Field work around Svalbard

Hi,

This is going to be the second to last post for us and is about our cruise around Svalbard!

Boarding the R/V Helmer Hanssen Saturday, the 5th of May 2018.

On this field work on board the R/V Helmer Hanssen we got an insight into scientific equipment handling and how the sampling should be carried out.

Map of Svalbard, with the five sampling stations and the two prevailing currents. © Leo Magerl.

Our group started in Kongsfjorden with the benthos. Our main tasks that day were sorting out the benthic fauna from the trawl, followed by a grab sample and lastly, a triangular dredge.

 

Students curious to see the first trawl being hauled in.

Fred sorting out the Atlantic cod Gadus morhua - careful with the seawolves Anarhichas lupus!

That day the biggest Atlantic cod of the whole cruise got caught.

Meanwhile, we were sorting and trying to identify the benthic species down to family or species if possible.

Van Veen grab heaved back on board.

Next up: Sieving.

The haul of our triangular dredge. What utter destruction of the seafloor in the name of science!

We sorted and sorted and sorted polychaetes and tried to identify them till late at night. Wasn't an easy task... And I simply can't remember any of their names - sorry.

Second day in Smeerenburgfjorden: the fish group. Again, we sorted for benthos, fish and shrimp. Thousands of shrimp. We got around 180kg to sort and counted 66’448 individuals. Also, we caught incredible 2'073 Herring weighting 38kg. The fish were sorted by species, weighted and dissected for gonads and stomach weight, as well for stomach content to determine whether they're male/female and if they have been feeding or not.

Weighting American plaice Hippoglossoides platessoides.

Subsampling herring Clupea harengus.

Scooping up krill Thysanoessa sp. from the pelagic trawl.

Counting that krill subsample was a pain!

Daubed shanny Leptoclinus maculatus and thorny skate Amblyraja radiata. It was completely unnecessary to kill that lively skate, instead we could've set the poor thing free, but no.

Some fine stomachs there!

Lastly, investigating and determining the stomach contents.

Most impressively to me was how the catch was processed before delivered to our lab. This was once a fishing trawler, so here I got a little glimpse of how mechanised and industrialized catching fish is – I think it is disgusting how life is treated.

On our way to the Hinlopen strait, we crossed the 80° N and made a short stop at Møffen to look at a walrus colony. I tried my best with taking pictures with my iPhone camera through binoculars.

Third day, ice sampling in Wahlenbergfjorden. Waking up to the ice scratching around the helm was impressive, not to mention watching the ship breaking into the ice (floes). Sadly, we couldn’t get onto the ice as it was too thin.

But they managed to get a piece of ice to show us how they would sample it.

Later that day, we were at the zooplankton station. Sampling was done with a Multiplankton Sampler (MPS), a Method Isaac Kidd (MIK) net and a Working Party 3 (WP3) net. With the MIK we sampled for macrozooplankton (>2 mm), with the MPS for mesozooplankton (0.2 – 2 mm) and WP3 for Calanus species for later incubation.

Deployment of the MIK net.

My group sorting the macrozooplankton. © Børge Damsgård

Illustration how to identify and distinguish between Thysanoessa sp. and Meganyctiphanes norvegica. However, we found mainly Thysanoessa inermis, see below. To the right you can see the illustration of the Calanus sp. incubation.

Setting up the MPS to be deployed. The samples then got stored in 4% Formalin for later identification in the lab.

Cups for the Calanus sp. incubation. A mesh was separating the female from her eggs so that she doesn't filtrate her own offspring.

Fourth day was basically steaming back to Isfjorden, with some photo session in Smeerenburgfjorden. Further, keeping up with work, punching in data, some producing a presentation while others were knocked off by their seasickness.

Fifth and last day we were sampling for phytoplankton and macroalgae in Isfjorden which was then our assignment to write the report about it.

Sampling was done with a net of mesh size 200µm and lowered by hand below the chlorophyll a peak which we determined by the CTD before. The sample got stored and used for identification. The abundance of phytoplankton species was estimated by a system of counts - , + , ++ , +++ (0 - 3 basically).

We found mainly diatoms such as Chaetoceros gelidus, Thalassiosira antarctica var. borealis, Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii, ice algae Nitzschia frigida and also some Prymnesiophyceae, the Phaeocystis pouchetii.

Later on, we got dropped off at Gåsøyane to snorkel for some macroalgae. It was cold, geez! While looking for some different algae I crossed path with so many "Sea angel", the mollusc Clione limacina. I enjoyed observing them so much, I forgot a bit my task.

Trying to look good. I think it worked out well. © Børge Damsgård

Our group posing for Børge. © Børge Damsgård

Which was which again?

Uh, some Saccharina latissima ... or was it Alaria esculenta?

This Rhodophyta had some diatoms growing on it.

And the last picture. The whole AB-202 class and teaching staff. Photo taken in Smeerenburgfjorden by Børge Damsgård.

A closing remark:

Unfortunately, this cruise had no scientific purpose. The reports we had to deliver had no significance. Judging in retroperspective it was a waste of money. If you consider, this ship costs roughly 160’000 NOK per day to operate, they burned almost 1’000’000 NOK, which is about 100’000 £, just to show us some methods. I mean, it was nice, yes, but nothing new for us SAMS students... Imagine what other stuff you could do with that money?! Sampling with a small trawler in the fjord outside Longyearbyen instead and go observe more wildlife otherwise for example. I know, this is complaining on a high level. Nevertheless, this was kind of symptomatic for this whole course. Scratching on the surface, somehow, anyhow, with no real findings and a profound learning outcome. What a pity!