Science at Sea

Phytoplankton, crucial for Earth's systems, rapidly evolve due to short generation times and large populations. Each drop of water contains as many phytoplankton cells as a large city's population. In most species, "new-borns" become "grandparents" in just three days. This enables quick adaptation to environmental changes like rising sea surface temperatures in the Arctic. PhD student Amalia Skrifvars and Dr. Giannina Hattich from the University of Turku will isolate Thalassiosira hyalina across Baffin Bay to illuminate Arctic diatoms' adaptation potential.

As directors of Whale Wise, Alyssa Stoller and Tom Grove have spent the last seven years researching the interactions between whales and human activity in Iceland. Fishing gear entanglement is a critical threat to whale populations worldwide, but the understanding of entanglement rates and population impacts remains limited. To gain a new perspective on this issue, Tom and Alyssa are using drones to assess humpback whale scarring patterns as evidence for past entanglement and its hidden impacts on whale health.

One of the challenges to creating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is the need for more data about offshore areas. National Geographic Explorer Dr. Noelia Hernández, in collaboration with scientists from The University of Balearic Islands and the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies, is conducting a marine biodiversity study using a new method based on environmental DNA, which involves collecting indirect and non-invasive species data. This research aims to support the creation of MPAs in the region.

Polar environments are undergoing drastic warming and sea-ice loss changes, significantly impacting the base of the Arctic and Antarctic food webs. Dr. Catherine G. Ribeiro (National Geographic Explorer and Mayor University, Chile) and Dr. Adriana Lopes do Santos (University of Oslo, Norway) are using novel cultivation techniques and cutting-edge sequencing technology to shed light on the structure of microalgae diversity, its connectivity between the Arctic and Antarctica, and its resilience to ongoing environmental changes.

Dr. Imogen Napper (National Geographic Explorer) and Dr. Thomas Dowling (Lecturer at the University of Auckland, New Zealand) aim to advance litter monitoring by utilizing drones equipped with various sensors capable of obtaining optical and temperature readings. The goal is to trial new techniques to accurately quantify beach litter, including identifying types, leakage points, and distribution patterns. Currently, there is a gap in plastic pollution research in quickly and accurately identifying pollution. This remote technique will offer insights for more effective environmental management.

The Arctic Ocean harbors an immense array of biodiversity, including organisms from the largest whales to the smallest plankton. However, much of this unique environment remains uncharacterized due to the harsh nature of accessing cold, deep waters. The JHU/APL team aims to bring rapid, fieldable eDNA methods to collect biodiversity samples and allow further characterization of the Arctic biosphere for current and future research. Implementing state-of-the-art techniques, we aim to make eDNA characterization accessible to all environments without the need for large laboratory capabilities.

National Geographic Explorer Daniel Venturini and Dr. João Batista are embarking on an expedition to study mesophotic ecosystems across the Islands of the Atlantic Ridge. Employing a cutting-edge Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) fitted with pioneering sampling technology, they aim to illuminate the enigmatic reef communities thriving in these overlooked ecosystems. Their mission: delve into the mysteries of these depths and uncover the intricacies of rhodolith bed distribution and connectivity throughout the Atlantic Ocean. 

Many South Pacific island nations are facing increased seaweed abundance as coral reefs globally continue to degrade. The loss of corals is catastrophic, as reefs form an integral part of pacific culture and provide coastal protection. In this project, National Geographic Explorer Hillary Smith and researcher Taylor Whitman are quantifying the diversity and distribution of reef corals and algae around the South Pacific. The data collected will help identify reefs suffering from algal overgrowth and prioritize future reef management efforts. 

Nestled in the vast expanse of remote waters, atolls stand as guardians of precious ecosystem services. National Geographic Explorer Dr. Isabel Nuñez Lendo and Laura Nuñez Lendo embark on a mission to chart the atolls of the Tuamotu archipelago using cutting-edge aerial surveys and photogrammetry to assess their invaluable ecosystem services. This expedition is a fusion of ancestral knowledge and modern techniques aimed at fostering a newfound appreciation for atoll conservation and stewardship.

Insects are mostly terrestrial, but they may fly across open waters to disperse, including long trans-oceanic journeys. National Geographic Explorers and biologists Gerard Talavera and Lucas Kaminski investigate this poor-know ecological phenomenon along the coast of South America. They are using a variety of different sampling methods in open sea and on land to identify the most frequent insect travelers and to track their dispersal routes.

The transfers of energy in the form of biomass from a highly productive environment of the ocean to the nutrient-poor ecosystem of the desert and sand dune islands are known as ‘marine subsidies´ when they have an impact on the islands´ food webs. Coyotes on Baja California's Magdalena Island live and thrive in dependence of these marine subsidies. During this project, the team will observe, photograph, and gather data on how intertidal invertebrates, wrecks of alga, stranded marine mammals, fishes, and seabird guano provide crucial resources to island biota, making food webs highly complex.

Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that form the base of the marine food web and supply significant oxygen to the planet. A team led by National Geographic Explorer Andrian Gajigan will deploy a low-cost flow camera, the PlanktoScope, to image and catalog the phytoplankton in coastal regions and atolls across the Pacific. This project will reveal the megadiverse plankton community and give insights into the health of the ocean.

National Geographic Explorer Jane Younger and her team at University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies in Australia are using poo samples from Antarctic penguins and seals to screen for wildlife diseases. The team’s on-board lab uses genetics to detect pathogens in only hours, allowing for fast reporting of any diseases. This research will contribute to their understanding of disease prevalence in Antarctic wildlife and help detect new disease introductions to this remote ecosystem.

The remote Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia represents a critical habitat to study manta rays, which are globally threatened with extinction. This project focuses on better understanding one of the least researched populations of manta rays in the world and support effective conservation for these vulnerable species. Using a citizen science based photoidentification approach to document individuals through their unique ventral spot patterns, data collected on our expeditions is contributing greatly to understanding the distribution, demographics, behavior, and movements of this lesser-known manta population.

Researchers traveling aboard the National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions fleet are conducting an observation survey of baleen whales using GPS and whale-spotting techniques. Their goal is to determine the current population status of various baleen species and their role in Southern Ocean ecosystems by assessing abundance on a broad scale as well as finer scale movements in krill foraging grounds.

Why are some species more successful at adapting to environmental change than others? Gentoo penguins inhabit one of the fastest warming regions on Earth, the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Despite this, the species is growing in numbers and colonizing new habitats. PhD students Rachael Herman and Clare Flynn from Stony Brook University are investigating whether the robustness of gentoo penguins to climate change is a result of increased epigenetic changes, which refers to changes that result in turning on and off certain genes that control important adaptive characteristics!

National Geographic Explorer Arianna Mancuso from University of Bologna studied the effects of environmental conditions on marine calcifying species, such as corals and mollusks, to understand how they are affected by climate change, especially ocean acidification. Traveling aboard the National Geographic Resolution, she collected seawater data and limpet samples in Patagonia and Antarctica to investigate cold-water mollusk growth. This data is crucial in comparing calcification of mollusks among polar and temperate regions and assessing how ocean acidification is impacting shells globally.

Alyssa Adler is a marine scientist whose research focuses on community ecology in kelp forest systems. For her Ph.D. research, she is investigating how predator presence impacts plant defenses in giant kelp. She has collected data for her thesis project on several voyages with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions, including on expeditions to Patagonia, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands.

Dr. Dzmitry Lukashanets investigates Arctic soil and tundra vegetation inhabited by tiny invertebrates, or microfauna. While traveling aboard National Geographic Explorer in 2022, he collected soil samples from Iceland, a geologically young island, and Greenland, a geologically old landmass, to investigate whether microfauna are distributed in a north-to-south gradient or by soil conditions such as moisture and nutrients.

Dr. Alessandro Silvano’s research focuses on how changing currents in Antarctic waters regulate glacier melt and the ocean’s ability to capture heat and carbon dioxide. Dr. Silvano conducts this research using state-of-the-art technology to collect water temperature and salinity measurements. Aboard National Geographic Endurance, he can access remote areas where oceanographic data are virtually non-existent.

The National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions fleet has transported researchers—with delicate eggs and hatchlings—for the Mangrove Finch Project; hosted scientists working on the Marine Invasive Species project by assisting them with collecting plastic marine debris to study hitchhikers; transported park wardens to study sites; and offered our ships as a platform of opportunity for all kinds of research conducted by the Galápagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station over the years. These initiatives facilitate research and advance the training of young local scientists.

Coralline algae forms a hard skeleton which records long-term change in seawater temperature and salinity, and is a valuable tool for understanding past climate. National Geographic Explorer Branwen Williams from Claremont McKenna College and Meghana Ranganathan from Georgia Institute of Technology are searching waters in coastal Greenland for a long-lived coralline algae that they will use to understand historical change in the Greenland Ice Sheet, and recent patterns of ice loss that contribute to sea level rise.

Researchers traveling with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions are investigating biological ice-nucleating particles in the Arctic. Ice nucleators are ubiquitous in nature and play fundamental roles in everything from atmospheric processes to the survival of freeze-tolerant organisms like bivalves and phytoplankton. Aboard the National Geographic Endurance, researchers can collect seawater samples from remote oceanic regions to assess the abundance and diversity of ice nucleators under warming Arctic conditions.

Many ecosystems contain far more species than there appear to be unique ecological roles. This has led many ecologists to suspect that some species are “functionally redundant,” and that communities with redundant species may be more resilient to environmental change. National Geographic Explorer Daniel Dick evaluated species composition and functional redundancy in Arctic intertidal microbial communities to improve understanding of how these crucial communities will respond to ongoing climate changes.

How do you use the arts to understand science more deeply? Throughout her voyage, Dr. Kat Owens, a National Geographic Explorer, artist and researcher created a journal of sketches and written observations inspired by notebooks of seafarers and scientific explorers of the past. Additionally, she invited guests to contribute to co-creating a hand-sewn, life-sized portrait as part of her Entangled and Ingested project, which highlights animals harmed by plastic pollution. 

While the scientific visits are complete for the current season, we look forward to continuing this work and welcoming the scientists back onboard next season.

In 2023, the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) traveled with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions to quantify distribution and abundance of marine birds in Baffin Bay. Although tied to land during the breeding season when they raise their young, seabirds exist mostly in the marine environment where knowledge of their ecology is difficult to obtain. CWS's goal is to establish a baseline of information for the long-term monitoring of pelagic seabird communities in the Arctic and enhance the visitors’ understanding of conservation and management in Nunavut.

Pelagic seabird surveys have been carried out for many decades worldwide. For this project,a new approach is used, focusing on the use of Citizen Science and public legacy data combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), BIG DATA and Machine Learning/AI to overcome data gaps, combine data sources and create reliable ocean predictions for conservation actions. Skuas are major seabird predators in the polar system; here, they receive main attention as a test case.

In June 2023, University of Alaska scientist Falk Huettman traveled aboard Land of the Ice Bears: an In-Depth Exploration of Arctic Svalbard on National Geographic Endurance. While the scientific visits are complete for the current season, we look forward to continuing this work and welcoming the scientists back onboard next season.

The prevalence of microplastic pollution around the world has been a rising concern. Dr. Thomas Klinger from Bloomsburg University of PA, and graduate student Elizabeth Lee of Commonwealth University are documenting the abundance of microplastics ingested by limpets as an indication of this pollutant’s entry into polar food webs. Limpets are widely distributed marine grazers who rasp away at the biofilms growing on rocks and kelp blades. This season, they expanded their study of microplastics ingested by limpets to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and areas on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Dr. Klinger and Lee joined the expedition team on the February 19, 2024 departure of Antarctica, South Georgia and The Falklands in National Geographic Resolution to study this subject.

As part of a recently launched partnership between the Cassar Lab at Duke University, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Charles Darwin Foundation, and National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions, researchers have installed oceanography equipment in the Science Hub on National Geographic Islander II. This instrumentation displays real-time, open-source data on atmospheric and sea surface carbon dioxide levels. This valuable data on the carbon cycle in this uniquely important part of the world will help scientists to better understand climate change.

Tiny metal particles, such as copper and lead, are emitted by natural (e.g., volcanoes) and anthropogenic sources, posing widespread environmental impacts. How long do these metal pollutants remain in the atmosphere and are they accumulating in pristine polar regions? Volcanologist and National Geographic Explorer Emma Nicholson is measuring the concentrations of metals in the Antarctic atmosphere, using sampling methods deployed at volcanoes, to explore how pollution levels have changed over recent decades and fingerprint where these metals are coming from.

Emma Nicholson from University College London joined guests on the January 12, 2024 departure of Journey To Antarctica: The White Continent on National Geographic Resolution to study the subject.