Kirsten Jakobsen and Joachim Jakobsen

Administrators of the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation

Kirsten Jakobsen and Joachim Jakobsen developed and operated the LULA1000 submersible. Using this technology, deep-water habitats, up to 1000 m deep, have been mapped and video-documented in research and documentary projects along the slopes of the Azores and Madeira archipelagoes.  

This work led to the discovery of unknown habitats such as millennia-old cold water coral  communities, sponge aggregations or nurseries of rare deep-sea shark species. These  observations and data collected have helped to better understand deep sea environments  and helped political deciders to protect these environments better. 

Besides scientific collaborations with universities, research institutes and the regional  governments, film work has been realized for ground-breaking nature documentaries, such as Our Planet, BBC´s Blue Planet II and Planet Earth III, and many others.

You can learn more about Kirsten, Joachim, and the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation at www.rebikoff.org

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