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Expedition

Ocean Change 2023

With the Dagmar Aaen to the Hebrides

This year, the crew of the sailing vessel Dagmar Aaen, Arved Fuchs' sailing ship, is setting sail again. After a comprehensive overhaul, the 92-year-old sailing cutter is once again fit for new tasks and adventures.

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The crew
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On the way into the unknown

Changes in the oceans can be of natural and man-made origin. Very important are observations of changes over time, e.g. to visualize developments in the context of climate change or the ecological state of the oceans over the years. Arved Fuchs has been undertaking expeditions for over 40 years, especially to the Arctic region. In doing so, he has become a profound expert of the polar regions as well as the oceans.

~2000 NM
11 weeks

From June 26, the voyage leads to Warnemünde to the Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung (IOW), where a total of ten measuring buoys - so-called Argo floats - will be taken on board and then released at specific positions in the Baltic Sea region. These buoys provide data over long periods of time that help to make reliable statements about the state of the Baltic Sea.

The course then leads via Skagerrak into the northern part of the North Sea and further into the Atlantic. In the area of the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Islands, water flows into the North Sea, some of which comes from the open North Atlantic and some from the Irish Sea near the coast. But in what proportion in each case? Participating scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon want to close a data gap (see map) and determine the different chemical signatures in the surface water. To do this, the crew will take numerous water samples in special bottles, which will then be analyzed in the laboratory.

The Crew
Live-Position
Logbook
Podcast
Live-Cam
Important points of the expedition

Ocean Change 2023

Live-Position
Baltic Sea - North Sea - Atlantic Ocean

Course

In the further course of the voyage, the crew of the Dagmar Aaen will also visit the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic. The rough sea area with the numerous islands with their ancient Celtic roots, form a fascinating natural scenery. On this section, too, the volunteer crew will collect oceanographic measurement data in the less frequented sea areas in coordination with the scientific institutes involved and make them available to the institutes free of charge.

Since 2015, the OCEAN CHANGE project has been intensively addressing changes in the oceans and their impact on climate and coastal landscapes.

Goals

The aim of this project is, among other things, to sensitize the interested public for the protection of the oceans and the world climate within the framework of this Citizen Science project, and at the same time to provide scientific institutes with data. Thanks to its technical equipment, the ship is a hub of information transmission. In cooperation with the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center and the Leibnitz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, meteorological and oceanographic data such as salinity, CO2 saturation and temperature of the surface water are uploaded in real time 24/7 to the platform beluga.geomar.de. In addition, weather data for the German Weather Service are also transmitted via satellite. These services are made possible by the generous support of the manufacturing companies as well as sponsors, without whom such a project would not be feasible.

be involved

At the same time, videos and interviews from the adventurous life on board are sent to Arved Fuchs' professional shore crew.

Prepared for different playout channels, we provide you with exciting content here, via tiktok, Podcast,  facebook, twitter, insta und youtube.

All information about the expedition OCEAN CHANGE can be found here.

Return

The start of the 5th leg of OCEAN CHANGE will be on June 26 in Flensburg, the crew of "Dagmar Aaen" will return early September.

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