News

Harbour porpoises and dolphins are often seen in the Belgian part of the North Sea. Because these animals do not easy show, it is quite difficult for scientists to estimate their numbers and distribution. Currently the VLIZ is developing – within the framework of the LifeWatch project – a network of acoustic receivers, able to detect the echolocation sounds produced by harbour porpoises and...

Thanks to the high-tech sensor network for LifeWatch, it seems that the behavior of gulls cannot be lumped all together. Each individual seems to have its own character and individual preferences. The bird GPS data from June 2013 to August 2016 reveals a lot of peculiar foraging behavior and interesting migration patterns.

Annually, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) awards the North Sea Award to a researcher or a research group to encourage their innovative fundamental or applied research dedicated to the studying the structure or functioning of our world's oceans. Applications are welcome until 30 November 2016.

The annual VLIZ Master Thesis Awards are intended at recognising and rewarding the work of meritorious young marine researchers. That to encourage them in their future career to continue delivering high-quality scientific contributions and to promote marine research in Flanders. Did you recently graduated from a Flemish university or university college on a marine related subject and are you proud...

From 2020 onwards, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) will be housed in a new estate in the harbour of Ostend. The new building in the Ankerstraat will be a shared accommodation for both VLIZ and its international partners, as well as for the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO).

VLIZ puts a unique multi-transducer sub-bottom echosounder at the disposal of marine researchers. The device provides ultra-high resolution, three-dimensional acoustic data of the seabed and burrowed structures and proved to have a good performance, even in shallow water depths of less than 10 meters. The brand-new SES-2000 Quattro opens the way to ground-breaking new marine research lines in...

Sediment cores, taken in preparation for the construction of an undersea electricity cable, now serve marine scientific research.

Once more the Annual Report 2015 reviews all highlights for VLIZ in the past year and focuses on the important realisations for each of its departments. Performance indicators, loads of numbers and lists all together aim to give an overview of the functioning of the institute. The publication can be consulted online (pdf).

The Flanders Marine Institute puts at the disposal of marine researchers a cold store with three large sea water tanks for tests with marine organisms.

This triennial international scientific prize (25.000 EUR) awards a scientific study on the links between oceans and human health. New from this edition onwards is the Incentive Award (2.500 EUR) for the work of an early career scientist. The submission deadline is 31 December 2016.

To thank our loyal members for their years of support and to get to know new members, VLIZ invited all VLIZ members on Friday evening 24 June 2016 for a midsummer evening walk on the Ostend east bank. Enthusiastic volunteers from Seawatch-B, the last year started philanthropic citizens' science project sponsored by a. o. VLIZ membership contributions, demonstrated their skills. Members were...

On 29 June 2016 Evy Copejans of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) received in Orlando the International Award for Marine Education from the board of the National Marine Educator Association ( NMEA). With this prize the American network of marine educators rewards the excellent work and the leading role played by VLIZ since 2009 at international level to introduce the need for more Ocean...

On 10 June 2016 – on the occasion of the celebration of World Ocean Day 2016 – the winners of the European Sea Change ideas contest were announced. The non-profit organization ‘Safe Coastal Tourism’ has won both the European and the Belgian prize with their idea to raise awareness among children about the dangers of the sea. Check their winning video here. The winning idea will serve as an...

Scientists from the Western Indian Ocean region were trained by VLIZ staff, in preparation of the second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE2). In this large-scale long-term concerted research action several countries, from within and outside the region, cooperate under the umbrella of IOC/UNESCO, and this for the preparatory phase as well as for the execution of the measuring campaigns...

Since its start in 2012(*) the pool of instruments and other infrastructure within LifeWatch.be infrastructure has grown substantially. That this infrastructure is well used and that it stimulates the start-up of new innovative research was well proven on Monday 23 May at the second User Meeting of LifeWatch.be Infrastructure, which was organized at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in Ostend...

In November 2015 CREST started, standing for ‘Climate Resilient Coast’. This team, with expert scientists from three Flemish universities, from various government departments and consultancy agencies, wants to gain deeper insight into the physical processes that occur in our coastal zone. Via the website and the CREST newsletter you can be kept updated on their results and findings.

Every year VLIZ employs several students working the month of July, August or September. Interested student employees may send a CV, letter of motivation and preference of activity or department before 31 March.

The Ballast Water Management Convention aims to prevent the further spread of invasive exotic species through international shipping and can soon enter into force. Since the convention includes a clause under which exemptions can be granted to certain ships for a period of 5 years, Belgium wishes to move forward with the exemption procedure. In this framework, VLIZ was contacted to conduct a...