When the Fisheries and Marine Institute’s Dr. Maxime Geoffroy steps aboard the Tara polar station in northern Norway in August, he won’t just be embarking on an Arctic drift expedition.
He will become the only Canadian scientist participating in one of the world’s most ambitious polar research missions.
As a drift expedition, Dr. Geoffroy and his team will leave the route up to the Arctic Ocean. (The rest, however, he plans to calculate a level of control over.)
While Arctic drift expeditions are not an entirely new concept, this one brings new technology, scientific approaches and research plans.
It also has a dog.
The Tara polar station
The project is organized through the Tara Ocean Foundation, a French public-interest institution focused on global ocean research.
The Tara polar station will be home to Dr. Geoffroy and 11 other researchers and crew members.
The geodesic, aluminum-clad station features observatory windows, a saucer-shaped hull and a moon pool for under-ice sampling. It will travel under its own power to the Arctic Ocean before becoming embedded in the sea ice, where it will drift naturally with the currents for the remainder of the expedition.
Hardly filled with creature comforts, the floating lab will see researchers work a minimum of eight hours daily, but they will be virtually encased in their work 24/7.
It is a journey into one of the least understood areas on Earth. The scientists and crew were carefully selected for their expertise and, perhaps just as importantly, their compatibility with one another. The 12 will be living and breathing the same space and air, staring through the same portholes, for roughly 250 days.
That is, of course, if all goes to plan.
“While stimulating, human interactions in a small, confined space can be challenging,” said Dr. Geoffroy, whose expertise is in bioacoustics, marine ecology and biological oceanography and who is based at the Marine Institute’s Centre for Fisheries and Ecosystems Research.
The characterization seems like an understatement, given the magnitude of the reality the odyssey aims to capture.
“The Arctic Ocean is like a river of ice flowing,” he said. “It starts from the region north of Asia, then drifts towards the Fram Strait, which is between Svalbard and Greenland. This will depend on the speed at which the ice flows.”
Dr. Geoffroy’s focus zooms in on how changing seasons transform Arctic ecosystems, from microscopic plankton to larger marine food webs.
The work will also contribute data to inform future policy decisions about fishing in the central Arctic Ocean, which remains closed to commercial fishing under a 16-year moratorium agreed to by the EU and nine nations in 2021.
When asked what he hopes to achieve, the answer to his complex research is simple.
“To gain a better understanding of the environment, ecology and biology of the central Arctic Ocean over a complete year cycle.”
The research will include atmospheric, sea ice, oceanic and contaminant studies.
The latter is also where the dog comes in.
The Finnish shepherd, Örkki, will be prohibited from entering research spaces to prevent contamination, but will play an important role in detecting polar bears and other hazards on the ice. While bringing a dog aboard sparked debate among the crew, a vote of 8-4 settled the matter. Firearms will also be carried for bear protection, with lethal force considered only as a last resort.
For the Marine Institute, Dr. Geoffroy’s appointment as chief research scientist is a point of tremendous pride. His selection reflects not only his expertise in Arctic marine science, but also the growing international reputation Marine Institute researchers are earning by tackling some of the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges.
The mission
There will be no possibility of crew changes or routine resupply.
By remaining embedded from late summer through winter and into spring, researchers will conduct continuous observations that are rarely possible through short-term expeditions.
They will have access to a secure network to communicate with loved ones, researchers at home and the support teams behind the expedition.
Chosen to lead
The Arctic is warming at nearly four times the global average, making year-round observations more critical than ever.
Dr. Geoffroy notes that while historic drift expeditions once took roughly three years to complete, changing ice conditions have dramatically shortened that timeline to about 18 months.
“We’re there to deliver science for an international community.”
He and his colleagues from Germany, France and Switzerland will gather continuous observations, creating a robust dataset for the international research community.
“We’re not there to carry out our own individual projects. We’re there to deliver science for an international community.”
Home and away
Logistics extend beyond that of science-based research. It also means cramming eight months’ worth of provisions onboard.
That is where the captain, cook, navigator, mechanic and doctor all play significant roles.
While the Tara Polar Station is often compared to the International Space Station because of its isolation and multinational research team, the food, said Dr. Geoffroy, will be anything but freeze-dried.
“Our chef is French,” he said with pride, as though that fact alone might soften the hardships of the expedition.
Rationing is critical, including just two decadent pieces of chocolate per day. A treat all agree will be a luxury.
Science and sanity
The science of psychology also plays a critical role in the expedition.
Before being selected, Dr. Geoffroy underwent extensive psychological and physical evaluations at a French research institution specializing in long-duration isolation.
“We want to show that we can do science for eight months and bring people back sane and healthy,” he said.
Conflict-resolution training, stress management and group dynamics are just as important as scientific expertise.
NASA protocols used to study astronauts will also be applied throughout the mission, helping researchers understand how multinational teams adapt to prolonged and unnatural stresses of confinement, darkness and isolation.
“Complete darkness weighs on me,” he said. “Months of darkness, and a craving for light will come more than food and luxury items.”
There will also be plenty of time to learn a new hobby, perhaps picking up the guitar, which appears on the provisions manifest.
Dr. Geoffroy also plans to read the many books he hasn’t yet had time to crack open.
On top of the world
As the Tara Polar Station disappears into the Arctic ice this summer, it will carry not only Dr. Geoffroy and a proud multinational team of scientists, but also the Marine Institute’s commitment to advancing scientific discovery on the global stage.
Follow along on Dr. Geoffroy’s journey on the Tara polar station live feed!
