Hello from the tip of Greenland. After two days of semi-smooth sailing, we saw Greenland for the first time this morning and reached the southernmost point of our cruise. From now on, it’s only getting colder, the days are getting longer, and the work gets harder:)

To recap on the last three days: we set sail Tuesday morning and waved Reykjavik Goodbye from the pilot deck. This day was spent watching puffins and paying close attention to the mandatory safety drill. When the general alarm was sounded (seven short rings and one long one, repeatedly), we grabbed the life jackets from our cabins and tried to find the fastest way to the muster station. Everybody put their life jackets on, and it was ensured nobody was missing. Then the abandon ship alarm was sounded (short, long, short, long), and we proceeded to the free-fall lifeboat in the ship’s rear. In the boat, there is a seat for everybody on the ship, and it is quite a challenge to fold yourself into the seat, especially for tall people. Nonetheless, jokes were made that the lifeboat has more legroom than a Ryanair flight. Once everybody was seated and buckled up, the captain gave the command from the bridge that the drill was over. Hungry from all the excitement, we enjoyed a great dinner: fried potatoes, cauliflower, schnitzel, and broccoli. 

An even more exciting thing happened after dinner when we stood outside on the deck. Right after 5 minutes, we could see the blows from some whales. It seemed that they were following the ship at some distance. When you see some whales, the best thing to do is to go up directly to the bridge and get binoculars from the captain to have a closer look. On Wednesday and Thursday, the waves were getting higher, and the ship started shaking much more. So, instead of looking for whales, we slept, trying not to throw up. During the times when the seasickness pills were effective, we spent hours labeling and preparing our equipment for the soon-to-be samples.

This Friday morning, we could lay eyes for the first time on Greenland; combined with small pieces of sea ice floating by in the dark blue ocean and the sun shining from a blue sky, it accumulated to a truly magical moment even though no whales were there to greet us. A crisp and icy breeze blew away the seasickness, and the excitement rose in expectation of our first samples.

In case you are wondering who we are and what we are about to sample, we are Malte and Carmen, two assistant scientists from GEOMAR. Our goal is to collect sediment cores from the seafloor inside the Greenland fjords with an interest in the microbiology of these sediments. Later on, we will (hopefully) give you the good news about our successful sampling.

Greetings from Malte and Carmen:)