To support the marine biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics research community in Belgium, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) has set up a local marine biodiversity observatory.

Research Vessel Simon Stevin

The site consists of a marine databuoy equipped with a suite of sensors that monitor water quality parameters and acoustic receivers for the detection of Porpoises and tagged fish. The buoy is moored near an offshore windmill farm, approx. 30km off the coast on the Belgian Continental Shelf.

The Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) covers the most south-western part of the North Sea and is bordered by the English Channel to the south-west and by the central part of the North Sea to the north-east. The BPNS is mainly influenced by water from the ‘channel’ and from freshwater inputs from the Yzer and Scheldt. Long term data series are being collected for this site at different locations, making use of Thornthon Buoy, Simon Stevin Research vessel and an operational Marine Observatory that includes monthly surveys on the BPNS and an array of sensor networks.