Marine geology cruise (Greenland & Barents' Seas)

  None (Seaside), Norway
Tuesday, May 4, 2004

The longest boat trip we've ever made began the 4th of May, 2004. In the Research Vessel Jan Mayen, an icebreaker property of the Norwegian Polar Institute, we set off for the Greenland and Barents Sea, where we expected to collect core samples to analyze the climatic variability of the last tens of thousands of years...



We left Isfjorden , where the weather conditions were almost perfect, and headed for the open sea; but first we passed near the main Russian settlement in Svalbard, Barentsburg. . The calm ocean reflecting the sky, the presence of icebergs...there was magic in the air (so we had to take a lot of pictures!).









After a lot of work (two turns of six hours per day to work and two to rest), and some seasickness problems (with waves of up to five metres), we also managed to see some wonderful animals on the ice!

The furthest point we arrived to was in the Barents Sea, where we found the (extremely) nice and sharp limit between the drift ice and the sea. The ice becomes more compact as you sail into it, giving a sensation of unexplored world behind it...

And finally, after months of waiting for it we had the chance of watching a POLAR BEAR!
.