Helgoland October 2007

Right after the first two weeks of class in October 2007 we spent a two week field trip on the island of Helgoland. The tiny island is only about 2 km long and lies about 70 km in the North Sea. It is still part of Germany and was a point of major focus during the Second World War. The island is separated in two parts of which only one is inhabited.

We took the ferry from Cuxhaven and stayed in dormitories of the AWI (Alfred-Wegener Institute). The house was pretty much like a youth hostel for self-catering. Therefore we organized cooking groups in our program so that different continents prepared meals on the different days. The trip was a lot of fun and really great to get to know everyone in the very beginning of the course. A “must do” on the island is the one and only dance place in Helgoland called “Krebs”. This place is one of the weirdest combinations of a bar, disco-something and karaoke-shed I have ever seen. The place is stuck somewhere between the late 70’s and 80’s. Here everyone meets, locals, sailors, captains, students, researchers and polish exchange students ; ) So the fun is guaranteed!

We had one week of marine zoology and one week of marine botany each in facilities of the AWI. In both courses we did some trips into the surrounding tidal flats and tidal areas to collect and determine marine organism (see picture on the right). Luckily we had “good” weather (if weather on Helgoland can ever be described like that), and the sun came out most of the time. However the wind on Helgoland can be quite nasty, so whenever you go pack warm clothes!

But ISATECies be tough !

We also got a full tour of the AWI station, the associated lobster facility, the aquarium as well as a whole island tour and the associated neighbor island. The sand dunes over there are really beautiful and we saw many seals.

There is only one thing left to say: “keine Kompromisse, kein anderes Bier. Jever friesisch herb!”