News

Berlin, February 2018. M.E.E.R. celebrates its 20th anniversary this year! On this occasion we are very pleased to present the new film: “Das Meer vor La Gomera” (The Sea off La Gomera). As part of a student project, the cooperation with the University of Dessau (Department of Design) has resulted in a beautiful and informative image film that reflects the work of the NGO M.E.E.R. and its cooperation partner OCEANO Gomera. The film shows with enchanting images the uniqueness of this island and the wonderful encounters with whales and dolphins. The urgency and need for protection of this habitat is... Continue Reading

La Gomera, October 2017. This week, for the first time ever, the large catamaran high-speed ferry came to Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera to start operating on a regular basis. While we acknowledge the advantages this might have for the local people, we worry about the cetaceans that live in one of the cetacean species richest areas in Europe, because it has been well established that high speed ferries pose a serious threat to various whale species… see https://m-e-e-r.de/science/collisions/problemgebiet/?lang=en      

Middelfart/Berlin, April 2017. The 5. Workshop on the topic “Communicating Marine Mammal Science to the General Public”, organized by the 2. chairman of MEER Volker Smit, was again a great success. This year the focus was on “Marketing” and Silke Carstens – experienced Consultant from the market sector – presented the topic “Marketing” to the community of scientists together with Volker Smit. In the future this topic should be a permanent part of the workshop, which is to be continued next year. Overall the tenor from the workshop as well as from the ECS conference, which took place right afterwards,... Continue Reading

Berlin, March 2017. We proudly announce that M.E.E.R. e.V. offers its 5th workshop in a row on the annual conference of the European Cetacean Society (ECS). It is a full-day educational workshop „Communicating marine mammal science to the general public“, bringing together enthusiastic people in the field of marine mammals and education. It is organised by Volker Smit (M.E.E.R. e.V., Germany) and his colleague Dr. Luigi Bundone (Archipelagos ambiente e sviluppo, Italy). The workshop is open to all, especially suitable for researchers, educators, science teachers, students and the media. This year, we will focus on protocols related to objectives and... Continue Reading

Berlin/La Gomera, December 2016. Currently, we are working on the setup of a station for land-based observations of cetaceans. In November 2016, we conducted successful test runs, land-based observations were documented. By guiding the whale watching boats from aboveaccording to aur land-based observations we were able to contribute to a sustainable whale watching management. Recently, IFAW  (International Fund for Animal Welfare) and the Beatrice-Nolte-Stiftung assured  M.E.E.R. e.V. financial support. We are very grateful for that – now the project can start! In December 2016, the construction of the shelter began and we ordered professional optic equipment. First systematic data collection... Continue Reading

La Gomera, June 2016. Those students who exceeded expectations by improved performances in the past semester were invited to a very special whale watching trip on June 16, at 9 a.m. The kids from the Valle Gran Rey at the age of 14 to 15 years and their accompanying teacher had the opportunity to discover the large number of cetaceans off the coast of their hometown. Biologist Volker Boehlke started by introducing the most common species and explaining their habitat.  

Berlin/Madeira, March 2016. For the 3rd time in a row M.E.E.R. e.V. is the main organizer of an educational workshop at the annual conference of the European Cetacean Society (ECS). This year, the conference takes place on Madeira with a focus on the deep sea. The full day workshop “4th workshop on communicating marine mammal science to the general public” takes place in the Madeira Whale Museum on March 13th. It includes a presentation of the Madeira Whale Museum and a guided tour. The workshop is open for everybody interested in marine mammals’ protection, focusing on education. Therefore, it is... Continue Reading

La Gomera, February 2016. Our active member Josy Amey represented M.E.E.R. e.V. at the CETS meeting (CARTA EUROPEA DE TURISMO SOSTENIBLE) that was held in Agulo, La Gomera, at the beginning of February. Activities were presented that promoted eco-tourism and led at the same time to benefits of locals. In addition, there was a presentation and evaluation of companies, which sustainably work in tourism and are part of CETS, including our long-standing cooperation partner OCEANO. Furthermore, future demands and problems as well as possible sustainable solutions were collected and discussed. It was important for M.E.E.R. e.V. to be present at... Continue Reading