Andreas Muenchow, University of Delaware, USA | A storm closed the deck of R/V Polarstern on our first day at sea. Within hours of leaving port in Tromso, Norway, with its sheltered fjords, mountains, and rocks, we entered the open Barents Sea where winds and waves hit us hard. Water splashed ... [Read more]
By Richard Jones, Durham University | Huddled at the waterfront of Tromso, Arctic Norway, I joined a large group of fellow scientists for my first scientific cruise – actually, the first time on any form of boat for longer than a day – so 5 weeks at sea seemed daunting. I was both excited and ... [Read more]
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]
The effects of climate change are most alarming in the Arctic Ocean, with rapidly rising air temperatures and declining multiyear sea ice. In particular in Fram Strait, the inflow of Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean has warmed in the last two decades, which might have contributed to the melting ... [Read more]
