{"id":3401,"date":"2022-08-03T08:26:41","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T06:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arctrain.de\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2022-08-03T08:29:36","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T06:29:36","slug":"a-long-awaited-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arctrain.de\/de\/a-long-awaited-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"A long-awaited journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An expedition to the Nordic Seas after almost three years of changing plans<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Once I had started my PhD back in October 2019, I was told that I will get the chance to go on a research vessel and participate on an expedition soon. As I have never been on a ship before, I was really looking forward to this. It would also be the chance to not only encounter the area of my research work (the Nordic Seas and the Fram Strait), but also sample planktonic foraminifera from the water column for my own research work.
But as so many things in 2020, it did not turn out as expected: the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled my hopes of going on a ship in summer 2020, as the number of participants had to be drastically reduced. The plans for my research project were shifted and I focused my work on samples that had <\/span>been collected before. At the beginning of 2021, I started to hope again, as two further expeditions were coming up in the summer which could be interesting for me in terms of both the region and the work planned on board. But the pandemic was not over, and it thwarted my plans once more. With the time that was left for my PhD, I started getting nervous if I would ever get the chance\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But finally, in June 2022, it happened! Though the pandemic is not over yet, regulations are (almost) gone, and without any problems, I could travel to Norway to join an expedition of the ARCLIM (The Arctic Ocean under Warm Climates)<\/a> project at the University of Troms\u00f8 \u2013 The Arctic University of Norway<\/a>. The main goal of the expedition: sampling of two species of planktonic foraminifera to do culture experiments in the laboratory on how changes in climate and water conditions influence their calcification.
I was excited about this travel for so many reasons. First of all, I finally got the chance to go on a research vessel, for which I had been waiting for almost three years now. Second, even though I have worked with planktonic foraminifera since the start of my PhD, I never saw the living organisms. And I would also see the deployment of plankton nets, which are used to get the foraminifera out of the water, for the first time. Third, I have never been to Norway. And finally, it would also be a chance to get in touch with other researchers working in the same field as I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this excitement in mind, I arrived in Norway and helped with the final packing of all the material needed for the expedition. On the 23rd<\/sup> June, we met at the harbor and got onto the research vessel Helmer Hanssen<\/em>, which would be our laboratory and home for the next days. We left Troms\u00f8 and after enjoying the view on the mountains and fjords for a while, started to unpack boxes and set up the laboratory. \u00a0
Soon after, everything was set up while we were on our journey towards our first stop in the Nordic Seas. Unfortunately, the sea got rougher with the time, and we had very high waves in the evening. I got hit by strong sea sickness, and the first evening and night, I kept wondering why I had been waiting for this for such a long time…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these negative feelings only lasted until the next noon, when I started feeling better. On the third day, we arrived at our station and started sampling with a plankton net. By then, my excitement was back! It was so interesting to see the freshly taken sample of all the tiny particles that are present in the water under the microscope. Especially impressive were the living foraminifera, which just look amazing with their huge spines pointing all around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n