Today marks the end of the first half of the research cruise and I have begun my two-day long trip back to North Carolina. Participating in this research cruise has been an exhausting yet amazing experience. Since we have limited time in this region we have been trying to take advantage of every minute on the water. This means long, busy days sampling from the boat or on the ice, and sometimes even both. Our team has evolved into a well-oiled sampling machine with the support of the amazing crew and captain. Boat sampling involves deployment of the zooplankton net off the back of the boat, deployment of the Rosette water sampling device plus the CTD off the side of the boat, sampling surface water from the bow of the boat, and finally the deployment of the Aquadop (current meter) off the side. Dr. Wagner is in charge of making sure all of the sampling activities happen at the appropriate time and location and the rest of the team has fallen into different roles depending on what we are sampling. We would be collecting much less data without our Rosette guru, Dave Wells. Dave is not only super knowledgeable about all things related to the Rosette, but he also seems to have a magic touch with almost every piece of equipment we have brought. We are all very grateful that Dave decided to come on this cruise!
This was my first trip to the Arctic and my first time on a large research vessel. I had an amazing experience on this trip; the environment is spectacular and like nowhere else in the world. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to be in a place where few have visited and even fewer have conducted research. Our team was very fortunate that all of our equipment arrived safely and in working condition. We were able to set up a makeshift lab on the boat complete with a water filtering apparatus, microscopes, and the CTD control system. This allows us to conduct our research in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, which is an amazing feat in itself!
Going onto the ice for the first time was the highlight of my trip. Standing on an ice floe in the middle of the ocean is a breathtaking experience. It is a risky environment to work in and the adrenaline really gets flowing when the ice beneath you shifts or bumps into the next ice floe. Having the polar bear guard with us made me feel safer and more worried at the same time – it was good to know that he was there to protect us just in case, but worrisome because of why he was there in the first place.
As I prepare to return to North Carolina, I am sad to leave this amazing place but excited to get home to see my family. One of my roles on this cruise was to observe marine mammals in the study area and unfortunately I did not see any. This is likely just bad luck and nothing more, but it was still disappointing to miss all of the amazing mammals that make the Arctic their home. I guess I will just have to come back and try again another time!
-HG
