The CCGS Amundsen including its crew and the team of scientists on board made her way back to Québec City this morning!
This year, about 150 scientists have sailed through Labrador Sea, Baffin Bay and have crossed several straits, including Nares Strait, to reach Lincoln Sea. During these 111 days at sea divided over four Legs, we have carried out around 873 scientific operations and have collected thousands of samples for nine research projects.
In addition to these successful operations, we have welcomed on board scientists of Nunatsiavut Research Centre, representatives of Nunatsiavut Government and members of two Inuit communities, Nain and Grise Fjord. In collaboration with these communities, we have co-organized activities to connect, learn from each other and exchange cultural and scientific knowledge.
Other highlights of this year expedition include one of our biggest catches ever with the beam trawl net on the CCGS Amundsen at North Water Polynya.
In this catch, there was a wide variety of species such as mud sea stars and an octopus. We have also reached a latitude of 82°09.32’N and have undertaken scientific operations at this location for the first time since the inauguration of the CCGS Amundsen in 2003. Finally, we have conducted a variety of successful operations in Foxe Basin, a region that has rarely been visited by the Amundsen for science over the last years.
“The final leg of this year’s Amundsen Expedition has been a huge success. Surveys of Foxe Basin and Hudson Strait allowed us to explore new areas, while also monitoring changes at sites the CCGS Amundsen has visited in the past 20 years. With the expedition ending, we look forward to analyzing our samples and our oceanographic instrument data, and making exciting new discoveries about the Canadian Arctic.”
Brent Else, Leg 4’s chief scientist and Associate Professor in the department of geography at the University of Calgary
Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to this successful expedition! Stay tuned for the expedition report, it should be online over the next weeks.
