Wild harbour seal

During the summer of 2021 a wild young male harbour seal was brought to us since it had been abandoned by its mother. He was in a bad condition since he was malnourished but fortunately otherwise healthy and unharmed. We took care of him and released him back into the Batlic Sea a few months later. Every once in a while he returns to the marina and can be observed in the vicinity of our facility. We kindly ask you to respect his needs by refraining from calling, feeding or luring him.

International coastal cleanup day

MSC September 2019. On the International coastal cleanup day on September 21, 2019, the Rostocker Meeresmüllstammtisch is inviting everybody to join the largest collection of waste in Rostock and Warnemünde ein. Waste will be collect at 10 am and 1.30 pm at 12 locations, amongst other in Hohe Düne (supervised by the MSC). Everybody is invited to join the collection of waste at one of these locations. At 4 pm, from the Neuer Strom, he biggest quantity of waste will be transported to the Zirkus Fantasia. All people involved are cordially invited to join the evualation, to watch the oddest finds and to obtain more information on how waste is getting into the ocean and on the damage it causes in the water. From 8 pm on, there will be a party for all helpers. The next day the waste will be transported to the Lange Straße by a human chain and will be integrated into a "waste installation". All 12 locations where waste will be collected can be found here and under www.meeresmuell.de.

Seal of the MSC on the cover of JEB

MSC April 2017. The Marine Science is very proud that a photo (photographer W. Pölzer) of one of the seals of the MSC made it on the cover of the renown scientific journal Journal of Experimental Biology in April. The cover was chosen to illustrate the movement pattern of harbor seals which was the subject of the article published in the respective volume of the journal (Geurten et al. 2017).

Oceans & the seas - science blog

MSC September 2016. The project "Oceans & the seas - science blog" (Alina Loth, University of Rostock) won the competition of the "Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung". The blog communicates cutting-edge science by easily accessible text and beautiful illustrations. Thus the blog provides a platform for scientists and illustrators - art meets science.

Interesting symposium in Nuremberg in June

MSC May 2016. For a project on dophin senses, the Marine Science Center is working together with Zoo Nuremberg. There, an interesting symposium on "Science and Species Conservation in South America" will be held on June 25-26. An overview of the program can be downloaded here.

Back from the dockyard and start of season

MSC March 2016. After a couple of months, our institute ship is finally back from the dockyards. We are very happy that we are back to normal routine now and that we will be able to open the Marine Science Center for the public on March 25th.

Two sea lions arrived in their new home

MSC March 2015. Finally, on Saturday night, two California sea lions, almost one year old, managed to find their way from Stuttgart to the Marine Science Center. Without hesitating they started to discover their new enclosure and were already interested in fish. Everybody was directly delighted by their joyful interactions. With the sea lions, a new otariid species is added to the aquatic team. Their presence will allow to answer interesting research questions also from a comparative point of view.

Arrival of a harbor seal

MSC September 2014. The MSC welcomes a new harbor seal. Smoothly, the male harbor seal Paco was transferred from Zoo Rostock to the Marine Science Center and could be directly integrated into the group. The other seals were surprisingly very interested in the new member. Consequently, Paco was escorted by up to five seals at some times during his first exploration swim through the facility. Already the day afterwards, Paco could be trained and was eating amongst all other seals with joy. Now we are very much looking forward to work with him in scientific experiments.

Night of Science 2014

MSC May 2014. We are happy to invite everybody to join for the "Night of Science" which will take place on May 17th from 5-9pm. A little surprise is already waiting at the entrance until 6pm - we toss up for a direct visit of the seals (planned for 6pm) for 10 visitors. Moreover, visitors will have the opportunity to watch the seal training for our future open-field experiments and to take the role of a seal in a typical behavioral experiment. We are looking forward to welcome you on our institute ship and hope for an informative evening with sausages and interest in our science! (The event will take place outdoors.)

End of saison 2013

MSC December 2013. On November 29th, all visitors were invited to join a very last time in 2013 for watching the seals and the octopods and their training. Now the MSC is closed during the winter months but the new season will start on March 29th, 2014.

We would like to thank all visitors from 2013 for their visits - we hope to see many of you in 2014 again. The staff of the Marine Science Centers would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Many conferences in autumn

MSC September/October 2013. In september many members of the research group "Sensory and cognitive ecology" went to the annual conference of the German Zoological Society taken place in Munich. Current reserach projects were introduced to scientific collegues in various talks and on posters. In october a short trip to the Lund Vision Group, cooperation partner for many visual projects, in Lund/Sweden followed. It was already the second symposium of this kind financed by a Scan Balt Bridge Award to Prof. Almut Kelber.

The MSC attracts wild seals

MSC July 2013. This summer the MSC again attracts wild seals. Up to three wild seals can be seen close to the facilities from time to time. They are often hauling out on the outer floating elements. The wild seals, gray and harbor seals, observe curiously the actions taking place inside our enclosure, and our seals are excited by the visitors.

We welcome two octopods

MSC May 2013. On May 28th, 2013 we could welcome two little octopods. After a long journey from the Mediterranean Sea with a stopover in the Ozeaneum Stralsund they finally arrived healthy at the Marine Science Center. One of the animals is very shy and hiding most of the times but the other is already exploring its new home. We are very curious to see how the new animals will behave in our scientific experiments.

Night of science

MSC April 2013. On April 25th, 2013 the Rostock "Night of Science" took place. The Marine Science Center invited everybody to join between 6 - 10 pm. Our guests were able to watch our experiments directly. At the same time fascinating underwater pictures of our seals were generated in cooperation with the scientific divers from the University of Rostock and presented in our seminar room. Scientists were informing our guests about the scientific work at the Marine Science Center as well as about scientific diving.

Reopening of the Marine Science Center for guests

MSC March 2013. On Marcht 29th, 2013 the Marine Science Center reopened for guests. Everybody is invited to watch our experiments from the sun deck of our institute ship "LIchtenberg" between 10 am and 4 pm daily. On various monitors the scientific programm of the Marine Science Center is illustrated - children are also invited to watch their specific presentation. Since this season our octopods can be observed through windows, too. We are looking forward to your visit.

Castration of the fur seal

MSC November 2012. On November 19th veterinary specialists from Rostock and Hannover castrated our fur seal at the Marine Science Center. Everything worked out perfectly - shortly after the surgery the animal was lively awake, could be worked with and was eating. Only the small transection was reminding of the surgery. The fur seal has to stay dry for a couple of days and can enter the water when the wound will have healed.