To the victor go the spoils
Right now, I am sitting in my team's lab on the bottom floor of the Kings Bay Marine Lab in Ny-Ålesund. I'm the only one in the building. The rushing water from the the aquarium room provides accompaniment for my thoughts, but I'm not thinking very much tonight.
For the first time since we got here, I don't have to make any plans for tomorrow. I don't have to check the weather or prepare gear or stress about whether we'll have enough sample jars. We are done.
Altogether, we sampled 8 stations. At each one, we conducted a CTD cast to measure the temperature and salinity of the water column, collected 3 plankton tows and 4 sediment grabs. We sorted the plankton into larvae and holoplankton, and we sub-sampled meiofauna (very small animals), macrofauna (medium-small animals), and environmental factors from the sediment. We collected scavengers from traps in the harbor 4 different times. All that effort means we're going home with 10 casts worth of CTD data, 25 holoplankton samples, 324 tubes of larvae, 26 macrofauna samples, 27 meiofauna samples, and 27 tubes of sediment for environmental factors.
The data we collected will provide valuable baseline information on seafloor communities in the Arctic winter. With our samples, we can describe the stark changes in the zooplankton community when Atlantic water enters the fjord. And we can tell the world about the plethora of species that reproduce in the polar night. I'm convinced we have enough data to write three solid scientific papers, and I am very proud of us.
After we had finished packing all our boxes and cleaning the lab, I stayed behind to double-check everything. I sprayed a cleaning solution on the benchtops and wiped them down with a paper towel. I obsessed over the insides of the drawers. I let everything from the past week flow down from my brain and out through my hands, and when I had worked my way around the whole lab, I looked up to notice how empty it was. Straightening my back, I stepped into the middle of the room and put my hand over my mouth. Two words materialized in my mind, which I almost couldn't believe:
We won.
Over the last two weeks, my team successfully completed a scientific mission in the Arctic winter. We dealt with 24-hour darkness, sea ice, high winds, and logistical challenges. We used back-up plan after back-up plan and improvised when it was our only option. You know, sometimes science can feel like a fight because there are so many things that get in your way. The ocean never gives up its secrets easily. You have to swipe and stomp and strangle your data out of the sea. But every once in a while, things break your way.
Well, to the victor go the spoils, and I have 429 samples ready to ship home that can prove that.
For the first time since we got here, I don't have to make any plans for tomorrow. I don't have to check the weather or prepare gear or stress about whether we'll have enough sample jars. We are done.
Altogether, we sampled 8 stations. At each one, we conducted a CTD cast to measure the temperature and salinity of the water column, collected 3 plankton tows and 4 sediment grabs. We sorted the plankton into larvae and holoplankton, and we sub-sampled meiofauna (very small animals), macrofauna (medium-small animals), and environmental factors from the sediment. We collected scavengers from traps in the harbor 4 different times. All that effort means we're going home with 10 casts worth of CTD data, 25 holoplankton samples, 324 tubes of larvae, 26 macrofauna samples, 27 meiofauna samples, and 27 tubes of sediment for environmental factors.
The data we collected will provide valuable baseline information on seafloor communities in the Arctic winter. With our samples, we can describe the stark changes in the zooplankton community when Atlantic water enters the fjord. And we can tell the world about the plethora of species that reproduce in the polar night. I'm convinced we have enough data to write three solid scientific papers, and I am very proud of us.
After we had finished packing all our boxes and cleaning the lab, I stayed behind to double-check everything. I sprayed a cleaning solution on the benchtops and wiped them down with a paper towel. I obsessed over the insides of the drawers. I let everything from the past week flow down from my brain and out through my hands, and when I had worked my way around the whole lab, I looked up to notice how empty it was. Straightening my back, I stepped into the middle of the room and put my hand over my mouth. Two words materialized in my mind, which I almost couldn't believe:
We won.
 |
| Starting to pack up samples to send home |
Over the last two weeks, my team successfully completed a scientific mission in the Arctic winter. We dealt with 24-hour darkness, sea ice, high winds, and logistical challenges. We used back-up plan after back-up plan and improvised when it was our only option. You know, sometimes science can feel like a fight because there are so many things that get in your way. The ocean never gives up its secrets easily. You have to swipe and stomp and strangle your data out of the sea. But every once in a while, things break your way.
Well, to the victor go the spoils, and I have 429 samples ready to ship home that can prove that.
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