Cruising around Svalbard's waters...oh my god a copepod!

Hello people, it’s been awhile! Vanessa here by the way.

While all of you are done with your studies and enjoying the coming summer, we are buried knee-deep in work. Student life.

Anyway, it is actually not too bad as the sun is shining and we finally have time to tell you about our AB-202 marine biology cruise. One word: copepods. So many copepods...

We set sail on the 7^th May with the R/V Helmer Hanssen and returned on the 14th May. 

Two to three people shared a cabin and food was available 24/7 (hell yeah!). It was a pretty intense week filled with work, little sleep and lots of caffeine. 

Day 1 included the division of our class into groups which rotated every day to do one of these tasks:

→     Zooplankton sampling, identification and egg incubation

→     Primary producers (micro- & macroalgae -> went snorkelling!)

→     Benthos (Van Veen grab, benthic trawl, trinagular dredge)

→     Fish (benthic and pelagic trawl, dissection and stomach content analysis)

→     Sea bird observation (extra)

→     Ice algae and meiofauna (extra) -> got me excited!

It was really fantastic to have that much hands-on field and laboratory work, even though we went to bed around 1 to 3am every day (morning) and got up at around 07:00am. Sometimes we even had bird watch, which made your night not as long as you might have wanted it to be. Still it was a lot of fun. We sailed around the west coast of Spitsbergen, into Hinlopen Strait aaaaand the pack ice (80°N!). Felix will tell you all about the wildlife we saw…

We stayed in the pack ice overnight to conduct some ice-based fieldwork. This made me more than happy, because I am writing my bachelor thesis on life in ice. And because it is fun to use the ice drill and corer ^^.

Apart from work, we visited Ny-Ålesund, ate lots and laughed lots. All in all I would say it was a pretty good cruise. It showed me that even if you specialize, you need to have a sufficient amount of knowledge out of your field to bring it all together. One thing , at the time of the cruise Phaeocystis pouchetii (a coccolithophore) was blooming nearly everywhere, which made our drinking and shower water, and us smell ever so slightly…nom.

Ready to science in sexy orange rain gear!

Science!

Sciencing!

Ice-based fieldwork

Northern most ice henge

Happy AB-202 course (on the ice- Vanessa (blue hat), on the gangway- Felix (red & orange hat) , Sam (yellow neon hat) and Connor (red jacket))

Copepod (in the ice)!

Cute little polychaete larvae 

These guys make me happy :).

Even though we were working hard every day, we still had some amazing time outside the lab. On the second day, we stopped in Ny Ålesund and went for a walk in the northernmost village of the world, at almost 79°N. 

Because this settlement (unlike Barentsburg and Longyearbyen) was not bombed by the Germans in WWII, you can now find Svalbard's oldest inhabitable buildings there. With disbelief, we realized that even though the Germans lost the war, they still somehow managed to conquer Ny Ålesund — there were AWI signs everywhere (AWI=the German polar research institute). Even more surprisingly, I met some fellow Austrians on their way back from fieldwork, displaying their national pride with an Austrian flag on the back of their scooter.

An unlikely encounter: me (Felix) with the scooter of the Austrian Polar Research Institute

An atmospheric scientist with his
experimental balloon

Kings Bay Kullkomapni built Ny Ålesund as a coal-mining town in 1916 in a beautiful landscape (we all agreed that UNIS should move there). After 21 men lost their lives in the tragic mining incident of 1962, the mines where shut down but some buildings and artifacts still remind of the the coal mining history. Now, more than sixteen research stations of eleven different countries make it a hub of polar research during the summer, with up to 250 scientists whirling around. I am sure none of us would mind working in this amazing environment for a summer field season.

Sam and Alexandra in front of the awe inspiring landscape of Northwest Spitsbergen

A relic of olden times – the railway which once transported coal from the mines to the harbour

 While anchored up to an ice float at almost 82°N, grey clouds replaced the sun and blue sky. What we found on the ice, or rather what found us, was even more aesthetic than Svalbard's landscape: polar bears. We were lucky enough to see a big male polar bear, as well as a mother with her yearling. When the mother and its yearling came up to the boat, passing only thirty meters in front of the bow, it was like BBC Frozen Planet come alive. I still feel a tingle in my tommy when I think back to these moments on the boat.

As it sits up, the yearling is about as tall as the adult bear — and it shows a lot more curiosity in our presence than the weary mother

The determined mother treads past R/V Helmer Hanssen, showing off her strength with every movement

Lots of birds (ivory gulls, northern fulmars, Brünnich's guillemots, black guillemots and little auks, ...) as well as walrusses were some of the other amazing wildlife encounters on the trip — a truly unforgettable experience.

An ivory gull sailing over our heads as we watch the polar bears on the foredeck

Kapp Linne on a shoe string

After three months of winter here on Svalbard, one thing is clear: student life in the Arctic is hard. But hopefully I (Felix) will be able to show how we lack no comfort on our student budget.

At Kapp Linne, a 100km scooter ride from Longyearbyen, a tourism company has taken on the history 'Isfjord Radio Station' and transformed it into a luxury hotel, with rooms in the high season going for as much as some of the best spa hotels at home.

The tea room a Isfjord Radio Hotel

But fortunately, Norwegians love their cabins, and in a place like Longyearbyen, where the average stay of a resident is only four years, clubs have taken on the responsibility and ownership of cabins all around Spitsbergen. Anka, Sam, Vanessa and I took the opportunity and rented such a cabin at Kapp Linne.

The cozy 'Russekeila' cabin

The cabin was situated about 10min from the luxury hotel, so we enjoyed a cup of coffee/tea as well as the diverse bird life at Isfjord Radio. Migratory birds are coming back to Svalbard with snow buntings, common eiders, king eiders, northern fulmars and kittiwakes being common sightings around the shores. We also went for a walk on Linnevatnet, the largest lake on Svalbard. The lake ice is currently about 1.5m thick, underneath hides a population of Arctic Char. Without a rod and ice drilling equipment, we missed out on the fishing. But a pot of homemade Chili and some card games in the cabin concluded a wonderful day out at Kapp Linne, with great impressions the landscape and wildlife on the outermost tip of Isfjorden.
The sea ice in Grønfjorden (contrary to the lake ice) was not thick enough to travel on, and we stayed well clear of it when going back to Longyearbyen. When we went to Barentsburg on a field trip one week later, all the ice had broken up.

Grønfjorden with the ice edge on the right side and the Russian settlement of Barentsburg on the opposite shore

After such a great cabin trip, we had gathered enough energy to face the period of report deadlines and exams. Who knows, maybe hardship will finally get to us with all the academic work of the next weeks.

Field work At -205

Field trip to Svea for AT – 212 Rock Mechanics

This field trip started with an amazing trip across Svalbard by plane to Svea the view was amazing:

The accommodation was lovely and the food was amazing (we didn’t have to cook!) It is also very good food. With a lovely view across the fjord. For those of you who have been involved with SAMS for a while you may remember Carl Ballantine, who is currently working in Svea for Aquaplan on an experiment in the fjord. The next day we began at 8 am for safety briefings and to be issued all of our equipment:

Once in the mine the work begun looking at all different supporting systems and faults in the mine.

Of course paying special attention to new construction and the types of bolts used in a coal mine:

Comparing old and new technology’s and the 2 long walls, the old long wall the mining was carried out 80cm for the control stations and you can walk easily the whole way. The new long wall is remote controlled with in the mine and is very complicated I can just about stand in between the panels whilst every one else has to crouch:

The day in the mine was brilliant, the white suits did not stay white for long at all. The next day was more of a geological day, looking a core samples.

The final day was spend learning about the cleaning facilities for the coal and a tour of the whole of Svea. Before flying back to Longyear.

The week of the almighty _ _ _ _ _ _!

Hey guys, Vanessa here!

We have just come back from a wee trip to Barentsburg with the AB-203 course.

Last week was rather adventurous. We saw a walrus, had field work and spent a weekend in a beautiful cabin. So let’s get started!

First up is the walrus…

What can I say? It was beautiful, massive, extraordinary, amazing, cute, and it only had one tusk. Move over narwhals, walruses are the new unicorns of the sea. 

Anyway, around 22.30 there was a knock on my door and Sam & Trude came in to tell me that there was a walrus near the airport. Did I have to think about wanting to see it? Hell no! I urged Trude to get ready and Felix came back just in time to hear the exciting news. 

So around 23.00 we were on our scooters and on our way to this beautiful and massive creature. We parked the scooters several hundreds of meters away from it and Trude & I tried to run as fast as we could across a very ice 'field'. As we got closer the excitement was building up and we just wanted to see it! And then we spotted a huge blob in the distance surrounded by people. The walrus! The setting was just perfect.

The sun had set earlier on creating a beautiful arrangement of colours in the sky with the mountains as a dark contrast; the walrus was lying on the beach having a nap.

It did not seem bothered at all by all the people excitingly taking photos and posing with it. We were only about 1m away from it! It scratched itself, stretched and went back to sleep. We returned to the barrack around 00.30 and went straight to bed to get up bright and early for our field work that day…

Beautiful, beautiful walrus + sky

Am I not cute?

Chilling in the Arctic

Second up is Van Mijenfjorden…

On the 8^th of April, half of our AB-202 class went out to conduct field work on sea ice. 

This field work is not actually part of the course, but was arranged as an 'add-on'. 

We met early in UNIS to finish packing the sledges and to get the scooters ready. It was a sunny day and pretty warm for our standards. 

We took a break after driving more than half way to have lunch surrounded by reindeers.

As we set of again and arrived near the fjord, two other scooters stopped by and told us about a polar bear mother and her two cubs that had been sighted in the area. 

This obviously excited all of us and we were eagerly looking left and right to see whether we could spot three moving objects in the distance. We did not. The only thing we saw were blobs on the ice, which were ringed seals. 

As we arrived at the point in the fjord where we wanted to be, the rifles were half-loaded and two people kept polar bear watch as the others started sampling (it is funny in a way how normal it becomes that rifles are just there). Ice cores were extracted and a hole in the ice was made to do a CTD cast and zooplankton sampling with a net (20 to 0m & 80/70 to 20m).

We took ice cores for temperature, salinity, Chl a and meiofauna. An ice corer was used to extract the cores and they were cut up and stored in bags with filtered sea water for analysis later on. Some ice cores, such as the one for temperature, were discarded and were used instead for a sculpture (the ice henge). It was so sunny and ‘warm’ that all of us were just running around with sunglasses and scooter suits down.

The field work took until about 19.00 and we were back at UNIS around 21.00 exhausted, hungry but very happy. The following days we spent in the lab going through all ice cores and zooplankton samples. So many copepods...

Sampling location

Unfortunately not our lunch

Let's have a break and enjoy the sun

            Part of Van Mijen bathed in sunlight                    

Joakim with the ice corer

Making a hole in the ice is not easy work (girl power!)

The all-mighty ice henge

Polar bear tracks! Exciting!

That's it from me guys. I am signing off and leaving it to Felix to write about the cabin trip to Kapp Linné. Hope this will keep you entertained until then.

Barentsburg Away Round 2

Hey, Sam here. 
Over the past 3 weeks the weather has been fantastic up here! I've almost been out skiing every day hence why you haven't heard from me for a while. Anyway, around 2 weeks ago it was Longyearbyen's turn to go play sport in Barentsburg in the second leg of the competition. Mathias (my partner in crime up here) and I left a day early on some scooters to hunt down a cabin and do some skiing before the competition. We left around 10am and drove towards Barentsburg for around two hours. After locating the well hidden cabin at the foot of Tungebreen in Grondalen we dumped our gear. It was a great little cabin and was stocked with food, wood and coal. Soon we were off uphill on the skis traversing and icy ridge with large drops on either side. We ski'd down and explored the other side of the valley. Conditions weren't ideal so we had an early dinner and spent the evening in the cosy cabin. 

Woke up to bluebird conditions so toured up a nearby mountain. The view from the top was incredible, but contrast quickly dropped and the light was really flat. Mathias ski'd down the face of the mountain, dropping 600m in about a minute. I took the easier route but the restricted visibility and hard packed snow made it so hard. Bailed off by traversing over a big gully which was a little scary. Having seen several groups on their way to Barentsburg from the mountain we packed up and caught up with the party. Driving into to Barentsburg was amazing through all the abandoned buildings and mining equipment. Once in the famous sports centre I was on court for basketball almost immediately - which we won by a mile.  Straight after I was crushed in table tennis then ran upstairs for football. Came on and scored a goal then subbed myself off as I was super tired! Volleyball was last on the agenda which we won in the last set with four smaller than net height girls who played amazingly! So, thats it all over - a clear victory for Longyearbyen!

Me getting  a lesson in table tennis

The basketball team  on route to victory

Volleyball team victory

Everyone hurrying to get ready as the Atlantic storms picks up

Unfortunately we were all unable to stay like last time as a big storm was hitting and would likely trap us in Barentsburg for the next 3 days if we didn't get going. We set off in two teams of 15-20 scooters and headed for Longyearbyen in the whiteout and strong winds. It was pretty crazy driving - luckily we had an experienced guide leading the way. On the last steep section my little scooter looked and sounded like it wasn't going to make it. However to my joy it found some extra gas and climbed up the last section to Longyearbreen above the town. After a few stops, refuels and mishaps everyone was home and having a few victory beers. As it happened there was a large party in UNIS that evening which most of us joined and had a great time!

Late solar eclipse special!

Hi guys, Vanessa here!

Even though the solar eclipse was 10 days ago, a small Arctic update is needed.

Last week was rather stressful for us biology people with two presentations and lectures every day (hence the late update).

Currently the weather is horrendous (wind+snow=white-out) and the Easter holidays have started, so I thought an update would be appropriate. Let’s get started…

As you all know the very exciting solar eclipse took place 10 days ago. 

Prior to that spectacular event, Colin flew up to Svalbard to help the biology course with some fieldwork. A small part of the biology course deployed and retrieved a mooring with an AZFP (Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler) attached to it to measure zooplankton activity (DVM) among other things. We also went out on two boat trips to collect zooplankton samples during midday and midnight. 

Connor and I were part of the night group (I snuck my way in just in case there were any bioluminescent organisms, there were none).

Whilst wearing sexy orange rescue suits, we hauled out a zooplankton net several times and towed it for about 5 to 10 mins, and we also made a CTD cast. After collecting all the samples we wanted we made our way back to the harbour and arrived there at about midnight, where we were greeted by Northern lights (what a hard life we have). 

Once back at UNIS, we showered each other down and started preparing the samples for lab work.

Showering after a night at sea

Let’s just say there was a lot of krill. A lot. But there were also some sea angels, copepods, ctenophores, arrow worms and some amphipods. We separated the ctenophores from the rest and measured them. Then the samples were sieved and all the samples were transferred into bottles to be stored for later use. We got back home at around 01.30 (tired and very hungry). Have to say though that Longyearbyen actually looked like a big city when we were out.

Anyone fancy some krill?

Can you spot the arrow worms?

Waiting for the cars and the eclipse

Unfortunately, we were not able to go out during the actual eclipse as Mother Nature had decided to bring us calm and freezing weather, which led to the formation of 11cm thick sea ice. However, the 20^th of March was a beautiful day and thus our lovely module leader Janne took us to her cabin/house out in Adventdalen. There we sat on reindeer skins with hot drinks and biscuits eagerly awaiting the eclipse. The valley was overrun by tourists that had out all sort of high-tech equipment, but luckily we were further up and it was quiet where we were. Excitement among our class was building up rapidly and many of us did not have high expectations, but oh boy. It got darker and darker, the temperature dropped and just wow. We were all blown away. The total eclipse just looked  

A-mazing!!! There were so many ‘wows’ and ‘ohhs’ and ‘ahhhs’ and some sweary words. 

Truly amazing to see! 

But would I pay £10,000 to 20,000 to see it? No, I think I would just watch on TV :).

A part of Adventdalen that was filled with tourists

Scotland! Solar Eclipse!

Waiting for the eclipse

Solar Eclipse

And for the dog lovers among our audience, we got to see Janne's dogs after the eclipse.She even had two super adorable puppies.

The super adorable puppies

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