August 20- Barents Sea… first sea ice

We woke up to a foggy cloudy morning with a light sprinkle of rain. A flock of Atlantic Puffins, Fratercula arctica, was seen from the helo deck this morning. The scientific name means “little brother of the Arctic”. Atlantic Puffins are known to nest on small offshore islands, including Novaya Zemlya, the island the ship is still hovering on its starboard side.

We had our first siting of ice late in the afternoon, and more to come!

Another day of checking, preparing equipment and setting up labs.

 

This is a good time to send some basic ship terminology:

port– left side

starboard– right side

deck– floors, as in buildings

helo deck– helicopter deck

mess hall– dining room

galley– kitchen

head– toilet

fore, bow– front of the ship

aft, stern, fantail– back of the ship

bridge– where the ship’s navigation takes place

flying bridge– the bridge’s roof

brow– long gangway

rollers– big waves

pitching– movement of the ship from front to back

rolling– movement of the ship from side to side

knot=nautical mile=1.15 mph (miles per hour)

Stay tuned for what happened to the crow’s nest! If you think of any terms I missed, please let us know.

 

Breakfast: oatmeal, ham, cheese and bread

Lunch: beef and kidney bean soup; stuffed peppers; and tossed green salad

Tea Time: yoghurt, bananas

Dinner: vegetable stew, rump steak and mixed green salad

A lot of research takes place in the Polar Regions because of the ‘pure’ glacial water.

Oksana Izosimova, a Limnological Institute- Irkutsk, Russia PhD student, preparing a water solvent extraction in a test tube.

Nicole Stollberg, a University of Rostock, Germany Master’s student, and Stefan Buttner, a University of Kiel, Germany PhD student, preparing the filtration set.

These are Niskin bottles used for water sampling in the rosette (the device used for sampling deep water). The opening and closing of the bottles are done remotely from the CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth). There will be more information about CTDs as the cruise continues.

Andreas Rogge, a University of Kiel, Germany PhD student, preparing an Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP- the camera system for particles and zooplankton).