A once in a life time experience

I moved my always freezing northern German a***, pardon, body to an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Marroco, to complete the last tasks of my master’s degree, a final internship and the master thesis.

After settling in on Gran Canaria and enjoying the sunny lifestyle to the fullest, I got asked, if I wanted to join a one-month cruise with the work group. I immediately said yes. It is my third cruise, and I consider myself very lucky to have had these opportunities during my studies. Being on a ship in the open ocean always gives me a peace of mind: Not a lot of internet, the ocean all around and a simple routine (work, eat, sleep and a bit of fun in between).

After carrying the excitement about the upcoming cruise with me a couple of day, I remembered to ask where the cruise will go. “We will start in Rejkjavik and end in Svalbard” was the answer. The arctic region. Dame, exactly the kind of climate I hate… what have I done. I looked into my wardrobe… mainly T-hirts and shorts, not ideal.

So, in the mid of July with almost 30°C on the thermostat I went winter clothes hunting. Luckily, I did find basic equipment to decrease the suffering in the cold. So, I packed my backpack with pretty much all my clothes, which I intend to wear all at the same time once we reach the coldest part of the cruise, and the encouraging words of friends that have already been either in the Arctic or Antarctic regions and the mindset that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me as I will probably never book a holiday in these latitudes.

Three days before leaving the harbour of Rejkjavik we arrived, my backpack did not. The worst-case scenario. With every passing day and every phone call my hope for it to arrive on time got smaller. The silver lining, I immediately received various offers from people to share their clothes with me. This calmed me down a bit but the backpack not only contained my winter clothes but also my stock of chocolate for the four weeks. Food for the soul when times get tough on board, very important in my experience.

After many calls and emails with the airport and airline, a good cry on the cabin floor and a very expensive taxi ride to the airport, I was reunited with my backpack two hours before leaving the harbour. An experience I do not need to repeat.

After this adventurous start life settled in on board. Together with another master student, the lovely Adri, I am filtering water for different parameters. The filters will later be analysed in labs on land. After a couple of days Adri and I fell into a routine and have now the perfect mix of chats about our lives and staring simultaneously at the slowly dropping water column.

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A glimpse into Adris and my daily life, filtering, waiting to sample and getting all the information necessary for the people who we sample for (Photos: Espe Broullón).

Even though filtering water can be a tedious job it has its advantages. If somebody comes running through the lab screaming “Ballena, whale”, I can check the water level or stop it shortly and run out and marvel at these incredible creatures of the ocean. The biggest hope I had for this cruise was to see a whale and we have seen quite a few. So, despite the cold weather, it was already worth saying yes to this :)

There is only one transect left to sample, which will also be the most northern one, so the coldest. We are all hoping for a bit more ice to see, even me. This might get me out on deck again. It has been a couple of days since I really breathed fresh air. I guess it is time to put those winter clothes to work and “enjoy” the cold a bit before I get back to the sunny Island, I currently call my home.