Author: Kelle Moreau

An international group of scientists has mapped the « hotspots » of biodiversity in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. As animals go to places where they find food, the researchers managed to do this by collating electronic tracking data of more than 4,000 individuals of 17 species of predators. By regularly analysing such large datasets, we can better protect vulnerable ecosystems.

In a rapidly changing world, we need to know which areas warrant protection from existing, developing and forthcoming threats. This is hard to do objectively in the vast realm of the oceans, and particularly so in the remote Southern Ocean around Antarctica. A paper published this week in the journal Nature (together with a companion data paper in the journal Scientific Data) describes a novel solution to this problem : using electronic tracking data from birds and marine mammals. The Antarctic Biodiversity Portal managed by RBINS was closely involved in collecting, cleaning up and standardizing these data.

The solution relies on a simple principle: animals go to places where they find food. So, identifying areas of the Southern Ocean where predators most commonly go also tells us where their prey can be found. For example, humpback whales and penguins will go to places where they can feed on krill, whereas elephant seals and albatrosses go where they can find fish, squid, or other prey. If all these predators and their diverse prey are found in the same place then this area has both high diversity and abundance of species, indicating that it is of high ecological significance.

Joining Antarctic Forces

The project was conducted by the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), with support from the Centre de Synthèse et d’Analyse sur la Biodiversité, France, WWF-UK and many other partners.

SCAR engaged its extensive network of Antarctic researchers to assemble existing Southern Ocean predator tracking data.  The result : an enormous database containing tracking data of over 4000 predators from 17 species, collected by more than 70 scientists across 12 national Antarctic programs. « The SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal, that is managed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), was closely involved in collecting, cleaning and standardizing these data. » says RBINS scientist Dr. Anton Van de Putte, who co-authored both papers. He acts as a Belgian scientific representative for both SCAR and the Commission for the Conservation for Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

Even this impressive dataset does not directly represent all Southern Ocean predator activity, because it is impossible to track all the breeding colonies of every species. « To overcome this, sophisticated statistical models were used to predict the movements for all known colonies of each of the 17 predator species across the entire Southern Ocean. These predictions were combined to provide an integrated map of those areas used by many different predators with diverse prey requirements. » Van de Putte adds.

Current and Future Areas of Ecological Significance

The most important of these areas – areas of ecological significance – are scattered around the Antarctic continental shelf and in two wider oceanic regions, one projecting from the Antarctic Peninsula engulfing the Scotia Arc, and another surrounding the sub-Antarctic islands in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a crucial tool in the conservation management toolbox. Existing and proposed MPAs are mostly found within the areas of ecological significance, suggesting that they are currently in the right places. Yet when using climate model projections to account for how areas of important habitat may shift by 2100, the existing MPAs with their fixed boundaries may not remain aligned with future important habitats. Dynamic management of MPAs, updated over time in response to ongoing change, are therefore needed to ensure continued protection of Southern Ocean ecosystems and their resources in the face of growing resource demand by the current and future generations.

Van de Putte : « This kind of study indicates the importance of international cooperation and sharing scientific data. Only by combining the data and jointly analyze them, we can come to these results. I look forward to also sharing our future findings and thus to keep contributing to the preservation of the unique Antarctic ecosystems. »

Watch the timelapse video of the data: youtu.be/BUgYD1dQwBI

Seals have become more and more numerous along our coast in recent years, which also increases the chance that people bump into one on the beach. Many people erroneously assume that a seal on dry land is in trouble anyway, but mostly this is not the case. When a holiday period overlaps with a period when more seals are resting on the beach, the scientists of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and Sea Life Blankenberge are inundated with worried phone calls. Yesterday was such a day … Unfortunately, many reports also mention that the animals are being harassed by humans. Tragically, often by people with good intentions, who do not realize that their actions mainly cause stress to the animals, resulting in disturbance and sometimes even lower survival chances. The advice is therefore always that seals on the beach should be given rest, with a distance of at least 20 m from the animals. Whether the seal is sick or healthy makes no difference.

Nowadays, more seals are reported along the Belgian coast every year, following the positive trend recorded in the Netherlands, N France and SE England. Especially Harbour seals Phoca vitulina (even small groups) are seen daily, and the Grey seal Halichoerus grypus has also become established. It is perfectly normal that many people do not know how to interpret the presence of a seal on the beach, for them it is an unknown phenomenon. However, coastal areas, and therefore beaches, form an important part of the habitat of seals; they are not dolphins or whales that cannot survive outside the water. When a seal is on the beach, it does not necessarily mean that it is in trouble. More often than not this is not the case.

Sick versus Healthy

In order not to stress seals unnecessarily, but also in order not to overload emergency services and animal shelters, it is important that beachgoers are not only aware that seals nowadays form an integral part of the fauna of the Belgian North Sea and beaches, but also know how to distinguish healthy from sick seals. More and more coastal municipalities are putting effort into providing such information on panels and banners. In summary, healthy seals often adopt the typical « banana posture » (with head and tail raised), usually show no wounds, are alert and growl when approached. Sick or injured seals look much more passive, they adopt a « flat posture », show wounds and/or cough. In the latter case, and certainly in the case of a combination of these symptoms, it is worth contacting local emergency services or a specialised shelter (in Belgium, this is Sea Life Blankenberge).

Grey Seals at the End of Winter

At the end of winter, however, there may also be seals on the beach that are essentially healthy but deviate from the typical image of a healthy seal. These are often adult males of the Grey seal that are exhausted after the mating season, and may therefore appear skinny and adopt a « flat posture ». Grey seals mate mainly in December – January, and the males engage in impressive and energy-consuming fights to gain the preference of the females. Especially late and inexperienced males – who didn’t get what they were looking for during the peak of the mating season and have kept up their mating efforts and fighting spirit for longer – can now lie tired on our beaches. All they need is rest. Giving them food is out of the question, and they don’t need to be made wet (again: they’re not dolphins or whales). Moreover, because of their size, weight and impressive teeth and claws, it is not obvious to take care of these animals in a shelter. Enjoy their presence at a distance, suppress the urge for a « sealfie » (seal-selfie), and be sure to keep your dog(s) on a leash on a beach where there is a seal!

More information about seals in Belgium can be found in the annual marine mammal reports of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (available for 2014 to 2018, the 2019 edition is in preparation), at http://www.marinemammals.be/reports.

The future Belgian research vessel Belgica was launched for the first time on 11 February 2020 from the Freire Shipyard in Vigo, Spain. An important milestone following the keel laying, the equivalent of the laying of the foundation stone of a building, just under a year ago. The ceremony took place in the presence of the various project partners: the shipyard, the Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO), Defence and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS). Now the ship will be further finished and provided with all the necessary equipment. The delivery of the ship in Zeebrugge is scheduled for the last quarter of this year. Then it will officially be put into service. The cost of the project amounts to approximately 54 million euros (VAT included).

The first launch of a new ship (where the ship is literally transferred from land to water for the first time) is always considered a joyful event, which is celebrated with a formal ceremony. This includes speeches by the various project partners on the Spanish and Belgian sides, the actual launch, the signing of the book of honour and the exchange of gifts.

After a welcome speech by Mr Guillermo Freire, General Manager of Freire Shipyard, the representatives of the Belgian delegation were the first to address those present. Mr Pierre Bruyere, Chairman of the Executive Committee of BELSPO, outlined the path that led to the current collaboration and contract with Freire Shipyard, and stressed that in 2020 we will also be celebrating 50 years of continued funding of marine sciences through BELSPO’s research programmes. The arrival of the new RV Belgica will be a highlight of this celebration. Mrs Patricia Supply, General Director of RBINS, emphasized among other things the long history of marine scientific research at this institute. Many milestones were covered: from the first Belgian Antarctic expedition (1897-1899) led by Adrien de Gerlache, through the first standardised sampling of Belgian marine fauna (1898-1939) by Gustave Gilson, to the accommodation of the MUMM scientific service (Management Unit of the Mathematical Model of the North Sea) within RBINS in 1997. Division-Admiral Yves Dupont, head of the Systems Division of the General Directorate of Material Resources of Defence, then praised the way in which the close cooperation of the past years within the framework of the current RV Belgica led to an increasing knowledge of the sea, which also contributes to the success of the activities of the Navy. The knowledge that the new RV Belgica will acquire, and the continued exchange of scientific and military information, will also remain indispensable in this context.

Finally, the Belgian representatives congratulated Freire Shipyard not only on the successful way in which they are implementing the new RV Belgica project, but also on the 125th anniversary of the shipyard, which will also be celebrated in 2020.

Background and Milestones of the Construction and Naming Process

After 36 years of service, with more than 1,000 scientific expeditions and more than 900,000 kilometres travelled on the counter (>22.5 times around the earth), the current Belgian oceanographic research vessel A962 Belgica (built in 1984) was in need of replacement. Therefore, on 28 October 2016, the federal government decided to build a new modern research vessel. The contract for the design and construction of the ship was awarded by the Minister of Science Policy to the Spanish shipyard Freire Shipyard (Vigo) and the Norwegian ship designer Rolls-Royce Marine AS (which in the meantime became part of the Norwegian Kongsberg Maritime).

The Directorate General Material Resources (DG MR) at the Ministry of Defence has a solid knowledge of tendering procedures. The latest acquisition of two new patrol vessels and the renewal of the mine countermeasure capacity, among other things, fitted nicely with the acquisition of this new research vessel. It therefore went without saying that the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Science continued to work closely together on the acquisition and monitoring of the design and construction process. Since the contract was awarded, a great deal has been achieved: the detailed plans for the vessel were drawn up, scale models were tested, and on 13 February 2019 the cutting of the steel for the construction of the new vessel was started. The keel laying took place on 27 March 2019. Less than a year later, the new RV Belgica can be launched for the first time! Afterwards, the ship will be further finished and provided with all the necessary equipment. At the end of 2020, as planned, it will be delivered in its home port of Zeebrugge to support the marine research community for the next thirty years. After 36 years of loyal service, the current RV Belgica will then end its research activities for good.

In the meantime, the name of the Belgian oceanographic ship was also determined. After a naming competition with several phases (submission of proposals by secondary schools, first selection of admissible names by a professional jury, followed by a public online vote) it became clear that the new ship will honour the Belgian tradition and will also go through life as RV Belgica. The Federal Minister for Science Policy announced this on 25 April 2019 in the presence of the winning class 1LA of Athénée Maurice Destenay in Liège, after which students and minister could enjoy a sea voyage on the current A 962 Belgica.

Future of the New RV Belgica

Compared to its predecessor, the new RV Belgica is larger (71.4 m compared to 50 m) and offers more space to the scientists (a doubling of laboratory space with a capacity to take up to 28 scientists on board). The new RV Belgica will guarantee compliance with our country’s national and international obligations and ensure continuity in the support of marine sciences. In this way, the new RV Belgica will continue the important role of the current A962 Belgica in monitoring the state of the Belgian and surrounding marine waters, as well as in fundamental scientific research.

The new Belgica will also be equipped with state-of-the-art scientific equipment that will allow samples to be taken up to a depth of 5,000 m. The new vessel will also be a silent vessel (important for fisheries research, among other things) with a light ice reinforcement to be able to conduct research in Arctic areas during the summer. Although the North Sea will remain the main focus area of the new vessel, the research area extends further than the current RV Belgica: northwards to above the Arctic Circle, further south including the Mediterranean and Black Seas and westwards to the Atlantic Ocean. The ship will have an autonomy of 30 days and will carry out up to 300 days of research at sea each year.

International Dimension

The international dimension of science will also be given due attention in the agenda of the new RV Belgica. Just as the current RV Belgica already formed part of the European EUROFLEETS network (in which international scientists can obtain shipping time on foreign research vessels), the new RV Belgica will also remain active within this network. Also under the umbrella of the European Marine Board, Belgium (represented in this dossier by Dr. Lieven Naudts, ‘New RV’ project manager for RBINS) participated in a study on the status of the European fleet of research vessels, and helped determine the key role these vessels play now and in the future in the pursuit of a better understanding of the oceans, the functions they can perform for us, and the preconditions within which human activities can be permitted. A ‘European Marine Board Position Paper’ on this theme was published in the autumn of 2019. Since June 2019, Dr. Naudts also assumes the position of chairman of the European Research Vessel Operators group (ERVO).

Thanks to the new RV Belgica and the European framework, Belgium remains at the forefront of sea-related science and technology, helping to ensure that Europe can remain a world leader in marine science and exploration.

The ‘NewRV’ project became reality thanks to the collaboration between the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), the Ministry of Defence and the Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The new Belgica will be owned by the Belgian State, represented by the Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). Operational management will be provided by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in collaboration with Defence and a private operator.

More information about the ‘NewRV’ project and the technical specifications of the new ship can be consulted at http://www.belspo.be/NewRV, where the construction process can also be followed.

On Saturday 25 January 2020, a hiker was very surprised when he found a peculiar animal skull along the road, with meat and fat remains still on it. The scene of the event was Braine-le-Château, a small green community in the province of Brabant wallon.

Not special? Yes, as it appeared to be the skull of a dolphin, and the hiker happened to be someone with knowledge on the subject. It is the skull of a Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) or a Striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), two species whose skulls are not easily distinguishable from each other. These species only rarely end up in the North Sea, their normal Atlantic range extending only to the western part of the English Channel.

How did this skull end up along a small road close to the E19 between Nivelles and Brussels? Wild speculation … That the animal swam up the Scheldt, and then reached the site via tributaries, through locks, can be excluded. That the animal was dragged to the site after being stranded by, for example, a fox, seems equally unlikely.

All information that can contribute to solving this mystery is welcome at kmoreau@naturalsciences.be.

On Wednesday evening 15 January a Sowerby’s beaked whale washed ashore in Ostend. An autopsy showed that the animal was probably still alive when it got into trouble in our coastal waters, no clear cause of death could be determined. Since shallow coastal waters are an unsuitable habitat for beaked whales, reports of the species have always been rare in Belgium. To date, only five previous cases of strandings of beaked whales in Belgium are known.

In the evening of 15 January 2020, late beachgoers found a stranded beaked whale near the eastern breakwater of Ostend. Unfortunately, the animal (which was first reported as a harbour porpoise, and later as a bottlenose dolphin) was already dead, and thanks to an efficient cooperation with the Ostend police, fire brigade and technical services, the carcass could quickly be transferred to the buildings of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in Ostend. From there, on Thursday morning 16 January, it left for the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University, where an autopsy was performed around noon. Meanwhile it was clear that it was an immature female of the Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens), with a length of 2.88 m and a weight of 240 kg.

Beaked Whales in Belgium

It is not often that pointed beaked dolphins are observed in the North Sea or washed ashore along the North Sea coast, which is not surprising. After all, beaked whales prefer the deep sea, and stay far away from coasts. A large water depth is more important than the absence of land, as the diet of beaked whales consists of all kinds of deep-sea organisms (mainly cephalopods, but also deep-sea fish and crustaceans). Thus, around islands in deep-sea areas, where water depths increase rapidly with distance from the coast, beaked whales can be observed relatively close to the coast. However, the shallow waters of the North Sea (especially the southern part) cannot be considered their familiar habitat.

In Belgium only five previous strandings of Sowerby’s beaked whales are known (and no observations of live animals at sea). In two cases these were mother-calf pairs: in August 1835 in Ostend, in August 1933 in Wenduine (mother + calf), in August 1954 in De Panne (pregnant female), in February 1969 in Heist and in October 1972 in Bredene (mother + calf). All these animals washed ashore alive, but died shortly afterwards (the calf of 1972 at Bredene survived a few days in the Harderwijk dolphinarium, in the Netherlands).

Cause of death?

« The autopsy found no evidence of a recent trauma that could be cited as cause of death (e.g. collision, drowning in a net), and confirmed that the animal was healthy until shortly before death ». explains Jan Haelters, marine biologist and marine mammal expert at RBINS. « It therefore seems plausible that the Ostend beaked whale was still alive when it got into trouble in the coastal waters, and that the grazes on the animal were caused by scraping of the body against the stones of the breakwater. However, nothing was found in the stomach (not even plastic or other items), which illustrates that the animal had not found food for a while and that it had no bright future anyway. All beaked whales on the Belgian list probably underwent the same fate ».

Some of the skulls of Belgian beaked whales are stored at RBINS, which also has an extensive collection of fossil remains of beaked whales. Here they remain available for scientific research (e.g. https://www.naturalsciences.be/en/news/item/2880), and occasional exhibition (e.g. https://www.naturalsciences.be/en/news/item/17771/). The skeleton of the new Ostend beaked whale will be used at the University of Ghent as didactic material in the veterinary training.

Since 2008, 318 offshore wind turbines have been installed in the Belgian part of the North Sea. Both the construction technology and the environmental impact monitoring have changed a lot during the past decade. In a new report, the scientific partners in the monitoring programme summarise what we have learned so far about the longer-term effects onto a variety of ecosystem components, from benthic invertebrates to birds and marine mammals. As time series grow longer, our ability to detect impacts increases. Some striking results include that artificial hard substrata such as wind turbine foundations cannot be considered to be equivalent alternatives for species-rich natural hard substrata, that wind farms deter some bird species but attract others, that the number of stranded harbour porpoises correlates with periods of high intensity underwater sound and that offshore wind farms only subtly changed fishing activity without creating lower catch rates of the main target species.

Evolving construction practices and monitoring programme

From 2008 to 2018, 318 offshore wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 1556 MW have been constructed in the Belgian part of the North Sea. The technology and construction practices have drastically changed during this decade. These changes include an evolution in foundation types (from gravity-based foundations and jacket-foundations to XL monopile wind turbines), an expansion of the geographical area for wind farm construction (towards more offshore waters) and an increase in the size and capacity of the wind turbines (from 3 MW turbines with a 72 m rotor diameter to 8.4 MW turbines with a 164 m rotor diameter).

The monitoring programme WinMon.BE has documented and evaluated the environmental impact of the construction and operational phases of the wind farms during this entire period. It evolved to be the basis for an in depth understanding of longer-term effects onto a variety of ecosystem components, from benthic invertebrates over fish to birds and marine mammals. The new report takes stock of what we have learned so far and zooms into a selection of innovative monitoring and impact mitigation techniques.

Ecosystem impacts

Sediment sampling revealed consistent impacts on the sediment composition and macrobenthic communities (invertebrates living in and on the sea floor, such as worms, shellfish, crustaceans and starfish). Sediment fining was only observed very close to the jacket foundations, while no conclusive results were found in terms of organic enrichment. Higher densities and diversity (species richness) of macrobenthic organisms were found in closer vicinity of the wind turbines. The phenomenon was most pronounced at the Thornton Bank. This confirms the hypothesis that impacts are specific to sites, foundation-types or even individual turbines, which highlights the importance of a continued monitoring of the macrobenthos at the different turbine types.

With respect to the macrofauna that is living/growing on the foundations, a decade of monitoring revealed three succession stages. In a first, relatively short, pioneer stage (~2 years), the installation of the turbine foundations was followed by rapid colonization which differed between locations and foundation types. This was followed by a more diverse intermediate stage characterized by large numbers of suspension feeders (such as Jassa herdmani, a small amphipod crustacean). A third, and possibly climax stage, with a lower species diversity and frilled anemone Metridium senile and blue mussel Mytilus edulis as the dominant species, was reached after nine to ten years. Earlier reports on offshore wind turbines as biodiversity hotspots generally refer to the species-rich second stage of succession, so these should be read with caution as the rich biodiversity now appears to be short-lived and disappears again in a later stage (after about six years in this study). This underlines that artificial hard substrata cannot be considered as an alternative for the species-rich natural hard substrata.

Birds and mammals

Comparing pre-construction seabird distribution data with post-construction distribution data showed a significant avoidance of the wind farm area by northern gannet Sula bassana (-98%), common guillemot Uria aalge (-60-63 %) and razorbill Alca torda (-75-80%). In contrast, attraction to the wind farm could be demonstrated for great cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo, herring gulls Larus argentatus and greater black-backed gulls Larus marinus. Importantly, most of these effects were no longer noticeable at distances over 0.5 km away from the wind farm edges. How these effects impact individual fitness, reproductive success and survival of the birds remains yet unknown.

It is demonstrated that the Belgian offshore wind farms are visited by migrating Nathusius’ pipistrelles Pipistrellus nathusii. The study sheds a preliminary light on the meteorological conditions that favour bat activity in the southern North Sea and the possible risk of colliding with offshore wind turbines. Wind speed (most detections at wind speed of maximally 5 m/s), wind direction (peak in occurrence for east- and southeasterly winds), temperature and barometric pressure seem to influence bat activity in the wind farms. Wind speed seems to have the largest influence on bat activity at sea. These insights offer the possibility to reduce the risk of collision for bats, for example by curtailing the turbines when certain weather conditions occur during the migration season.

The high impulsive sound levels produced during offshore wind farm construction (pile driving) result in displacement and disturbance of harbour porpoises Phocoena phocoena, the most common cetacean in the Southern North Sea. Our analysis reveals a higher occurrence of harbour porpoises strandings on Belgian beaches during months with a high intensity of impulsive sound. This preliminary analysis suggests an increased mortality of harbour porpoise during periods of wind farm construction and will be subject to future in-depth analysis. In the past few years, sound mitigation techniques hence have received a lot of attention and various techniques are now commercially available. In this report, we quantify how Big Bubble Curtains and stationary resonator systems (AdBm Noise Mitigation System) were applied to lower the sound pressure during wind farm construction in Belgian waters.

Impact on fisheries

Because fishing is prohibited within the Belgian offshore wind farms (ca. 140 km² operational), the overall surface area available for fisheries is decreasing as offshore wind farms are proliferating. It was demonstrated that the offshore wind farms only subtly changed the fishing activity (effort, landings and catch rate of the top 10 species, including the main target species sole Solea solea and plaice Pleuronectes platessa of the Belgian and Dutch beam trawl fleet in Belgian waters over the period 2006-2017. Evidently, a remarkable decrease in fishing effort was however observed inside the offshore wind farms, suggesting that local fishermen have adopted efforts to adapt to the exclusion of the wind farm zone from their fishing grounds and have increased their fishing effort at the edges. While catch rates of sole in the vicinity of the operational offshore wind farms remained comparable to catch rates in the wider area, catch rates of plaice were higher around some operational wind farms.

 

The Monitoring Programme WinMon.BE is a cooperation between the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), the Research Institute Nature and Forest (INBO), the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) and the Marine Biology Research Group of Ghent University, and is coordinated by the Marine Ecology and Management team (MARECO) of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.

The complete report, as well as the older monitoring reports, can be consulted at http://odnature.naturalsciences.be/mumm/en/windfarms/.

« Dear Michael, it is my great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected to receive the 2019 JJ Mehta Award for outstanding contributions to the study of cohesive sediment dynamics at the upcoming INTERCOH 2019 meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. » These were the words with which Carl T. Friedrichs, Professor, Research Coordinator & Associate Director of CBNERR-VA at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, United States, announced the great news to our colleague Michael Fettweis.

The Mehta Award is a given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement in the theory or application of cohesive sediment transport in the marine or aquatic environment. The award, which carries a plaque and a financial prize, is named in the memory of Jayant J. Mehta (1916-1996) by his son Ashish J. Mehta. Jayant J. Mehta (MS, MIT, 1938) was a pioneer in the inception and growth of the petrochemical industry in India, contributing significantly to the country’s industrial expansion starting in the 1970s.”

The selection committee was especially impressed by Michael’s record of combining diverse field observations and innovative analyses to successfully characterize naturally complex cohesive sediment processes while recognizing and quantifying the inherent uncertainties involved. As an awardee, Michael was asked to present an extended keynote lecture during the conference.

The award was presented at the INTERCOH 2019 conference banquet on the evening of Tuesday October 15^th, 2019.

Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition of your work, Michael!

With the construction of the new Belgian Ocean Class RV that is currently ongoing, Belgium is well preparing for a bright ocean science future.

In a new Position Paper, the European Marine Board together with the European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO) group provide a comprehensive look at the European research vessel fleet. The publication presents an overview of the current fleet, its capabilities, equipment and management. It also looks to the future, highlighting what will be needed to ensure that the European fleet can continue to provide the same high level of support to science, in particular in specialized areas such as the deep-sea and Polar regions. It also goes beyond the fleet itself, to consider the training of fleet personnel, fleet management, and the role of research vessels in the wider context of ocean observations.

The further development of our understanding of the ocean is fundamental to address many of the global challenges that society faces today, such as climate change and food security. Although new and autonomous data collection platforms (fixed and mobile continuous measuring equipment and satellites) are increasingly used to investigate, monitor and evaluate the marine environment, research vessels (RVs) remain a key infrastructure that enable scientists to gather data and conduct the research required to expand our knowledge for the purpose of both fundamental understanding and policy support. Physical sampling of the seabed, water column and marine fauna, as well as multi-beam mapping of the seabed, are examples of activities for which RVs remain critical. Also deploying and recovering tools such as moorings, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and gliders, often relies on RVs.

However, research vessels and their equipment are large and sophisticated, and inevitably costly, infrastructures. It is therefore critical that their importance and indispensable role is clear and that appropriate investments are made to ensure the ongoing provision of scientific support. On November 6^th 2019, the European Marine Board (EMB, a strategic pan-European Forum of 33 Member Organizations, including key marine research performing institutes, funding agencies and university consortia) launched a new Position Paper that provides an overview of the current European research vessel fleet and its capabilities, and recommends ways in which it should evolve to meet future science needs. The Position Paper #25 is titled « Next generation European research vessels: Current status and foreseeable evolution » and is the result of a collaboration with the European Research Vessel Operators  (ERVO) group. ERVO is a European platform where RV operators discuss their national activities, projects, problems and plans for the maintenance, modifications and renewal of their research vessels.

Research vessels to address future science needs

The Position Paper describes the current fleet to be highly capable and leading on the world stage. However, with a typical life expectancy of a research vessel of 30 years, the fleet is ageing and urgently requires (re)investment to continue to be as efficient and capable as the scientific community and an effective policy require. Meantime also technology is developing fast and new research arises in specialized areas such as the deep-sea and Polar regions, and research vessels need to keep up the pace. Besides looking to the future needs, the Position Paper also goes beyond the fleet itself, and considers the training of fleet personnel, fleet management, and the role of research vessels in the wider context of ocean observations and the European Ocean Observing System (EOOS).

General recommendations

• Information and data on the capabilities and equipment of the European research vessel fleet should be kept up to date and be periodically reviewed by the infrastructure owners with support from the European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO) group
• For the European research vessel fleet to remain capable and fit-for-purpose, both the fleet and its scientific equipment and instruments should be renewed and developed as a matter of urgency
• The research vessel community should continue on its path towards greater collaboration in order to aim for equal access to research vessel time based on excellent science and not (constrained by) the country of origin of the scientist, for more effective use of resources, for appropriate training for all parties, and for strategic planning of the research
• Funding agencies should engage in discussions with the research vessel and marine science communities as well as other relevant stakeholders to identify key funding needs
• The research vessel operator community should continue to look forward to the emerging science and technological developments (e.g. towards real-time data delivery, new autonomous systems, new science frontiers) and work together with relevant parties to ensure that the fleet is ready to support these

Belgian contribution

Belgium is represented in the EMB by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), het Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO), en the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). BELSPO works closely with the Operational Directorate Natural Environment of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) in support of selected EMB Position Papers and for communication aspects. Dr. Lieven Naudts, coordinator of the « Measurement Service Ostend & RV Belgica » group (part of RBINS-OD Nature), was one of the work package leaders in the EMB Expert Working Group on Next Generation European Research Vessels (WG Research Vessels) and is a contributing author of the resulting Position Paper. In June 2019, Dr. Naudts also was elected chairman of the European Research Vessel Operators (ERVO) group during their annual meeting in Hamburg, Germany. « Apart from exchanging experiences, the focus of ERVO in the following years will go to exploring collaboration opportunities to promote common interests and improve the service of RVs to the scientific community, policy makers, funding agencies and even private companies. Requesting the EMB to prepare a new Position Paper on RVs, was a logical thing to do », says Naudts. « With the construction of the new Belgian Ocean Class RV that is currently ongoing at Freire Shipyard (Vigo, Spain), in collaboration with Rolls-Royce Marine AS (now Kongsberg Maritime CM AS), Belgium is well on its way to be prepared for a bright RV future. The new RV Belgica will be technologically cutting edge and ensures the continuation of the Belgian contribution to the much-needed data collection in the marine environment, not only in the North Sea but also in the deep-sea and polar regions. » he adds.

On Friday 11 October 2019, the North Sea countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of their Bonn Agreement cooperation in Bonn (Germany). Under this agreement, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Norway are fighting pollution of the North Sea together with the EU. This regional agreement was founded to combat the pollution of the North Sea by ships and other maritime activities. At the 2019 meeting, Belgium took the initiative to extend the scope of the agreement to include the prevention of illegal air pollution by shipping.

Evolution of the agreement

In 1967 the oil tanker ‘Torrey Canyon’ lost 117.000 tons of oil after being shipwrecked. Shortly after this first major oil spill, in 1969, the countries bordering the North Sea joined forces and concluded to the Bonn Agreement. In this way they help each other in the fight against pollution caused by disasters at sea, chronic pollution from ships and offshore installations. Moreover, they work together in exercising supervision and control.

Oil pollution in the North Sea has fallen sharply over the years, mainly due to the fact that nowadays, illegal oil discharges at sea are rare. This is the result of thirty years of coordinated efforts within the framework of the agreement to detect illegal discharges and to prosecute the polluters caught. However, it is still important to be able to act quickly and collectively in the event of an environmental disaster.

Results of the meeting

The Bonn meeting took a number of important decisions for the future of the agreement, which were adopted at a ministerial meeting. A new ambitious Strategic Action Plan of the Accord for the next six years was completed. Spain’s accession to the agreement – resulting in the extension of the agreement’s zone to the Bay of Biscay – was formally approved. Another important decision is the extension of the scope of the agreement to include emissions of polluting gases from ships. This was done at the suggestion of Belgium, which is in charge of the organisation of these new activities.

North Sea Minister Philippe De Backer: “This is an international recognition of Belgium’s expertise and pioneering role in protecting the seas and oceans. There is no doubt that this expertise will ensure even more effective controls on compliance with the standards for emissions of gaseous pollutants from ships in the North Sea”.

Implementation in Belgium

In Belgium, the Bonn Agreement is implemented by MUMM (Management Unit of the Mathematical Model of the North Sea) of the KBIN and the Marine Environment Service of the FPS Public Health. With the new action on the control of emissions from ships, the DG for Maritime Affairs of the FPS Mobility is now also actively involved. They jointly monitor marine pollution with aircraft and patrol vessels and control on board the vessels in the port.

Belgium is internationally regarded as a blue leader in the field of the protection of the seas and oceans. Our country was a pioneer in the field of marine spatial planning, the construction of offshore wind turbines and the fight against plastic waste in the sea. It has also taken international action to halve the CO₂ emissions of ships by 2050, and Belgian shipowners are working hard to achieve zero-emission shipping. Moreover, one third of the Belgian part of the North Sea is protected as a Natura 2000 area and Minister De Backer recently confirmed to the United Nations the ambitious ’30×30′ plan to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. The initiative to extend the scope of the Bonn Agreement in order to better protect the North Sea once again illustrates Belgium’s pioneering role.

More information: www.bonnagreement.org