Oceanography

Meanwhile Polarstern turns back North to resume station work along the Greenwich Meridian.  Our initial plan, steaming straight to the northernmost of our moorings and resume our southbound section there, becomes unrealistic due to another heavy storm being forecasted for that area.  Even though our ship allows us to conduct work up until 7-8 Beaufort, which are not uncommon in this area, and even though it has overcome many a storm, there is no need to knowingly head for 8m-high waves plus 3m swells and gusts up to 12 Beaufort.  These would significantly hamper our progress, and also be prohibitive of deploying instruments over the side of the ship, such as the Surface and Under Ice Trawl (SUIT), which allows fishing directly under the sea ice.

Back on the Greenwich meridian, on a more southern location, SUIT experiences its first full deployment on 27 December.  The heavy gear (Fig. 1) is lowered carefully by the A-frame into the water.  At low speed, it rights itself behind the ship and shears to the side to get out of Polarstern’s wake, starting its first half hour profile. The effort’s result: a sparse catch of a few specimen of krill and jellyfish.  Nevertheless, this too is an important result complementing our understanding of the Antarctic Ecosystem.

Station by station we now work our way North, unaffected from heavy weather, and then turn around South, to finally commence our work at and in the sea ice (Fig. 2).  Here the SUIT is making its first successful catches, which are sorted diligently (Fig. 3).  Fascinating one again, the forms and colours of the Antarctic Fauna.   (Fig. 4).

With the exception of a persistent cough, scientists and crew send their greetings home from aboard Polarstern, looking forward to their rapidly approaching visit of Neumayer Station.

Olaf Boebel