Back to the Arctic

Location:
Svalbard
Latitude/Longitude:
77.874972500000, 20.975182100000
Journal Entry:

Greetings from the Arctic Ocean! My name is Dr. Matthew Shupe, and because I introduced the MOSAiC Expedition to you way back in January 2020, I'm also the one who is going to bring this virtual exchange to a close. You have met so many amazing members of the MOSAiC team over the past five months and learned so much. Just as you are heading into summer, so is the MOSAiC Expedition team! Before we dive into the summer research phase of the expedition, let me give you an update.

For starters, I am headed back to the Arctic earlier than planned. The coronavirus pandemic has been a challenge for all of us around the world. Even though MOSAiC is way out in the middle of the Arctic, it is also being challenged by the situation. When Norway, and the Arctic island of Svalbard, closed their borders in March, that made it impossible to access our ship in the Arctic and our scientific colleagues have been stuck in the Arctic ice since then. But we have a new plan now. We will take a couple of ships from Germany up to the ice edge to meet the MOSAiC ship Polarstern and rotate our people. With so many changing plans, I simply could not stay home any longer. So here I sit, on one of those ships near the ice edge, waiting for Polarstern to emerge from the Arctic ice.

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