Expedition in the Arctic Region - page 4
A familiar silhouette stands out in the Adventfjorden. After the second part of her long mission, the Polarstern drops anchor in Longyearbyen during the night. In the afternoon we go aboard a zodiac that brings us from the harbour to that mythical boat.
The mission in which we are going to participate focuses on the remotely operated submarine VICTOR 6000. This submarine was called Victor as a tribute to the French ethnologist Paul-Emile Victor, who dedicated his life to the study of the Poles. The Victor can go down until a depth of 6,000 m. The bridge of the Polarstern is studded with containers. In the middle of them, a yellow shed calls our attention. Inside, in a heated space, the Victor is waiting for us. This marvel of technology looks upon us with the round eyes of her many cameras. It is a massive block with a yellow shell consisting of two floats. Since it has an approximate weight of 4.6 metric tons and necessitates the embarkation of about 140 tons of material in 11 containers, not many boats can work with the Victor. Six motors allow the submarine to move gradually in all directions. The Victor has two hinged grabs and is able to pick up any object out of a basket during operations in situ. Many projectors and various cameras are installed at all sides of the engin. One camera allows to take high resolution digital pictures. These data are transmitted to calculators protected by metal globes, and are sent to the command post on the boat via a long yellow cable, the "leash", that contains optic fibres and high-tension cables. At the extremity of the collar, a ballast box is linked with a winch on the boat, by the same kind of cable, but strengthened by steel wire. In that way, the submarine doesn't suffer abrupt shocks in a turbulent sea.
We admire the delicate launching of the submarine, preceded by the launching of a kind of elevator, which consists of two big dustbins that go up and down in a frame. The different measuring instruments go down in this elevator and will wait for the Victor to pick them up and bring them to their right place. In the dustbins, we can stock our fyke nets with herring. They will be disposed at a depth of 2,400 m to attract amphipods, the aim of our expedition. The cook of the Polarstern guaranteed the quality of the herring and we hope the amphipods will appreciate.
The place where the submarine is diving is only two miles away from the floating pack ice; thirty years ago, this technological tour de force was unimaginable. What makes the operation still more delicate is the necessity to avoid the cable to get stuck in the ice. This expedition is a remarkable example of concerted European actions, with French submarine technology and German polar icebreakers.
1 p.m. The sky is as bright as during the day, even if the light is somewhat dimmer. At these latitudes, the sun never sets in the summer. Puffins are slowly circling around the Polarstern, small groups of Brunnich's guillemots are taking a break on the water surface, at a respectable distance from the northern fulmars. We can see whales coming to breathe before going down again. On the horizon, the pack ice is glittering. The Victor is launched into the water. At some distance from the Polarstern, it undertakes its crash dive. Immediately, it transmits images to our monitors. A breathtaking spectacle!
More in about a week,
