Northern Barents Sea Expedition

Ariadna Szczybelski is currently on an expedition to the Northern part of the Barents Sea with the Norwegian RV Lance research vessel. The expedition takes place from 3 October - 10 October 2013, in cooperation with Statoil, Akvaplan-Niva and the Norwegian Polar Institute. The aim is to collect sediment samples and benthic species for her PhD project 'ARCIND'

ARCIND with RV Lance - Sunday 6 October 2013  

Getting equipmment on board of the Lance©Ariadna Szczybelski

On Day 1 our initial plan was to sample at a few locations in the Southern Barents Sea and at the Spitsbergen bank, but due to bad weather conditions we were forced to continue sailing along the Northern Norwegian coast (from Tromsø up to Hammerfest) during the first two days waiting for the captain’s signal to head north for our first destination.

On Day 3 researcher Anja Johansen (STATOIL) and I discussed new possibly interesting sampling stations (from an ecological point of view). The captain informed us of the existence of an important fishing area between Kong Karls Land and Edgeøya island. This area’s primary productivity has been studied before (Cochrane et al. 2009) showing higher faunal abundances and higher taxonomic richness compared to the Northern and Southern Barents Sea. As a result of this meeting, we decided to move our sampling points for sediment and biota to near Kong Karls Land (200 m depth), and near Hopen Island (100 m depth)(near two mooring positions). Between these two we will include two stations on the South East of Edgeøya island (130 and 230 m depth, respectively). A CTD will be deployed at both mooring positions in order to get Conductivity, Temperature and Salinity values at 100 and 200 m depth. It was estimated that, because the four stations are located on the Arctic shelf, the influence from Arctic water will be stronger than in the Western and Southern Barents Sea.

Working on board the Lance©Ariadna Szczybelski

At each of these stations we will be collecting sediment samples for use in exposure experiments with bivalves and polychaetes species, and small sediment samples to run a pre-screening on the presence of PAHs, PCBs and other POPs. Species that we will collect as first priority in these same stations are: Astarte borealis, Macoma calcarea, Nephtys ciliata and Pectinaria hyperborea. These same species were also the target species during our last fieldwork at Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen). However, due to their possible low abundance at offshore regions, these species may not be easily collected. In that case we will collect related species taking into account their selective feeding mode, wide distribution in the Barents Sea and a relatively large adult size, such as Astarte crenata, Mendicula ferruginosa, Maldane sarsi and Spiochaetopterus typicus. These selection criteria are some of the features that will be taken into account in order to categorize species as a bioindicator.

Day 4 - 9 a.m.: We are currently on our way to reach our first mooring position from a total of four positions. In each of these positions STATOIL is ready to deploy some sound recorders. These recorders will remain at different depths and will be used to study the ice sheet conditions throughout one year.

Day 4 – 6.30 p.m. The first grab will be dropped at the same moment that the sun light is almost gone. Another challenging fact besides fighting against this cold, wavy and windy environment. If only the Northern lights could make their appearance and remind us how lucky one can be being in this magic place, as did the view on the glaciers from the Teisten boat during our summertime on the Kongsfjorden in Svalbard.