Haëntjens returns from studying phytoplankton-sea ice interactions in North Pole

Nils Haëntjens, research assistant professor in the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences, has just returned from a two-week trip to the North Pole to study phytoplankton distributions in relation to sea ice properties on-board the cruise vessel Le Commandant Charcot. 

The vessel, which is also an ice breaker, was on its first voyage with passengers from Svalbard, Norway, to the North Pole. Ponant, the company running the vessel, allowed six scientists on its maiden voyage, providing them with the rare opportunity to obtain samples from the North Pole. Researchers from Canada, France, Germany and the United States sampled snow and ice properties; studied the mechanical properties of icebreakers; and observed the optical and biogeochemical variables in the water beneath the sea ice and in open leads.

Haëntjens’ research team included Lee Karp-Boss and Emmanuel Boss, professors at the School of Marine Sciences, as well as scientists from Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, and Oregon State University. With support from NASA, this team has been studying plankton distribution throughout the world’s oceans. Haëntjens installed optical instruments and an automated microscope on board to look at the composition of phytoplankton and other particles at the North Pole.

While at sea, Haëntjens also conducted tours of the ship’s laboratories to the passengers and made two presentations about the team’s research goals and planned sampling program.

The researchers have three more trips lined up with on Le Commandant Charcot: one more to the North Pole at the end of the month, and two into the ice around Antarctica later in the year and the start of next year to compare Arctic and Antarctic samples in order to shed new light on how changes in sea ice conditions impact the dynamics of phytoplankton. 

Contact: Sam Schipani, samantha.schipani@maine.edu