News

3 Feb

Whales off Tenerife as a “World Heritage”

It is reported that the marine area in the southwest off Tenerife has been designated as a “World Heritage Site for Cetaceans”. Having already been established as a Natura 2000 protected area by the EU, then designated as Parque Marina de los Cetaceos (Whale Natural Park) and most recently declared as a Hope Spot by Sylvia Earle’s organisation Mission Blue, this is the next recognition of the unique whale and dolphin occurrences off the island. This is actually a reason to rejoice. Because the increased attention can lead to special protection being given to this extraordinary natural treasure in the...

7 Dec

KUS meets M.E.E.R. at GomeraVive on La Gomera!

We are pleased to have been able to support the project „Klassenzimmer unter Segeln“ (KUS) by the traditional sailing ship Thor Heyerdahl and to host it on La Gomera in cooperation with our partner GomeraVive. Volker Boehlke took four groups of 8-9 10th grade students on a natural history walk along the coast of the Valle Gran Rey. They dealt with and touched on a variety of topics: oceanographic, marine biological, botanical, environmental, geological, historical and also political. These were dealt with, for example, through waves and current dynamics, microplastics and waste water, adaptations of coastal flora and marine fauna,...

28 Nov

Marine Mammal Podcast episode with M.E.E.R.

See the new Marine Mammal Science Podcast (hostedt by the Society for Marine Mammalogy):Dr. Ashley Scarlett has a wide-ranging discussion with Fabian Ritter from the history of whale watching in La Gomera, to the organization M.E.E.R. Their discussion covers topics on sustainable whale-watching, ship strikes, and the International Whaling Commission.

20 Oct

Drilling Is Killing

Surfrider Foundation Europe gives citizens the tools to join the conversation on offshore oil drilling in the EU Following the publication of the Manifesto “Toward an EU offshore drilling ban” on April 20nd 2020 which M.E.E.R. also signed, Surfrider Foundation Europe moves into the second phase of its #DrillingIsKilling campaign with the launch of a new online platform. Citizens are now invited to contact their MEPs with direct messages calling for a total ban on offshore oil and gas exploration in the EU! The NGO aims to gain momentum in this effort just ahead of the anticipated evaluation report of...

26 Mar

Ship Strikes: For Educational Use

Berlin, March 2019. M.E.E.R. is offering a free download of an INFORMATION PACKAGE on VESSEL-WHALE COLLISIONS for educational use. This package contains background information, digital leaflets as well as a complete, ready-to-use PowerPoint presentation about ship strikes including presentation text! The PPT presentation was produced by the IWC (International Whaling Commission) in collaboration with M.E.E.R.… …continue reading here!

17 Aug

Master thesis in the field of environmental education

La Gomera, July/August 2018. As part of its research and education activities, M.E.E.R. e.V. regularly supports students with their bachelor and master theses. Currently, Maita Bengsch is working on her thesis, including data collection on La Gomera. She introduces herself as well as her project here: “Hey, my name is Maita Bengsch and I am studying Sustainable Tourism at the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde in Germany. Together with MEER e.V. I am currently working on my master thesis. The goal of this master thesis is to detect gaps and differences in the environmental marine education of residents and tourists...

4 May

Plastic litter and marine mammals: a report from the workshop at the ECS conference

Berlin/La Spezia, May 2018. Wow, this year’s ECS workshop, co-organized by M.E.E.R., set new standards. More than 50 participants came together to talk about plastic litter and marine mammals, more than ever before. M.E.E.R.’s 2nd chairman Volker Smit presented the results of the plastic pirates, who want to avoid plastic waste even before getting into the oceans. We had talks about current developments as well as about the whole extent of the problem, others dealt with approaches to solve the problem. These included the campaign “I care” by the Swiss organization “OceanCare” and the project One World One Ocean for...

1 Mar

6th educational workshop of M.E.E.R. e.V. at the ECS conference 2018!

Berlin, March 2018. We proudly announce that M.E.E.R. e.V. offers its 6th workshop in a row on the annual conference of the European Cetacean Society (ECS). It is an educational full-day workshop in the series „Communicating marine mammal science to the general public“, bringing together enthusiastic people in the field of marine mammals and education. This year’s subject is “Plastic litter and marine mammals: how communication can properly address the issue”. We will focus on the growing problem of plastic litter (macro and micro plastic) in the marine environment representing a great threat to marine mammals as well as on...

Recent Posts

Filter nach Monaten