Together with partners Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein and BUND as organisers, Mundus maris offered the public environmental engagement programme in the occasion of the Lighthouse Swim in Kiel, Germany, on Saturday, 22 August 2026. Almost 300 people had registered for participation to promote the message: Let’s protect the ocean! in a fun and family-friendly way.

The field of men and women, some from as far afield as southern Germany, Erfurt, the capital of Thuringen, and even from beyond the country was not trying to set speed records as the moderators emphasised. It was all about drawing attention to the need for a healthy sea, for being together with family and friends and having fun.

As the field of swimmers was very large, it was separated into two batches starting with about 15 minutes difference as safety was a key concern.

To the right the first batch preparing to start while boats of the sea rescue and water police lined the course clearly marked with large yellow buoys.

The overall distance to the lighthouse and back was about four kilometers. A maximum duration of three hours was set beyond which anybody still in the water would be taken onboard to brought to the shore.

Infact, most were quite experienced swimmers and the first to return needed only about one hour 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Mundus maris team composed of Cornelia E Nauen and two members of the youth parliament in Hilden, Kira and Hayat, engaged the public at the Kiellinie. Kira and Hayat offered the ocean game to passers-by. It turned out to be popular with kids and adults. All had fun and were happy to receive a sweet and a bookmark to draw attention to the urgent need to let baby fish grow at least to reproductive size. As in previous occasions, the kids tended to be better informed about ocean issues than some of the adults.

With the wind and occasional rainy moments, the temperatures were quite fresh for August, but the atmosphere was very enjoyable as many people stopped for a chat, took the Mundus maris flyers and the FishBase Guide app visiting card. Interestingly, when visitors realised that it is allowed for anglers in Europe to land cod (Gadus morhua) at 35 cm, while the species reproduces in the low-salinity Baltic starting around 50 cm, they could hardly believe it. When learning in the app that the specimens used to grow to a maximum size of 200 cm in cooler sub-arctic waters, the disapproval was complete. Everybody realised that this specification legitimises the decline of the stock by allowing to catch babies. Even beyond basic ecological considerations, what sense does it make to harvest a fish weighing about 350 g composed mostly of head and skin, when the same fish a few months later would weigh in at 2.5 kg. Add heavy fishing in many regions and you get the perfect recipe for listing a once very abundant species on the IUCN Red List as threatened. You can try out yourself the FishBase Guide app, drawing data from the information system about all fish species known to science, by clicking on the QR code. It works anywhere in the world.

The Mundus maris team of the day (from the left): Cornelia, Kira and Hayat

The many encouraging conversations and excellent collaboration with the organisers made this trip to Kiel and the active participation in the Lighthouse Swim event pleasant and worthwhile. For the Mundus maris supporters from the youth parliament in Hilden, it was also a memorable trip.

All pictures by Cornelia E. Nauen.