WHIRLS Expedition
2026 Blog
“For the first time, we are going to observe together, in the same place and at the same moment, the ocean, the atmosphere and all the life they harbour, from viruses to marine mammals. It is by bringing together these compartments, usually studied separately, that we will be able to understand how the ocean’s smallest structures act on climate and biodiversity.”
Sabrina Speich, PI of the ERC Synergy WHIRLS project and chief scientist of the research vessel Marion Dufresne
Welcome to the WHIRLS Expedition 2026 blog page, where we will describe our goals of the expedition, introduce people behind the science, provide an overview of how we make decisions, and more! Check back frequently for new posts.
About the cruise
Scientists from across Europe and South Africa come together on R/V Marion Dufresne (France) and R/V Agulhas II (South Africa) to study fine-scale processes to better predict and project our future climate. WHIRLS is a multidisciplinary collaboration co-led by École Normale Supérieure Paris, University of Cape Town, University of Gothenburg, and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, and will assess fine-scale processes impacts on air-sea exchange, marine biogeochemistry, and biodiversity.
This unique dual-ship field campaign targets key ocean features within the Cape Basin region south of Africa over 5 weeks to resolve the multi-scale interactions in this global hotspot of eddy activity, ocean-atmosphere heat-exchange, and marine productivity and diversity.
Contact
WHIRLS project management
Dr. Anja Reitz – Project manager
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre
for Ocean Research Kiel
Wischhofstr. 1-3
D-24148 Kiel
whirls-office@geomar.de