PhD student Emelia Chamberlain sends the following dispatch from Polarstern.
Operating an international expedition in the remote central Arctic would always be a logistically taxing endeavor. Operating an international expedition in the remote central Arctic during a global pandemic is that much more challenging. But through the incredible perseverance of a delayed Leg 3 team and hard work from the dedicated logistical teams at the Alfred Wegner Institute in Germany, MOSAiC Leg 4 is underway!
Our NSF funded project work on MOSAiC will be carried out on this leg by URI Post-doc Alessandra D’Angelo and myself. In a reshuffling of plan operations, I found myself headed North almost a month earlier than expected (and for her almost a month later). On May 1, 2020, approx. one hundred scientists and crew began two weeks of quarantine in a local hotel in Bremerhaven. For the first week we were in total isolation within individual hotel rooms. Meals were brought to our door by the incredible hotel staff. Upon beginning our individualized quarantine, we took two tests, the first test on our arrival and the second one seven days later. We were all to remain in individualized quarantine until the results of our second coronavirus test came back. Thankfully, everyone tested negative and after seven long days we entered Phase 2 – group quarantine. Even weeks and 3,000 km away from meeting with the Polarstern, MOSAiC Leg 4 had finally begun. Tentatively at first, we emerged from our rooms to gather for meals, planning, and perhaps most importantly, safety briefings. While we were able to be around each other, we still practiced strict social distancing precautions.
After another 10 days, and negative test results for all, we began our journey Northward on the R/V Maria S. Merian and R/V Sonne to meet with the MOSAiC workhorse, R/V Polarstern. While overall lovely research vessels, the MS Merian and Sonne are not icebreakers, meaning the Polarstern would need to travel south of the ice edge to refuel and make the personnel exchange. Therefore, all ships coordinated to meet in Adventfjorden, Svalbard. It required a lot of time, but it was a beautiful journey. Due to some unexpected ice-pressure preventing southerly travel we ended up reaching the designated meeting point (near Longyearbyen, Norway) almost 2 weeks earlier than Polarstern! I spent most of the time planning, catching up on some coding, and working out in the many group sporting activities being held on board, all in prep for the labor-intensive ice activities. (Zumba and yoga are of course perfect analogs for pulling sledges of equipment across slushy sea ice…)
Once the Polarstern finally arrived in Adventfjorden, a flurry of handover activities commenced. We met with the Leg 3 team, explored the labs, reviewed protocols, and heard all about their experience on the ice. Prior to departing the MOSAiC ice floe, there was a dynamic shift in the ice leading to some sampling sites splitting from the rest. This, however, is not surprising given its fast trajectory south and the onset of the summer melt-season. The ice drift (which can be tracked here in real time) has brought the MOSAiC floe to approximately 82º latitude, air temperatures mostly remain above freezing, and surface water is currently measured at -1.7ºC (warm for under-ice). With polar summer in full swing and such exciting ice dynamics, I look forward to getting back to the floe and tracking the ecological changes through this transition! But first, we must get there. I’m hoping to utilize this next phase of transit to explore the R/V Polarstern. Since it will be my new home for the next ~4.5 months, I suppose I should learn how to find my way from the lab to the mess hall without getting lost…
