By Rafael Lazo Perez | The glaciers of Spitzbergen say goodbye to us while we departure slowly from this magnificent archipelago. The waves splash around the ship and make wet the deck, where we are having our final BBQ. A familiar feeling floats in the atmosphere. After four weeks of hard work ... [Read more]
By Rafael Lazo Perez | The ship trembles while we slowly advance through the ice. A crack appears in the ice piece blocking our way. The ship cracks it into two pieces resembling the school charts that show the separation of the continents. We are approaching to Greenland and ice is becoming a ... [Read more]
By Rafael Laso Perez | Tac, tac, tac. The sound of the peristaltic pumps helps to stay awake at 4:00 AM in the lab. We just got some water samples from the deep sea and need to process them as soon as possible. After sampling a couple of stations, the procedure has become an enjoyable routine ... [Read more]
By Rafael Laso Perez | The excitement runs through my veins. In a couple of hours we will arrive to S3, my first sampling station of the PS107 cruise, which researches the Fram Strait, the gate to the Arctic Ocean. It is 20:00 o’clock and although I should get some rest for the night sampling, I ... [Read more]
By Benjamin Lange | Arctic sea ice thickness and extent have undergone significant changes over the past ~30 years. The observed changes are actually much greater than predicted by even the best global climate models for the Arctic Ocean. In addition, sea ice thickness and volume are key indicators ... [Read more]
By Ulrich Küster | Being a northern Germany native, the term “Beluga” was mostly associated with the large Airbus transport planes that would pass over my parents’ garden on their approach to the Airbus facility in Finkenwerder, Hamburg. Unbelievably large airplanes, with whom I had trouble ... [Read more]
By Fokje Schaafsma | On Friday the 23th of June, RV Polarstern left Svalbard for the SiPCA expedition to the Arctic Ocean. SiPCA stands for Survival of Polar cod in the Arctic Ocean. The main aim of the expedition is to learn more about the life of Polar cod, which is a species that is widely ... [Read more]
By Katharina Hochmuth | A couple of days ago, we featured the working group with the most members on board. Today I introduce the group with the highest quota of female scientists: Welcome to team Geophysics. Shackles, tie wraps and split pins are a geophysicist’s bread and butter. The ... [Read more]
By Yani Najman | It has long been my dream to work in the Antarctic, both because of its fabled beauty and remoteness, and because of the special importance it has on our planet’s changing climate; if the West Antarctic Ice sheet were to melt, predictions suggest a rise in global sea level of 3-5m. ... [Read more]
By Thomas Ronge | 'Furious Fifties' and 'Screaming Sixties' – these are the infamous names of the ocean regions we crossed in our transit towards the Amundsen Sea. Despite our misgivings, the weather has been surprisingly good. Hence we had a smooth and uneventful journey to our working ... [Read more]
