By Dr. Mark Hopwood (GEOMAR)

The Maria S. Merian alongside in Reykjavik.

Our equipment is loaded, the sun is shining, moral is high, and we’re almost ready to get going! With 11 nationalities onboard representing 9 institutions, the research vessel Maria S. Merian will set sail from Reykjavik harbor early tomorrow morning. Making the most of the fantastic weather, we hope for a smooth crossing from Iceland to Greenland but the forecast is not so great! Maybe it will be a bit of a baptism of fire in the North Atlantic for some newbies onboard! So, as we all get our sea legs and our students start learning about life at sea, let’s take a look at what we will be doing for the next 5 weeks.

With recent climate change the Arctic and the coastal waters around Greenland have seen some dramatic changes. Ongoing loss of sea ice in the Arctic is a major driver of ‘Arctic Amplification’, the process via which the Arctic is warming more than 3 times faster than the rest of Earth. What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic, and as an Arctic-outflow region the east of Greenland is a key area for exploring how changes in the far north of the world are affecting the ocean. The East Greenland Current carries sea ice and freshwater from the Arctic southwards into the Atlantic, along the way picking up icebergs and runoff from Greenland. The research cruise MSM130 will spend the next five weeks surveying this sensitive region. In addition to underway sensor data, we will collect water column profiles, sediment samples and ice samples in order to understand how climate change is affecting the ocean in this region.

The views will be beautiful and we will be keeping a close watch on our surroundings, not just to get our science done and stay clear of icebergs, but also to make sure we are not disturbing the endangered mammals of this phenomenal coastline. Narwhals, seals, whales, walrus and polar bears are expected as we navigate through sea ice and glacier fjords. These animals rule the sparsely populated eastern coastline and it’s best for them, and us, that we keep our distance.

In addition to our veteran scientists, we will be introducing students from four countries to a lot of ‘firsts’; their first research cruises, their first experience of the Arctic and, in some cases, their first time on a ship! Fortune favors the brave. Follow our updates as we carefully navigate north!

Polar Beast is a cruise program publicly funded by the GPF and organized by GEOMAR. Scientific leads from GEOMAR (Germany), SUSTech (China), WHOI (USA), IOPAN (Poland) and GEUS (Denmark) will run scientific activities at sea for the next 5 weeks including surveys to support long-term sustained observations by the GrIOOS and GEM monitoring programs. The scientific lead is Prof. Eric Achterberg (GEOMAR). For further press enquiries please contact: media@geomar.de