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The story about 16 Nansen Legacy researchers on a cruise in the Arctic Ocean continues. This time we meet “The Captain” and a troublesome ice floe

When Gandalf the Grey was struck by the Barlog and fell into the depths of the mountain at the bridge of Khazad dum, the Fellowship despaired. They had lost and old friend and their guide. When the underwater robot Harald did not return to the surface after a routine mission, the scientists on board the R/V Kronprins Haakon despaired.

After almost a week on the Nansen Legacy winter process cruise, we now sail into the sea ice and stay there until we go south to Tromsø towards the end of February. A couple of days ago we saw the sun just above the horizon, and for us living in Longyearbyen it was a great moment of joy, having been four months without the sun!

We left Longyearbyen on Tuesday evening 12th of February and have sailed south and east in search of ice. After four days, R/V Kronprins Haakon has reached 35 degrees east. Pancake ice is the first stage in ice forming and a clear sign that there have been waves in swing. We will measure these waves with a small instrument that stands on a stake in front of the bow. We have tried already, but after two days in open sea, it was covered with so much ice from sea spray that we almost did not get the instrument back on deck.

On February 9th, R/V Kronprins Haakon departs on a winter process cruise to the Barents Sea in order to track and measure important processes taking place in the ocean during wintertime.

When ocean waters with different properties, such as temperature, salinity and density, meet, they form a “front”. Ocean fronts are often rich in productivity and marine life, with high zooplankton and fish larvae concentrations. This makes fronts attractive for fishing vessels for obvious reasons

I am privileged. I have worked in some of the most remote places on this planet, and I have seen forms of life that only few know of, some of which have not yet gotten a name.

In times of climate change and retreating sea ice, important research questions are for example: How important are sea ice algae as a food source for organisms such as copepods, krill and fish? Are they affected by the sea ice retreat and if so, how will that affect the functioning of the Arctic ecosystem?

A couple of days ago when we were sailing between two of our process stations, we came across a beautiful icy garden covered with frost flowers. So we decided to go picking them.