps us understand long-term changes under climate change, fishing and other regional anthropogenic pressures.

In the coming days, we want to show you more about the Baltic Sea, our scientific work and our study objects, ranging in size from viruses via copepods, fish larvae and jellyfish to marine fish. Hopefully, we can also share some of the wonder about the beauty and complexity of (Baltic) life in the sea along the way.

Greetings from on board Alkor,

The scientific crew of AL630

Want to learn more? Find our current position here, read our blogs from previous Alkor time series cruises below, and check out this perspective on rapid changes in the Baltic Sea!