News

13 Apr

Milestone for MEER’s work in the Canaries

We can be really proud of ourselves, because to coincide with our 25th anniversary, MEER was invited to participate in an expert workshop on marine mammal conservation throughout Spain. Things moved very quickly. There was just over a week between the invitation and arrival, so a lot of flexibility was required. Our 2nd chairman Volker Smit accepted the invitation without further ado. Our research department (Christina Sommer) made sure to compile the correct sighting data in up-to-date maps for this workshop at very short notice and as a result we were able to provide clear information on the various cetacean...

12 Apr

ECS Workshop 2023

We are absolutely thrilled to host one of our successful workshops in the lead-up to the European Cetacean Society Conference (ECS). The workshops will take place on April 16 and 17 in the coastal town of O’Grove in Galicia, Spain. The full-day workshop, “Communicating Marine Mammal Science to the General Public,” is co-organized by M.E.E.R. e.V. and will be held on April 17. This year, our content is dedicated to the conference theme: “Our Oceans, Our Future.” Report on the Communication Workshop: Our workshop this year was once again a great success, featuring 14 presentations from a wide variety of...

13 Mar

Historic treaty to protect the high seas

After 15 years of negotiations, the UN member states, including Germany, have agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas. In the future, at least 30% of the world’s high seas, which have so far lacked any protection by law, are to be designated as protected areas. In addition to this, any expeditions, economic projects and other activities within these areas are to be assessed for environmental compatibility. The treaty must now be ratified by the individual member states. Upon ratification, marine protected areas can be designated by a three-quarters majority of member states, preventing obstruction by individual nations....

20 Feb

MEER is now on gooding

MEER e.V. now has an association profile on the donation website “gooding.de”. With this the association or one of its specific projects can very easily be supported with online purchases. Depending on the online shop, approx. 5% of the purchase value (excluding VAT and shipping) goes to the association of choice. There are no additional costs. If you install the gooding toolbar in your browser, you will be directly informed that your current purchase supports MEER e.V. More under this link: https://www.gooding.de/m-e-e-r-e-v-107631

1 Jan

New Year’s post from us

Our New Year’s post recently went out to all of our supporting members! We would like to thank everyone who supports us with either regular or one-off donations and all those who are giving up some of their free time to keep the association running. Without you we would not be able to continue our research and the protection of the oceans. We are looking forward to an exciting 2023! PS: Our cards are produced in a climate neutral manner with green electricity, printed on recycled paper and with vegan vegetable oil-based inks. And for all those who didn´t receive...

2 Nov

Digitalisation: Data acquisition via app

In the past months we have made a huge step forward in the digitalisation of our data recording in cooperation with the company Pegenau (Erfurt): Software developer Stefan Werfling has developed an app specifically for M.E.E.R. e.V. that digitally records sightings of whales and dolphins. Sighting data (coordinates of the sighting, species, displayed behaviour, group size and composition, etc.) can now be digitally collected on each tour and fed directly into the database. In addition to this, photos can also be taken with a tablet, assigned to the respective sighting and uploaded to the database. The tour’s location data is...

1 Nov

Behavioural Biology Course on La Gomera

From September 17th to October 1st 2022 a behavioural biology course under the direction of biologist Christina Sommer took place on La Gomera for the first time since the pandemic related restrictions had been put in place. This waiting period was used to rearrange and update the course content somewhat: In addition to the usual elaboration of behavioural biology methods, two additional focal points were set: the first on land-based observation and the calculation of associated sighting coordinates, the other on habitat threats and conservation efforts for cetaceans off the island. In addition, the latest scientific publications were presented (e.g....

30 Oct

Mindful Conservation

In October 2022, the scientific journal “Advances in Marine Biology” published an article by our chairman Fabian Ritter: “Marine Mammal Conservation in the 21st Century: a plea for a Paradigm Shift Towards Mindful Conservation”. The article deals with differing approaches in marine conservation and pleads for a holistic and conscious approach towards the oceans and its inhabitants. This requires the development of a (new) narrative of connectedness between humans and nature, which must replace the currently prevailing narrative of separateness. Read the Abstract of the article here: Marine mammals are held in high esteem by the general public, and are...

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