Have sample, will travel
I sat cross-legged on the break room couch, my computer on my lap, engrossed in a scientific paper. Piotr, sitting in a lounge chair next to me, scrolled through e-mails on his phone. Piotr looked up. "Well, there he is!" he called, breaking into a smile. I too looked up from my computer screen and peered down the hall. Sure enough, Peter was coming towards us, his jacket unzipped, a heavy duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
"Did you walk?" Piotr joked. Peter nodded. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Peter to walk himself into town from the airport. I closed my laptop and stood up, just as he encircled me in a hug. It was good to see him again.
With Peter's arrival, the cast of characters for the upcoming research cruise was complete. More importantly for me, his arrival made it possible to retrieve my settlement plates, since a team of 3 is required for scientific dives, and I don't count. We spent a few minutes catching up before one of the other scientists, Jørgen, delivered the news that I was reluctant to voice myself: the dive for my settlement plates had to happen that night, because there wouldn't be any time the next day. I felt bad asking Peter to dive right away because he had just stepped off a plane, so I was glad Jørgen said the words, not me. Peter shrugged. "Let's go."
After about an hour of gathering and assembling equipment, we drove out to the Longyearbyen pier to find (drumroll please) we couldn't dive. An Italian ship was in port, and they weren't willing to let us dive next to their vessel. So we headed back to the lab, camped out with our computers, and watched the port webcam. Two hours later, the ship had left, so we drove out to the pier and found - you guessed it - another ship had just arrived. Thankfully, the powers-that-be on this second ship were willing to let us dive, so the guys suited up, and Peter jumped in.
I spent the dive on the dock, standing close enough to Daniel that I could overhear his conversation through the headset with Peter. Two frames found, then four. The dive was a success! Waving his hands to avoid using words, Daniel signaled for me to grab the green rope at my feet and lower it down to Peter. Before long, I could feel a bit of weight on the line, and Daniel told me to tie it off. Peter came out of the water, and I pulled up the rope - four frames of settlement plates hung on the end. Unlike in January, I could see macroscopic colonies of encrusting organisms on the plates. Bryozoans and barnacles and spirorbids appeared before my eyes. Perfect.
We decided to leave the frames hanging from the dock until I had a chance to analyze them, and I arranged with Daniel to pick them up the next day. We all returned to UNIS, rinsed off the diving gear, and headed home, exhausted.
The next day, I was obligated to attend lectures at UNIS until about 3 pm, but I couldn't stop thinking about my plates. Before heading home for a break, I touched base with Daniel to make sure they would get picked up. We knew how it would happen, just not when. He would call me, he said, so I left.
A couple hours later, back at Nybyen, I spotted a familiar face in the kitchen as I walked down the hall. It was Carl, a UNIS employee I had met in January.
"Kirstin!" he called to me, "I found you! Let's go get your settlement plates."
I actually thought he was joking at first, because Carl had just arrived in Longyearbyen himself, and I wasn't expecting to see him that day. Once I realized he was serious, though, I threw my hair into a bun, grabbed my boots, and followed him into a van outside. We swung by UNIS to pick up two giant trays to keep my settlement plates in seawater, then ran to the dock where I had left the plates suspended. It was a bit tricky to pull them out of the water and keep them straight in the wind, but we managed well enough. A short, bumpy ride and a few minutes later, we stashed my plates in the cold room on the ship.
Right now, I'm in the lounge of the Helmer Hanssen, awaiting our departure from port. Two decks below, in a room much colder and darker than I care to sit in, there are 16 squares of plastic waiting for me to uncover their tightly-held secrets. I'll start analyzing the plates as soon as I can tomorrow morning, and I most definitely look forward to seeing what they hold.
"Did you walk?" Piotr joked. Peter nodded. I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Peter to walk himself into town from the airport. I closed my laptop and stood up, just as he encircled me in a hug. It was good to see him again.
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| It was a busy day at Longyearbyen Bykaia. |
After about an hour of gathering and assembling equipment, we drove out to the Longyearbyen pier to find (drumroll please) we couldn't dive. An Italian ship was in port, and they weren't willing to let us dive next to their vessel. So we headed back to the lab, camped out with our computers, and watched the port webcam. Two hours later, the ship had left, so we drove out to the pier and found - you guessed it - another ship had just arrived. Thankfully, the powers-that-be on this second ship were willing to let us dive, so the guys suited up, and Peter jumped in.
 |
| There is life on my plates! |
We decided to leave the frames hanging from the dock until I had a chance to analyze them, and I arranged with Daniel to pick them up the next day. We all returned to UNIS, rinsed off the diving gear, and headed home, exhausted.
The next day, I was obligated to attend lectures at UNIS until about 3 pm, but I couldn't stop thinking about my plates. Before heading home for a break, I touched base with Daniel to make sure they would get picked up. We knew how it would happen, just not when. He would call me, he said, so I left.
A couple hours later, back at Nybyen, I spotted a familiar face in the kitchen as I walked down the hall. It was Carl, a UNIS employee I had met in January.
"Kirstin!" he called to me, "I found you! Let's go get your settlement plates."
I actually thought he was joking at first, because Carl had just arrived in Longyearbyen himself, and I wasn't expecting to see him that day. Once I realized he was serious, though, I threw my hair into a bun, grabbed my boots, and followed him into a van outside. We swung by UNIS to pick up two giant trays to keep my settlement plates in seawater, then ran to the dock where I had left the plates suspended. It was a bit tricky to pull them out of the water and keep them straight in the wind, but we managed well enough. A short, bumpy ride and a few minutes later, we stashed my plates in the cold room on the ship.
Right now, I'm in the lounge of the Helmer Hanssen, awaiting our departure from port. Two decks below, in a room much colder and darker than I care to sit in, there are 16 squares of plastic waiting for me to uncover their tightly-held secrets. I'll start analyzing the plates as soon as I can tomorrow morning, and I most definitely look forward to seeing what they hold.
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