The Unearthly World of West Greenland's Icebergs

Arctic Gulls

This past summer, veteran ASC sailors Matt Rutherford and Nicole Trenholm sailed from Annapolis, Maryland through the North Atlantic, the Labrador Sea, and north along the west coast of Greenland to Qaanaaq, a point just north of Melville Bay. The four-month voyage was part of their work with the nonprofit organization, Ocean Research Project.
 

A respite on anchor

In addition to gathering ASC samples from Baffin Bay, Davis Strait and Smith Sound, they completed ocean acidification research for the Smithsonian and climate change research for two NASA programs, which is why they sailed so close to the icebergs.

Prior to this, the team gathered 14,000 miles worth of microplastics samples during their 2013 North Atlantic Gyre Plastic Pollution Project and the 2014 Trans-Pacific Plastic Pollution Project. Here, we explore the otherworldly icebergs aboard Ault, their 42.5-foot research vessel. 

Heavy Ice in Melville Bay

Sun kissed bergs near Hayes Glacier

Ault & Grounded Berg at Siorapaluk

Arch iceberg

The blue bergs of Melville Bay

Rounding Disko Island and racing the sun to an anchorage

Careful navigation through light fog

Long light at summer's end

ORP's 2015 Greenland Climate Project route

Matt Rutherford and Nicole Treholm, ORP crew

Join asc Microplastics

Learn more about the Microplastics Project and other ASC projects on our website, the Field Notes blog, and our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+ pages. Find more on Ocean Research Project at oceanresearchproject.org.

---