NIB - MORSKA BIOLOŠKA POSTAJA PIRAN
Spreading of a pollutant in the Gulf of Koper
The Marine Biology Station Piran of the National Institute of Biology, in collaboration with the Slovenian Environment Agency, has developed a high-resolution model to predict the dispersion of pollutants from the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant of Koper under the influence of surface currents in the Gulf of Koper.
You are invited to the Open Doors Day at the Marine Biology Station Piran of the National Institute of Biology!
On the occasion of World Oceans Day, we invite you to visit us on Friday, June 7, 2024, at the Open Doors Day of the Marine Biology Station Piran of the National Institute of Biology.
You can take part in guided tours, interactive workshops for children and young people and interesting lectures and presentations.
Overhaul of the oceanographic buoy Vida
Dear users of buoy data,
The oceanographic buoy Vida will be overhauled by mid-May 2024. On Tuesday, April 2 (or when the sea is calm), we plan to disconnect the instruments on the oceanographic buoy Vida and move the buoy to Marina Portorož on the second day, where major maintenance work will take place. We apologize to all users of the oceanographic buoy Vida website for the loss of data.
Forecasting surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste
The Marine Biology Station Piran of the National Institute of Biology, in collaboration with the Slovenian Environment Agency, has developed a high-resolution model for predicting surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste as part of the Mercator Ocean Copernicus Marine User Engagement project.
Hunting for novel compounds at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea
Twenty metres below swimmers and watercraft, a cornucopia of creatures thrives at the bottom of the sea. This stable environment constitutes the habitat of crayfish, sea stars, flatfish, worms, and even microscopic creatures. Some of these microbes do not need air to live. Instead, buried in the sediment they slowly consume whatever organic matter they encounter. To do so, these “cleaners of the sea” produce enzymes and substances that may hold the key to cure diseases and improve our health. In search of such compounds, researchers at the National Institute of Biology (NIB) in Slovenia embarked in January on the research vessel Sagita (1-2). Tihomir Makovec, the head of the diving unit, operated underwater probes to capture samples of the sediment (3) in front of the city of Piran (Pirano) (4). Later, researcher, Luen Zidar, transferred them into the laboratory to grow them on agar plates (5). Patience will be key; cultivation of sea soil bacteria is a slow process that oftens requires months. And so, the hunt for potential new substances begins.
Planned maintenance of the underwater camera at Cape Madona
Dear underwater camera web page visitor!
The underwater camera at Cape Madona was turned off on 15 September 2023 for relocation purposes. Details about the new installation will be available soon.
Colleagues from Marine Biological Station Piran, National Institute of Biology wish you all the best!
Pollution in marine sediments: how to improve data quality
NIB, together with the Italian and European institutions, including OGS, ISPRA and HCMR, participated in a study on the Eastern Mediterranean that proposes a method to improve the quality control of data on pollutants
We invite you to the Day of open doors of the Marine Biology Station Piran!
We invite you to celebrate World Ocean Day by attending our Day of open doors at the Marine Biology Station Piran of the National Institute of Biology, which will be live again this year on Friday, June 10, 2022.
You can participate in guided tours, interactive workshops for children and young people, as well as interesting lectures and presentations.
Learn more in the invitation.
The Vida oceanographic buoy is currently undergoing final maintenance work
The Vida oceanographic buoy is currently undergoing final maintenance work before being connected back to its location.
We aim to make it operational in the shortest possible time.
Buoy Vida broke away from its anchorage
Due to the strong winds that have reached and exceeded 40 knots at sea in the past few days (Thursday through Sunday), the oceanographic buoy Vida has become detached from its anchorage.
When we were sure the buoy was out of position on Monday morning, 11/10/2021, we quickly organized a search and rescue operation. We found the buoy Vida on Monday afternoon with the help of a flyover in the middle of the Adriatic Sea between Savudrija and Lignano (IT), about 16 miles from Piran. On Tuesday, Oct. 12, when weather conditions were favorable, we searched for the buoy with our vessel and slowly towed it into Portorož Marina. The crossing took a total of 14 hours.
The damage caused and the time when the buoy was detached are still being determined. We are working to ensure that the Vida buoy, which has been continuously providing meteorological and oceanographic data for many years, is operational again at its location as soon as possible.
