46 years before a whale with its stomach full of plastic famously stranded in Norway, marine scientists found plastic in the stomach of a whale off Canada. We know this thanks to a newly discovered report.

A new flatfish in the Baltic Sea, the “Baltic flounder”, has received the Latin name Platichthys solemdali after the late Norwegian scientist Per Solemdal. Genetic studies in 2017 confirmed that this flounder was a new species of fish.

The principle is simple: A multi-jet drone flies over a herring school and "dips" a scientific echo-sounder from a 9 meter long cable into the school. The echo-sounder sends data about the fish school back to the vessel in real time. The data can be used to improve the estimation of school size, before it is captured or during capture while it is still legal to release unwanted catches.

A broad alliance on plastic pollution has been entered at Kongsberg this summer. Shipowner Torvald Klaveness, KONGSBERG, the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and the Institute of Marine Research will develop a mapping concept for plastic in the oceans.

While the blue ling is endangered, fishers report of lots of blue ling in some fjords. New DNA tests show that the sea and fjords may in fact be home to several distinct populations.

The Institute of Marine Research is contributing research, capacity building and unique data to the UN’s efforts to prevent mercury pollution.