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Searching for the Ice Edge

An 11 p.m. sunset reflects off the ice during the Bering Sea Ecosystem Study (BEST) research cruise in 2009. Scientists from WHOI and other institutions across the United States spent 38 days aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, investigating the effects of climate change on sea ice and the Arctic ecosystem. The scientists collected samples of ice and sediment, kept watch for sea birds, and checked for evidence of an ice edge bloom—the springtime growth of photosynthetic marine plants that form the base of the Arctic food chain. You can learn more about the research mission at the project website, Polar Discovery 5.(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)