An expedition to the Arctic with a gun in hand: a unique experience and a painful reality

The expedition leader, Sergei Olenin, visited the Arctic for the first time. This time, the company was supported by young graduates and doctoral students from the University of Klaipeda, including Italians and Belarusians.

The team could not avoid unpleasant surprises during the trip: twelve pieces of luggage did not arrive. Ten were recovered the next day, and two, which also included underwater cameras, turned up only after the expedition. There were other surprises, for example, a bank card was “swallowed” at a gas station.

However, S.Olenin and the team consider that the expedition was a success, because the Arctic is a special place, security, risk assessment is important.

The threat is polar bears

The team receives safety instructions before said trip. Polar bears are identified as one of the biggest threats.

True, his team lost approval this year, but scientists have found new traces of a bear in the low-tide zone. After seeing them, the team members, who were going to take samples in the bird colony, turned around.

“The Arctic is serious business, we have to prepare the expedition with seriousness and consideration. It is important how to behave in the water, when to swim, when not to swim. What to do if there are traces of fresh polar bears: leave this place, do not arrive until open conflict We try to follow these rules, said Olenin.

– The most threatening lagoons of glaciers and polar bears on land. If you are in a boat, be sure to wear the safety vests, because you will not stay in the water for long. It depends where you are. “

What to do if there are traces of fresh polar bears: get out of this place, don’t get to the open conflict.

S.Olenin had to see the polar bears live during the 2005 expedition. Then, every two to three days, the bears would arrive at the research station, where the kitchen also worked. The stay of the bears was reported by the dogs that were washed and people rushed away.

In 2018, S.Olenin had to see a bear from the deck of the ship.

“This time we did not see and we thanked God, only the footprints are very, very fresh,” said Olenin.

For this reason, one of the team members, Alexei Shashkov, an athlete and marksman with all permits, carried a rifle.

“When we rented it, it was said that if you shot a bear, the interrogation would be like shooting a person. There must be a very, very serious reason for you to do something like this,” said the expedition leader.

Worked in lakes and ponds

This time, the main work of the team was the lakes and lagoons, which appear after the retreat of the glaciers.

As the manager said, during the 2019 expedition, the members of the group realized that this place was little explored and that choosing this research space would be enough to investigate, since the team is not large.

Scientists from various countries work in the Arctic, rescued by huge ships and powerful equipment. According to S. Olenin, Lithuania should cooperate in this field with its Latvian and Estonian neighbors.

Researchers from the KU Marine Research Institute in the Arctic took water, soil and other samples, which will be transported by ship to the partner, the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdansk, from where they will then arrive in Klaipeda.

“It seems that the process that is taking place in the Arctic is practically unstoppable, because the glaciers are melting very fast, more and more bodies of water are being formed, new ecosystems are being built,” said the expedition leader after 12 hours.

First: security assessment

The crew on board, for whom the captain prepared breakfast, reached shore in a moderately powered inflatable boat. The first to land were A.Šiškovas with a pistol and Jonas Gintauskas, one of the best physical geography students who entered doctoral studies.

This drone appreciated the environment. At the time, the rest of the team was being transferred by boat. After assessing safety, team members finally distributed the work, some traveled to the lake, others to the tidal zone.

When they returned to the ship, the team members still had to write down important information and number the samples.

The drone was attacked by birds.

J. Gintauskas, who was in charge of the drone, said there was anxiety when it first landed.

“I didn’t really imagine what the landscape would be like. Where to fly, what to do? After the first day, it was clear what to do, how to start working, how to say what I saw or if it was safe, ”said the young scientist.

An elevated drone helped the team decide the route. There have been cases where you have had to change due to an extremely fast river that is simply impossible to cross.

Although the weather did not alter the work of the drone, according to J. Gintauskas, the object was attacked by arctic birds, but the young man found a way to avoid them: the drone rose higher and higher.

In addition to the task of managing the drone, J. Gintauskas also did scientific work, mapping aquatic plants in the tidal zone. Algae, which are a very important habitat for organisms, and logs were also the center of attention.

Mussels investigated

Another young scientist, Mantas Liutkus, who had just finished his undergraduate studies, was preparing his research based on material collected by scientists who had previously been to the Arctic, so he was not surprised when he received an offer to go to the Arctic. The young man will now be a KU graduate student.

It is noted that the ancient species are being driven out little by little by the settlers, as well as the mussels. Various mollusks and crustaceans retreat to the deepest parts of the fjords.

Mussels are the center of attention in the Arctic.

“It’s a new species because, according to research, they haven’t been here in a thousand years. They met again a few years ago, and now more and more teams are finding them. This is proof that new species are disappearing and coming back as the weather warms up.

It is noted that the ancient species are being driven out little by little by the settlers, as well as the mussels. Various mollusks and crustaceans retreat to the deeper parts of the fjords, and the fringes are occupied by settlers. There is a significant decrease, ”said the young man.

The team includes Belarusians and Italians.

The team was joined by Tobias Politi, an Italian who is completing his PhD studies at KU and will soon be defending his thesis. His focus is on chemical and physical tasks such as temperature, salinity of water, composition of metals.

The scientist has explored the lakes and will do research to discover the differences.

“An expedition in the Arctic is something incredible.” The unique nature, the place where no one has been, the opportunity to see the Arctic environment, “said the scientist, who visited the Arctic for the second time.

He spent the first time on board with colleagues from the Polish Academy of Sciences, and this time ashore.

Unique organisms

Belarusian scientist Dzmitry Lukashanets is an Antarctic researcher specializing in microfauna. The man is investigating eddies or rotifers. These are like microscopic worms that survive in a wide variety of conditions and are found from the tropics to the Arctic.

These organisms can survive even in extremely harsh conditions.
According to the scientist, the only thing is that they are only female organisms, and it is mystical how they survive.

According to the expedition leader, no one knows if these rotifers were already in the Arctic and Lukashets will be the first to undertake the investigation.

“It is a very promising group to work with. Anabiosis, a condition in which organisms are present, is an unproven process that can be useful in many places and in medicine. How does it manage to stay alive and function again for 20 thousand years? A mystical group ”, said the manager.

Encourage reflection at every step.

According to the director of the KU Marine Research Institute, Dr. Zita Gasiūnaitė, in the Arctic, processes take place in dramatic flow, and it is there that the consequences of global warming processes are particularly visible.

“We have done what we have done, there is no going back. We are not going to roll back the climate change that we have seen in Lithuania this year, but at least let’s not get any worse: stop, think, the earth is very small, nobody will give the second Z. Gasiūnaitė said.

He urged us to think again about what seem to be banal things: consume less, buy less, because we contribute to the activities of the industry both by eating and buying new clothes.

“Let’s think about how we should act to keep the impact on the environment to a minimum. We see what is happening in the world, we see those things, they happen very fast. It is not a gradual process and the thought that I will not do it, the kids won’t. It can be very fast, right here in a very quiet Lithuania, which we are used to seeing without storms. We had a heat wave this year, we saw what was going on in Canada. No need for intimidation, just we have to analyze what we see around the world, ”said Z. Gasiūnaitė.