Evonik Industries has signed on to continue its support of a non-profit organisation in its deep sea explorations in the name of marine science and learning more about giant squid.
Dave Mothershaw - Evonik Industries AG
Evonik
Evonik - which provides the PLEXIGLAS crucial to the makeup of the Foundation's submersible - will support the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation for two more years. The cooperation between the specialty chemicals company and Azores-based Rebikoff-Niggeler, which began in 2013, has been extended until 2018 prior to the expiration of the current contract.
Rebikoff-Niggeler operates one of the few manned submersibles in the world that is able to descend to a depth of 1,000 m to carry out marine research.
The centerpiece of the Lula1000 submarine is the PLEXIGLAS observation dome manufactured by Evonik. Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik, referred to the past successes of the foundation as a reason for extending the support to what will now be five years.
"The Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation has established a very good name for itself in the world of science," he stated. "With our long-term commitment to this work, Evonik wants to contribute to ensuring that research can continue in the fascinating and precious deep sea living environment."
The Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation also cooperates with Cologne University in Germany, the University of the Azores, and the German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund. It is also currently working on a BBC scientific television series about the oceans and the deep sea, which will also be screened in Germany, Austria, and the US.
Over the past years, Kirsten and Joachim Jakobsen, the German couple who are behind the Foundation, have made hundreds of hours of high-res films and collected numerous samples from the deep sea around the Azores islands of Faial and Pico. On many occasions, they have been able to document species that were completely unknown or for which very little information was available before. Their discoveries include the only known living coral reef in the Azores and a more than 500-year-old Neopycnodonte zibrowii deep sea oyster, which is regarded as the oldest living animal in the world. They are pursuing the main aim of their project - to film a giant squid in its natural environment - with passion. Special lighting systems and a feed syringe have been installed on Lula1000 to entice the largely unknown giant of the deep sea.
The PLEXIGLAS observation dome plays a key role in these manned exploratory journeys to the depths of the ocean. Evonik used a special process to manufacture and shape the 1.40 m-diameter viewing dome. PLEXIGLAS is not only much more robust than glass, its optical qualities are also superior. The innovative process that Evonik used for the dome of Lula1000 has been further developed and is now in demand among producers of deep sea submersibles. The manned research submarine Jago is now also equipped with a PLEXIGLAS observation dome. Jago belongs to GEOMAR, the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany. US submarine producer Triton also now installs PLEXIGLAS spheres. These spheres are constructed from two hemispheres that are joined (virtually invisible to the eye) by an adhesive, which was also developed by Evonik.
