The Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation (FRN) is a non-for-profit organization for marine research based in the Azores/Portugal.
The Foundation’s main activity is to carry out in-situ observation and documentation of deep-sea environments by means of manned submersible technology.
The Rebikoff Foundation has been filming deep-sea fauna for several nature documentaries, including the BBC´s Blue Planet II series. The LULA1000 submersible has been optimized for quality filming of fauna and habitats in deep-sea environments in the Azores.
Joint research projects are being carried out with a number of national and international research partners, and a special partnership exists with the the Azorean Government and the University of the Azores. In situ documentation of deep-sea fauna and habitats is used for scientific and educational purposes.
Famous ocean explorer and marine biologist Dr Sylvia Earle has visited the LULA1000 submersible while being on Faial last week. The visit took place within the Mission Blue program that declared the Azores as Hope Spots.
It was an unexpected discovery that the LULA1000 team could make during a several-day expedition last august off Faial Island/Azores. The manned submersible LULA1000, was at a 5-day mission west of the Capelinhos Volcano area, where several dives were carried out between 120 and 950 meters of depth. While the Capelinhos Volcano area at land […]
Our short film DEEP TIME, after having screened at “Festival International Nature Namur” in Belgium in october, 2018, has now been selected for more festivals. The film will also be shown at International Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco and at Elements Film Festival in Vancouver/Canada this spring. Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/260921609
The crew of the LULA1000 manned submersible managed to record a first-ever video of a hunting pelican eel or gulper eel. The observation was made 1000 meters deep south of the island of São Jorge, in the Azores. This is the first time the pelican eel has been observed directly by humans. Very little is […]
