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).