Secrets of the deep sea

Symposium on occasion of the anniversary of the Pola expeditions Lectures IN ENGLISH
17:00 - 21:00 Uhr

Human pressures are affecting increasingly deeper sectors of the marine environment, which hosts a unique biodiversity, but is not well known due to the difficulties and costs of deep-sea exploration.

In the 1890s, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy organized the first expeditions to the deeper sectors of the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea with the vessel “Pola”, setting the stage for their exploration. More than a century later, the samples and data gathered from the scientists onboard the “Pola” still constitute a fundamental source of information, because they represent the baseline conditions before the onset of several sources of anthropogenic disturbances of deep-sea habitats.

Sympathizing with deep-water organisms and habitats is difficult for the public, because there are few chances to see and know about them. However, knowledge is necessary to empower people to make more informed choices and to campaign for change.

By gathering a unique array of scientists in the fields of biology and paleontology, the symposium wishes to highlight the scientific contribution of the “Pola” expeditions by offering an overview of Mediterranean and Red Sea deep-water ecosystems and their conservation challenges.

17.00 Welcome and greetings
Prof. Christian Köberl, Director General, Natural History Museum Vienna

17.10 The Austrian deep-sea expeditions with the HMS Pola: highlights of Austrian scientific history
Dr. Verena Stagl, Natural History Museum Vienna

17.30 Endangered monsters: Levantine deep-sea biota
Dr. Bella S. Galil, Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv, Israel

18.10 Very warm and very salty: The deep Red Sea habitat
Dr. Marco Taviani, Institute of Marine Science – National Research Council, Bologna, Italy

18.50 Pause

19.10 The Tethyan heritage in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean
Dr. Mathias Harzhauser, Natural History Museum Vienna

19.40 A Red-Med sea? How the Lessepsian invasion is transforming the Mediterranean Sea
Dr. Paolo G. Albano, Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna

20.10 Guided Tours behind the scene
Zoology, Paleontology

Lectures and Guided Tours in English
Organizer: Freunde des NHM Wien und NHM Wien
Free entrance to the symposium

Program