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Our Journey

All the latest news and pictures from our expedition to the Arctic Ocean.

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Icebergs and perched kittiwakes...

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DISPATCH: The mountains, islands, and headlands on the north coast of Norway hove into sight at 0930 Monday, the last day of September, 2013....

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Maria and Kjetil prepared for sightseeing from the bow.

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Bergy bits float by....

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Northern Lights as we steam South...

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Glacial landscape of Nordaustlandet...

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Blue skies as we approach Kong Karls Land

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Dallas Murphy watches the blows on the horizon....

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Humpback whale tail.

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A crowd with binoculars..

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Captain Iversen a happy...

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A single whale..

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A pair of Humpback...

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Humpback whale fin....

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DISPATCH: Captain Iversen’s voice on the intercom during breakfast: “Hallo, kan noen i messa fortelle at vi ser hval rett forut for Lance?”...

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Herulf Andreassen, Lance Bosun....

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DISPATCH: It snowed last night, and it’s cold and slippery on deck. The mooring ops complete, Lance is quiet, hardly anyone topside. In several days, we’ll head for Tromsø, her homeport, a three-day steam from our present position. ...

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Christian collects water samples from different...

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One of the Fulmars that follow us loyally...

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A number of tests will be carried out on the...

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Herulf and Jan Erik Hansen dancing on deck...

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Herulf Andreassen, Lance Bosun rocks out...

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DISPATCH: I like to think of these Arctic oceanographic cruises as exploration. What we’re doing is different in every physical sense from the grueling, perilous, scurvy-ridden ...

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The low sun splinters...

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Black Sea – 7pm and the night is...

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Snow-capped top floats on the deck of Lance.

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A Longranger ADCPs on the deck....

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Here is a graphical mapping of the measurements...

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The data from the CTD....

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DISPATCH: MicroCats, MMPs with ACMs, hardhat floats, a dual ORE acoustic release, both a Workhorse and Longranger ADCP, and a 17’ Benthos XT-6000. Those are a few of the tools ...

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Fulmar flying ...

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The CTD package is an odd...

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Here is a view you would get...

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Vladimir. Pavlov is on CTD watch...

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DISPATCH: It’s Saturday, I think, not that it much matters, since at sea days and times aren’t reckoned in the same way as ashore. ...

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If you find a WHOI buoy...

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Ben and Dallas in the Bridge,...

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The 26m ladder to the Crows Nest

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The Chief Engineers....

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PODCAST: This time last year, oceanographer Bob Pickart was here in the Arctic dropping off instruments...

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Dan shows us how much fun....

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Amy and Kjetil looking out...

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Elena and Marianne..

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Jim Ryder...

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Captain Olav teaches...

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tools, instruments...

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Lance in action, viewed from the Crow's Nest...

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DISPATCH: It’s an exquisite day up here a tick south of 82° N, dead-flat seas, bright sun and azure sky after days thick o’ fog. If you didn’t know better, if you...

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Viewed from the Crow's Nest the ocean looks dark and still...

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Fulmar enjoys the calm water.

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The final mooring arrives at the surface...

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Dan Torres dismantles the monitors from the buoys in the glaring sunshine..

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Dallas Murphy & Dan...

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Jim Ryder welcomes the top float aboard...

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DISPATCH: “So how was your cruise?” “Oh, uneventful.” That’s what oceanographers (and mariners) hope for. Routine. Eventless. Maybe even a bit boring. Today was anything but...

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Co-chief scientist Bob Pickart and technician Jim Ryder - hoping to retrieve the mooring...

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Crew members observe the top float...

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The "Deckbox". It talks to the acoustic release system on the mooring anchor....

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DISPATCH: An enthusiastic amateur, I like hearing the scientists aboard this vessel talk about ADCPs, CTDs, anti-cyclonic gyres, the Meridional Overturning Circulation, boundary currents, potential vorticity, and stratification. I’ve not been to sea for six months, and I’ve missed “oceanography speak.” ...

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Jim Ryder and Maria Pisareva gaze out from the bridge...

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A morning view of the northeast Svalbard coast ...

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A small berg, complete with a line of fulmars, drifts by as we steam...

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One of Svalbard's many outlet glaciers reaches the ocean...

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A crew member looks up in wonder as we pass ice-blue glaciers...

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DISPATCH: We met Lance at 0900 on Friday September 13th at her berth in Longyearbyen, found our cabins, stowed our personal gear, while in spitting rain and chill wind, the deck guys off loaded the equipment from the previous cruise and began to load ours. Long Norwegian vowels and much laughter—this seems a happy ship. ...

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Outreach photographer Amy Cooper braves the heights and climbs...

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View from crow's nest peering down through the railings at the ship below...

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The crew pull in the anchor as we set sail....

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The crew aboard R/V Lance take their final opportunity to phone home..

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The sun broke through briefly to gift us this rainbow over the harbour.....

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DISPATCH: A sign beside the post office door in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen reads: “Please leave your rifles outside.” It isn’t directed at hunters but at hikers and skiers ...

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The local church in...

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A huskey on the main...

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Two of R/V Lance's crew preparing to winch our equipment from the dock on to the ship...

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One of the scientist cabins on R/V Lance...

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Cabins lining the fjord in Longyearbyen, Svalbard....

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Children on their way home from school in Longyearbyen....

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A girl braves the cold wind in Longyerbyen...

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R/V Lance at port in Longyearbyen. In the background...

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Jim Ryder, Dan Torres and Bob Pickart on deck...

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R/V Lance arrived in port in Longyearbyen late last night...

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Droplets form on the tundra grass as snow from a recent storm melts...

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The view from one of the tiny portholes in a scientist's cabin....

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Evidence of a recent snowstorm across the fjord from Longyearbyen...

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The Longyearbyen power station on the outskirts of town is also the main hot water supply for the town....

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A mother and child make their way down the main road in Longyearbyen....

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Playing cards is likely to be a popular activity in down times at sea..

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R/V Lance has a large array of navigational equipment....

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The ship's thruster controls on the bridge....

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Evidence of Longyearbyen's coal mining history. These wooden structures were used to transport...

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Snowmobiles sitting out on the tundra. Soon winter will be here in Longyearbyen ...

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As we head northward into the Arctic ocean, we should approach the sea ice front. Investigating the Arctic ocean...

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A map of the Arctic...

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View of the Lance...

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Dr Bob Pickart is hoping to understand the impact of warm water entering the Arctic. He and the international group...

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Looking down from the top of Lance's crows nest...

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Last year aboard the Lance, the team deployed moored instruments into the Arctic Ocean. This year...

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Scientist Kjetil Väge preparing a profiler to be...

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Technician Jim Ryder...

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...the Svalbard coast...

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