Arctic Ocean, 5 August (N84°12, E30°19)

The day always starts with a morning meeting on the bridge at 07:00. The expedition management with Captain Mattias Petersson, Chief Scientist Pauline Snoeijs Leijonmalm and expedition coordinator Maria Samuelsson gathers together with chief officer Mats Wisén, meteorologists Sara Johansson and Per Lundgren, and technicians Joachim Gyllestad and Anton Sandström, to set today's program. The night before, we make a preliminary plan for the next day, but this can always be changed due to weather and ice conditions. If, for example, it is foggy, the helicopter cannot lift and deploy scientists on the ice, the visibility must be good enough to cope with the surveillance of any visits by polar bears.

Yesterday, the first ice station for sampling all the parameters included in the Synoptic Arctic Survey was completed. The result was succesful and Hauke ​​Flores, Nicole Hildebrandt and Lisa Winberg von Friesen collected most of the water samples and drilled many ice cores, which resulted in feverish activity in various laboratories on board for analysis. When the helicopter is out with researchers, it is always our skilled pilot Ted Juliussen who is the polar bear guard so that the researchers can devote themselves fully to their important sampling.

Text: Maria Samuelsson, expedition coordinator