It can even fill a swimming pool onboard!
This week we were lucky to have a barbeque on the decks of the Polarstern. This was a special party to celebrate our time onboard. On this occasion, we had salads and breads to eat and got to select whatever we wanted to grill on the BBQ. I chose some fish that was caught by the scientists onboard. Most of the fish are used for their studies, but some of the fillets are not useful for science. They sure taste great, though!
We have a couple of great musicians onboard and they often sit in the lounge and work on a song. This is the MOSAiC song and its lyrics are all about our adventures out here in the Arctic. That was my favorite music for the week!
Every day has its own kind of fun, whether it's going out on the ice or doing my favorite activity called "the transect.” This activity is an adventure that people go on almost every day where we walk on a little pathway that goes around the edge of the whole ice floe. It goes through different ice types and you get to walk through deep water (of course we wear suits that float!). Often there are seals or other fun critters and you get to go a long distance from the ship.
This week I read a scientific paper about “fresh water” in the Arctic. The ocean is composed of salty water, but when snow falls on top of the sea ice, it is not salty. So during the summer when the snow melts, there is a bunch of fresh water that then flows into the ocean, which modifies the ocean structure. We are seeing that process here and studying it.
