Expeditions

The research vessel ALDEBARAN sets off from Strasbourg on a 25-port, 1111-kilometer expedition to Hamburg on the Day of the Seas, following in the footsteps of human influences on waterways and the fascinating biodiversity along the Rhine.

The topics: Biodiversity and the ecological footprint of humans in bodies of water with an e-DANN research project. Many German water bodies are in a catastrophic state and only ten percent meet the strict ecological requirements of the European Water Framework Directive. The discharges from industry, which are still permitted, can quickly lead to dead zones for fish and other creatures in the event of low water levels caused by climate change. The water quality of Germany's longest river, the Rhine, reached its lowest point in the 1970s. Thanks to dedicated people and environmental measures, much has changed since then. The ALDEBARAN expedition investigated the current state of the Rhine's pollutant load and biodiversity and the impact of human activity.

Even many years after reunification, the Elbe is not in a good state. A mixture of highly toxic contaminants from the pre-reunification period and still huge amounts of fertilizers from conventional agriculture make the river one of the dirtiest in Europe, which is also problematic for our ocean.

This is because everything that the Elbe carries along its course ends up in the North Sea, where it harms the numerous inhabitants of the Wadden Sea National Park. In order to scientifically investigate this complex interplay and draw attention to the problems, the research vessel ALDEBARAN set off from Dresden on World Ocean Day 2022 with six different scientific projects on board to conduct a current status analysis of the Elbe.

With a voyage of the research vessel ALDEBARAN across the rivers of Germany and France from Berlin to the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, accompanied by numerous activities with scientists and journalists on board, the German Ocean Foundation demonstrates how massively the ocean is already affected by climate change and how strongly the survival of mankind depends on a healthy ocean. 

Under the motto "RENEW", the German Ocean Foundation is calling for the consistent use of renewable energies and active climate and marine protection. "Only by immediately reducing CO2 emissions can the dramatic consequences for the ocean be reduced. The necessary technologies have long been available in Germany. Short-sighted actions shaped by lobbying must be replaced by long-term sustainable strategies and, above all, by cost-effective solar energy as a perspective for a peaceful global energy supply," emphasized climate researcher Prof. Hartmut Graßl at the start of the tour on 3 October 2015 in Hamburg. The highlights of the tour were an event in Strasbourg with the well-known climate researcher Moijb Latif and the visit of Prince Albert II of Monaco on board the ALDEBARAN in Paris for the climate summit. 

The ALDEBARAN team is producing films about climate change and its impending consequences for the Live Earth concert in Hamburg: "This is the most severe climate change that has occurred on our planet in the last million years," announces Prof. Hartmut Graßl, the former director of the World Climate Research Program, at the beginning of the trailer, drawing attention to the current climate situation.

During the concert, six further short clips with fascinating underwater footage will be added to the worldwide broadcast from Hamburg. All the footage was recorded during ALDEBARAN's "Sinking Paradise" expedition off the coast of Belize. At the same time, the ALDEBARAN team organized the "Live Earth Climate Lounge" exhibition about the "Sinking Paradise" expedition as the leading PR event for the German Live Earth concert. The exhibition shows films and photos of the expedition as well as interesting quotes from renowned German climate researchers, which are intended to reinforce the plea for a different approach to our planet Earth. (July 2007)