6 August 2022 What’s in the grab?

Journal

Sea state: 3 foot swells

Sea Surface Temperature: 41 F

Depth: 24 meters (78 feet)

Back on Track

The seas calmed down around 9:00pm (2100 on a ship) on Thursday night and we were able to resume science operations. We kept going all day Friday, despite lumpy seas and 3-4 foot swells. The CTDA research tool that is submerged in the water to measure conductivity (salinity), temperature, and depth. team did a fantastic job launching and landing the instrument safely.

Cruise Ship — We were surprised to see this cruise ship on Friday afternoon. After some internet sleuthing, I found out that it is the National Geographic Resolution. If you have $32,000 to spare you can cruise on it through the Northwest Passage from Nome to Greenland.

Going Grabbing

Every three stations, we use the Smith-McIntyre grab to sample the sediment. Evie, Kali, and Nate take a small sediment sample from the top of each grab. When they get back to the lab, they will count the number of cysts each of these samples. They will use that to map out where the cysts are in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas.

Cyst Map — In 2018 and 2019, Evie and other researchers took sediment grabs in the same locations that we are taking sediment grabs in 2022. They counted the Alexandrium cysts in the grabs and used them to make this map of where Alexandrium cysts can be found in nothern Alaska. It will be interesting to compare cyst distribution in 2022 with this data from 2018 and 2019 (Source: Anderson et al. 2021).

We also sample the invertebrates living in the sediment. When Patrick gets back to his lab in Seattle, he will analyze them to see how much saxitoxin they contain. This will help scientists to understand how saxitoxin travels through the food web.