Returning to the Arctic – 1st blog entry
Just like last summer, this year Latvian researchers travel to the cold North – the Norwegian island of Svalbard to continue research in the Eidembukta lagoon within the framework of the “MP-ARCTIC” project. Researchers Marta Barone and Barbara Massalska-Duszczyk, armed with four suitcases, courage and determination, boarded a plane to Longyearbyen in the early morning. They arrived at their destination late at night, but only the clock showed it, because it is currently polar day – sunlight reigns 24/7.
Image 1. Eidembukta lagoon from above. Photo: Christian Clauwers
The first day in Longyearbyen was dedicated to organizing belongings, obtaining safety equipment, and preparing inventory for sample collection during the expedition. Items such as survival clothing, satellite phone, location transmitter, weapons, and flares were rented in Longyearbyen, while the rest was brought along from Latvia. In the afternoon a meeting was held with the project partners – three gentlemen from Lithuania and two from Taiwan – sample collection plan and various organizational issues were discussed so that we could board the ship without any worries the next day.
Image 2. Expedition team. Andy, Ping (Institute of Ocean Technology and Marine Affairs of National Cheng Kung University), Andrius Šiaulys, Dzmitry Lukashanets, Sergej Olenin (Marine Research Institute of Klaipėda University), Marta Barone, Barbara Massalska-Duszczyk (LHEI). Photo: Christian Clauwers.
For the next sixt days we will call the ship “Ocean-B” our home, where three strong Polish women in body and spirit are in charge – captain of the ship Alicja, mechanic Lena, and hostess and cook Halina. We received instructions that the departure had been postponed to a later time, because we have to wait until the waves calmed at sea. Together with our partners, we rearranged the sample collection plan to match the new departure time. The captain had not lied about the waves – on the ship we felt like clothes in a washing machine! We all had a sleepless night, spent tossing and turning in the waves.
Image 3. Eidembukta expedition map
For this year’s expedition, we plan to collect microplastic samples from the surface water and sediments in both the older and younger parts of the lagoon. This will allow us to understand how pollutants accumulate in new and seemingly pristine ecosystems.
Project “MP-ARCTIC” is implemented with the support of Latvian Council of Science.
