Author: Bruno

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TANGO2 report is online

We have just released the TANGO2 expedition report. The report will give you an overview of the activities of the TANGO2 team in the West Antarctic Peninsula, onboard RV Australis.

The TANGO2 expedition ventured to accumulate new information and samples to delineate responses of marine ecosystems to shifts in ice regimes in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), taking full advantage of a nimble sampling platform, the R/V Australis, a steel hulled, fully rigged motor sailor. TANGO2 took place between February and March 2024, sampling three main locations at different spatial scales. Deploying 11 different types of gear (both traditional and modern), the TANGO2 Team gathered over 4000 physical samples that will be brought back to Belgium for further analysis. The Team focused on synchronized, transdisciplinary sampling to understand the linkages between realms (atmosphere, water column, seafloor) and there potential responses to changes in climate- changed linked ice regime at various spatial scales.
Once more, the use of R/V Australis for coastal studies deemed to be extremely efficient, in terms of environmental impact (ca. 40 times less CO2 emissions than a Polar class icebreaker) and agility, allowing the Team to adapt the sampling efforts in function of the weather or anchoring conditions. Fully devoted to the expedition, the ship allowed the TANGO2 team to sample in shallow areas, not accessible to icebreakers and too far away from research stations, and which have been under sampled (based on data available from the reference information system for Antarctic marine biodiversity data, biodiversity.aq). The preliminary (meta)results accumulated during TANGO2 confirm the efficiency of using a nimble research platform to study fine-scale processes in the shallow areas of unchartered regions of the West Antarctic Peninsula. TANGO2 provides a first-hand experience to carry an future expeditions taking advantage of the low cost/low environmental impact approach, coherent with environmental conservation. Based upon Open Science approach, the combination of B121/TANGO1 and now TANGO2 efficiency in designing informed, focused expeditions, paving the way to transposing the concept developed by Danis et al. (2022) to multiply similar efforts in a coordinated fashion.
An overview of initial results is provided below:

  1. Concept and Sampling design
    The preliminary (meta)results accumulated during TANGO2 confirm again the efficiency of using a nimble research platform to study fine-scale processes in the shallow areas of unchartered regions of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Based upon Open Science approaches, the concept tested and improved during the B121/TANGO1/TANGO2 paves the way to transposing the concept, and to multiply/coordinate similar efforts in different oceans.
  2. Mapping
    Despite being rather sensitive to environmental conditions (strong wind velocity, compass interference with vessel, takeoff/landing delicate from vessel), deployment of drones was found to be useful in terms of scouting when arriving in new work sites, documenting their general setup as well as carrying out more sophisticated works including orthomosaic (2D) and photogrammetry (3D).
  3. Environmental parameters
    A total of six incubations were performed at every substation. There was no visible difference between the stations or the bottle during the filtration. Sediment traps were deployed successfully after coordinated recovery of the sample bottle and release by divers and
    surface recovery. There was less matter compared to TANGO 1 expedition but the sediments seems bigger and more stringy. The three sites seem to have a comparable quantity of particulate matter.
    A total of 123 Niskin bottles were taken at the surface. These samples were taken in various environment, including active glaciers, open water and coastal environment without glacier. These samples were taken following the results of the TANGO1 expedition. It showed a potential source of methane at the top of the water column. The hypothesis is that this source come from run-off water from the glacier.
    The sampling strategy of TANGO2 have been adapted to this hypothesis to sample sensitive area as glacier with a high velocity. This was done to assess the impact of melting glacier as a source of methane in the West Antarctic Peninsula.
  4. Biogeochemistry
    To determine the quantity and distribution of carbon present in the seafloor sediment from different sources, divers pushed 3 perspex cores into the seafloor sediment at each site, aiming for a sediment column of at least 10 cm. After retrieval, the cores were sliced and all samples were immediately stored into a -20 °C freezer.
    Two types of incubations were performed: dark incubations, and light incubations, representing the light intensity on the seafloor on a partially overcast day (as measured with HOBO loggers (Scaled instruments) on CTD profiles). Oxygen consumption rates measured in the dark incubations were similar for all the investigated sites, with average rates varying around 20 mmol O2 m-2 d-1. The exception was one of the sediment cores collected next to the wreck of the Guvernøren (Føyn harbor), which had more than double the oxygen consumption as most of the other stations
  5. Trophic analysis
    A total of 2259 samples were collected, accounting for 101 different morphospecies sampled in the 6 stations investigated. Samples collected during TANGO2 would enable to refine thjose obtained during TANGO1 and extend the spatial range of study. Indeed, for instance, N. concinna, was found in every station. This will allow comparison of rock habitat among a range of latitude but also compare potential diet differences between rock and soft sediment habitats. Biometry measurements were also taken.
    Sampling was performed to characterize gut microsymbionts from sea urchins (Sterechinus neumayeri). The samples will be analysed using different methods: The samples preserved dried (Aristotle’s lantern) will be analysed in ULiège once return in Belgium for trophic niche analyses, The food pellets and gut epithelium samples will be processed at ULB (DNA extraction and PCRs) and send to a sequencing company to assess the diet and microbiome composition. The gonads will be processed at ULB for sea urchin sexing, as well as in Germany for proteomics studies (MALDI-TOF), the spines will be used in Germany for genomics studies (RAD sequencing).
  6. Biodiversity inventories
    All sample collected in the different events of Rauschert Dredge and the Amphipod Traps have been partially sorted by main morphotypes on board of RV Australis during the expedition. Representants of the major taxa present in the catch were isolated, identified to the lowest taxonomic level known and counted whenever time and space was available. All

sorted taxa and unsorted subsamples were labeled and fixed in ethanol to be processed further thoroughly in the laboratory.
Regarding Top Predators (Birds and Marine Mammals), a total of 64 observation events (standard counts or punctual observations) were performed while crossing the Magellanic Area (MA), the Drake Passage (DP) and along the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). General notes on the observations for each species encountered during the voyage were taken. Remarkably, very low densities of birds during both crossings of the Drake Passage were observed compared to similar crossings performed at similar dates during previous years. Several species, although normally common or frequently observed during such transect e.g., the Southern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora), Snow Petrel (Pagodroma nivea), White- headed Petrel (Pterodroma lessonii), Antarctic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica), Kerguelen Petrel (Lugensa brevirostris) or Blue petrel (Halobaena caerulea) were absent during this voyage.

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TANGO1 report is online!

We have just released the TANGO1 expedition report. The report will give you an overview of the activities of the TANGO1 team in the West Antarctic Peninsula, onboard RV Australis. 

The TANGO1 expedition ventured to accumulate new data on the responses of marine ecosystems to shifts in ice regimes in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), taking full advantage of a nimble sampling platform, the R/V Australis, a steel hulled, fully rigged motor sailor. TANGO1 took place between February and March 2023, sampling two main locations at different spatial scales. Deploying 14 different types of gear (both traditional and modern), the TANGO1 team gathered over 4000 samples that will be brought back to Belgium for further analysis. The team focused on synchronized, transdiciplinary sampling to understand the linkages between realms (atmosphere, sea-ice, watercolumn, seafloor) and there potential responses to changes in climate-changed linked ice regime at various spatial scales.
The use of R/V Australis for coastal studies deemed to be extremely efficient, in terms of environmental impact (ca. 40 times less CO2 emissions than a Polar class icebreaker) and reactivity, allowing the team to adapt the sampling efforts in function of the weather or anchoring conditions. Fully devoted to the expedition, the ship allowed the B121 team to sample in shallow areas, not accessible to icebreaker and too far away from research stations, and which have been under sampled.


The preliminary (meta)results accumulated during TANGO1 confirm the efficiency of using a nimble research platform to study fine-scale processes in the shallow areas of unchartered regions of the West Antarctic Peninsula. TANGO1 provides a first-hand experience to carry an ambitious TANGO2 expedition. Based upon Open Science approaches, the combination of B121/TANGO1 efficiency in sampling paves the way to testing the transposability of the concept to multiply similar efforts in a coordinated fashion.
An overview of initial results is provided below:
Fine-scale bathymetry
An estimated 30 hours were spent to generate sufficient data to generate bathymetric maps All visited sampling sites were charted. The bathymetric exercise allowed reaching a very high sampling efficiency (for example for selecting preferential areas to deploy the SCUBA divers). As a side benefit, the generation charts allowed to identify and flag dangers to navigation which were immediately communicated to relevant hydrographic authorities.
Aerial mapping
A total of 16 drone flights were carried out during the TANGO1 expedition, generating large quantities of media fit for different purposes. Deployment of drones was found to be useful in terms of scouting when arriving in new work station, documenting their general setup as well as carrying out more sophisticated works including orthomosaic (2D) and photogrammetry (3D). Combined to other georeferenced layer gathered during the TANGO1 expedition (ROV imagery, bathymetry, etc…) the aerial imagery has a promising potential in terms of geospatial analysis at a scale matching the distribution of the sampling efforts.
Oceanography
In total, 15 CTD profiles were taken in different locations of Dodman Island and Blaiklock Island. Sediment trap were deployed successfully after coordinated recovery of the sample bottle and release by divers and surface recovery. One sediment trap (ST1) has been deployed
at Dodman Island while another deployment (ST2) took place in Blaiklock Island. More particles were recovered at Blaiklock Island compared to Dodman Island, suggesting a significantly higher particle fluxes in Blaiklock Island.
Sea-ice works
We sampled two drifting ice floes: ICE-1 nearby Dodman Island, and ICE-2 at station 3 of Blaiklock island. Even though the ICE-1 floe was drifting, the overall aspect of it, the fact that we observed remaining landfast ice in person or by remote sensing in areas less than 30km away (Dimitrov Cove and Crates Bay respectivally), suggest it was landfast ice recenty detached. Ice floe ICE-2 was found at site 3 of Blaiklock island and was surrounded by floating glacial ice. The floe was thinner and less homogeneous than floe ICE-1 as the floe grew around a piece of glacial ice and was likely a remnant piece of landfast ice. Salinity of the floe was quite low for a first year sea ice, with an uncommon salinity profile. We hypothesize that the low salinity profile observed in Blaiklock, with salinity down to 0 at the surface, was due to rainfall washing down the ice.
Soft sediments biodiversity and biogeochemistry
The amount of samples and the storage of the samples generated for the sediment biogeochemistry part are available further in the report., In the next year the preliminary data generated during the incubations will be quality checked and the setup will be discussed with colleagues at the Ghent Marine Biology Laboratory. The samples for both the incubation measurements, the sediment environmental data, and the stable isotope analysis will be carried out. The results from the field samples will inform priorities for the upcoming campaigns and will help deciding on the feasibility of such detailed and time- consuming measurements aboard of a nimble vessel that was not originally designed to host these types of technically complex, detailed and time-consuming measurements.
Benthic habitat mapping
In Dodman Island, 6 different sites were sampled with a total of 20 recorded squares using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). When a squared-shaped pattern was not possible, the site was sampled by transects. In Blaiklock Island, our second sampling station, 3 contrasting sites were sampled as well as 3 sub-locations in one of the sites to characterize small scale heterogeneity. In total, 12 squares and 2 transects were sampled.
Back in the Laboratory, the images will be used to create photomosaics from which we will calculate biodiversity indices (𝛼 and 𝛽), evenness/dissimilarity indices (Species Richness, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson) and functional diversity (Functional Dispersion, Rao’s Quadriatic Entropy). Then, to compare our results between sites, we will use multivariable correlative approaches (such as a Canonical Correspondence Analysis and NMDS analyses).
For characterizing how benthic communities respond to environmental heterogeneities, we will perform Spatial Point Process Analyses (SPPA). To build predictive models, and investigate the drivers of ecosystem responses to their changing environment, we will use Bayesian Network Inference (BNI) analysis.
Macro- and megabenthos diversity
All sample collected in the different events of Rauschert Dredge and the Amphipod Trap have been partially sorted on board of Australis during the expedition. Representants of the major taxa present in the catch were isolated and counted whenever time and space were available. As agreed during the preparation of the expedition, all sorted taxa and unsorted subsamples were fixed in ethanol to be processed further thoroughly in the lab by master or PhD thesis students.
Top Predators census (TOPP)
Species encountered in the Magellanic area, Drake Passage, Dodman Island, Blaiklock Island and along the Antarctic Peninsula are enumerated hereunder with preliminary considerations. Overall, most species expected to be seen were observed during this voyage at the exception of the Antarctic Petrel (Thalassoica antarctica) for which not a single individual was found, which is rather unusual especially in the Bransfield Strait and South Shetland Island. Killer Whale (Orcinus orca s.l.) despite our intensive search remained equally out of sight during this expedition.
Sea urchins microbiota
A total of 150 urchins was processed onboard during the expedition. Due to their high abundance at all locations, there was no issue with the collection of specimens. Sizes however varied strikingly from one location to another, a variability that will be investigated into more details. Samples preserved dried and in ethanol will be analyzed upon return in Belgium for trophic niche characterization. Sexing (observation of gonad tissues) and genetic (test tissue) analyses will also be performed in Belgium as well as DNA extractions for microbiome characterization.
Underwater photography
This part of the project was a first approach in documenting the work and illustrating biodiversity during the expedition. Many improvements can be implemented and notably having dedicated dives to illustrate a maximum of the diversity encountered. The creation of a reference library for live specimens coupled with DNA barcoding effort is also considered. Such efforts are important and more and more valuable, especially in studies using metabarcoding/eDNA approaches.
Diving
A total of 30 logged dives were performed by the team of four divers collecting a total of 828 unique samples consisting of sediment cores, photo and videos and handpicking and transect collection of megafauna specimens and macroalgae. The average dive time was 30 min, the maximum dive time was 51 min. The average depth was 19 m and the maximum depth was 25 m. More details will be provided in the dedicated Scientific Diving Activity Report to be found on the Tango I website.

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TANGO 1 in a nutshell

The Team is leaving tomorrow for the first expedition of the TANGO project, to the Grandidier Channel, in the West Antarctic Peninsula, onboard the RV Australis (A motor sailboat operated by Ocean Expeditions, Capt. Ben Wallis).

RV Australis, in front of Mount William. Photo: Bruno Danis (CC-BY)

TANGO1 is about understanding ecosystems responses to climate change in the Southern Ocean, and in particular trying to identify tipping points (at which ecosystems can drastically change in terms of structure and function) using a holistic scientific design.

Seastar, Odontaster validus. Photo: Quentin Jossart (CC-BY)

TANGO1 is about exploring areas which are poorly documented, understood and inventorized, in an informed fashion and yet are undergoing accelerating environmental pressure.

RV Australis during the Belgica 121 expedition. Photo: Bruno Danis (CC-BY)

TANGO1 is about coherence in terms of environmental impact. We want to lead by example, as we use a sailboat to carry marine science work in an extreme environment. RV Australis will allow us to reach particularly low levels of GHG emissions and habitat disturbance during sampling operations.

TANGO1 is about agility. Our sailboat allows us to reach shallow areas, and make fast decisions as we adapt to the conditions we will be meeting in the field.

SCUBA operations during the Belgica 121 expedition. Photo: Bruno Danis (CC-BY)

TANGO1 is about commitment. We pledge to be in complete immersion in the environment we will be studying as we are convinced this will contribute to raise awareness about the importance of nature conservation.

Working in the snow during the Belgica 121 expedition. Photo: Bruno Danis (CC-BY)

We are leaving tomorrow, crossing the Drake Passage to the Western Antarctic Peninsula for a month of fieldwork.

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B121 cruise report is now available!

If you are interested in a full report about the expedition, it is now available for download here. We give a full review of our activities during the expedition and publish a set of preliminary results.

If you are in a hurry, your can read the summary below:

The Belgica121 expedition (B121) ventured to explore the marine biodiversity of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) to test the concept of using a nimble sampling platform, the R/VAustralis, a steel hulled, fully rigged motor sailor. Named as a tribute to the first international scientific expedition in Antarctica lead by Adrien de Gerlache in 1897-99 (onboard the Belgica), B121 took place between February and March 2019, sampling 15 stations in 22 working days in an area extending from the Berthelot (65°19.751 S, 64°08.263 W) to the Melchior Islands (64°19.246 S, 62°55.375W). Deploying 20 different types of gear (both traditional and modern), the B121 team gathered over 1700 samples that will be brought back to Belgium for further identification (by taxonomic experts) and analyses (isotopes, population genetics or genomics…). The team focused on biodiversity assessments, from the intertidal to subtidal zone (20 m) in coastal areas with contrasting characteristics regarding their exposure to glaciers, oceanographic characteristics and intensity of touristic activities. Other projects included population genetics studies, trophic ecology, environmental DNA, microplastics surveys and more (see full report below for details).

The use of R/V Australis for coastal studies deemed to be extremely efficient, in terms of environmental impact (ca. 150x less CO2 emissions than a Polar class icebreaker) and reactivity, allowing the team to adapt the sampling efforts in function of the weather or anchoring conditions. Fully devoted to the expedition, the ship allowed the B121 team to sample in shallow areas, not accessible to icebreaker and too far away from research stations, and which have been under sampled.Regarding the biodiversity census, the B121 expedition worked on various realms/taxonomic levels including the intertidal, soft sediments, macro- and megabenthos, fish, birds and marine mammals. Seven stations were investigated for the intertidal (MI, NH, UI, SK, HI, GR and FH) with a total of 121 measurements in quadrats. The average number of species per station was 18. Kidderia bicolor (bivalve), Obrimoposthia wandeli (flat worm) and Laevilitorina caliginosa (gastropod) were the most abundant organisms (up to thousands of individuals per m2).
Sediment type (9 to 22 meters depth) ranged from complete silt in the anoxic inner basin at the anchorage site of Hovgaard Island or Neko Harbor, to sandier and well oxygenated sediments of Green Reef. At a first glance the macrofauna pre-sieved samples showed very poor communities in the anoxic sediments, with only small gastropods and few motile taxa such as amphipods, which were present in small numbers. A qualitative analysis of macrofauna will be carried out and biomass will be estimated for both soft sediment metazoan size classes and referred either to surface (for the core and Van Veen sampling) or to sediment volume (for the scooping sampling method).

Regarding the mega/macro benthos (9 to 20 meters depth), 53 common species were identified. They were frequently observed directly in situ during the 38 dives performed at the nine sites, or after the dives when watching the 12 video transects… In total, 164 fish specimens were collected, most of them belonging to five species, i.e. Trematomus newnesi,Notothenia coriiceps, Harpagifer antarcticus, Trematomus bernacchii and Notothenia rossii. The spatial distribution of samples is patchy with most specimens collected at Føyn Harbor and Useful Island. Several localities yielded less than a dozen fish preventing spatial comparisons of fish catches. Fish samples collected represent a valuable collection of the Antarctic shallow water fish fauna, which is dominated by notothenioids. Regarding the birds and marine mammals, a total of 46 standard counts were carried out all along the cruise track (from the Beagle channel to the southernmost visited site of the cruise at Berthelot Islands along the Antarctic Peninsula and the Drake passage. 26 species of birds, 3 species of cetaceans and 4 species of pinnipeds were observed. Finally, several attempts (in 4 different locations) were unsuccessfully ran to sample snow petrel feathers for a project on this species phylogeography and taxonomy.

Other projects were carried out during the expedition, focusing on habitat mapping, population genomics and eDNA sampling to gain further insights into the region’s biodiversity levels. Twelve video transects were carried out, one or two at each station, to characterize the shallow habitats. Although Antarctic shallow benthic communities are usually considered depauperated with very low biomass and abundances compared to deeper communities of the Antarctic continental shelf, preliminary results suggest the occurrence of highly diverse shallow communities depending on local conditions. A preliminary correspondence analysis of common taxon distribution suggests marked differences between the considered stations. An in- analysis of the video transects and the relative surface mapped will help further describe biotic interactions and community composition and diversity. The population genomics project was carried out to advance a technological pilot study undergoing in the framework of the RECTO project. A range of organisms were sampled for this purpose, including 83 ostracods, 227 amphipods, 65 bivalves, 16 sea stars and 81 fish.The pilot study focuses on the evaluation and optimization of reduced representation sequencing protocols, more specifically RADseq.. Eventually, RADseq should yield thousands of genotypes per specimen, which will help to identify any potential local adaptation patterns possibly linked to the contrasting environmental and community conditions. For the eDNA project, 8 sampling events were conducted at four major stations that correspond roughly to the widest spatial extent of the expedition. DNA will be extracted from the filters in dedicated eDNA lab spaces at the KU Leuven. Subsequent high-throughput sequencing of the obtained metabarcoding libraries should enable species-level presence-absence detection.

Complimentary projects were ran during the expedition, including a microplastics survey,oceanographic measurements in selected sites, biogeochemistry and trophic ecology as well as macrophotography. For the microplastics survey, a total of 36 samples of sediment and organisms were taken at eight sites between 5m and 20m depth. Sea stars and filter feeding bivalve were sampled for the biotic part of this project. Analyses will be performed in collaboration with Heriot Watt University (Edinburgh, UK) as a part of a PhD thesis ongoing at the ULB Marine Biology Lab. With regards to the oceanographic measurements, 17 CTD casts were carried out in ten sites to characterize water masses parameters. A deep (400m) cast was carried out before Arctowski Peninsula (AP) in conjunction with an eDNA sampling effort. Biogeochemistry analysis will be carried out on soft sediment from the different sampling sites. Sediments will be characterized at the University of Ghent analyses to determine the granulometry (median grain size, size fraction%), total organic matter content (TOM), Total Organic Carbon (TOC%) content, Total nitrogen content (TN%), and pigments content. For trophic ecology, 156 samples counting 24 different species and over 650 specimens were collected at seven sites between 8m and 20m depth. Water and sediment samples were collected at each site. Specimens of seaweeds were sampled as potential food sources while other organisms were collected from different trophic guilds, among primary and secondary consumers, filter feeders, predators/scavengers and terminal consumers. Isotope analysis of ∂13C, ∂15N, and ∂34S will be carried out at the University of Liège. Trophic models will be developed to characterize species trophic niches and plasticity, as well as the main structures of trophic networks in shallow coastal habitats of the visited sites. Finally, 143 specimens were macro-photographed during the expedition. The most photographed phyla were Arthropoda (56 specimens) followed by Echinodermata (23), Mollusca (18), Polychaeta (14) and Chordata (10). Both overview and close up pictures of the specimens were captured.

From the initial results, in terms of sampling diversity of projects and fuel efficiency, it appears that the B121 expedition was extremely successful. Further analysis is of course needed to better characterize the biodiversity and run the multiple analysis, but it is recommended that the concept of using a more nimble platform for shallow biodiversity works in the Southern Ocean should be more widely considered, as a complementary approach to traditional approaches which are either based in research station, or along logistics-driven polar icebreaker routes.

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Food web studies

Among the many research projects conducted during the B121 cruise, trophic ecology has taken an important place for divers and fish specialists all along the campaign. But what is it about ? Beyond the formal and bit severe words, trophic ecology can be simply and instinctively recapped by the famous idiom “you are what you eat” ! Every single piece of snack each of us ingests or drop of liquid we are happy to sip not only contributes to maintaining our whole body in good shape but also, and insidiously leaves its indelible mark in our organs. This holds true for all living beings and for isotopes as well ! Analyzing the composition of organisms in Carbon, Nitrogen and Sulfur stable isotopes can tell us a lot about the long story of what they usually eat and where they have been living. Eventually, analyzing the isopotic composition of organisms living in close vicinity to each other in a same place can help unreveal biological interactions between them in the food chain that is, who’s eating whom and what. That’s why specimens of some common and key species of the visited sites were sampled at the sea bottom, from seaweeds to sponges, worms, starfish, sea urchins and fish, to caracterize main food web elements and compare them between sites. The complexity of food webs is also a condition of ecosystem resilience facing climate change, the more redundant and complex biotic interactions are in a food web and the more likely the ecosystem is to resist to change. Let’s wait a bit and see what isotopes will tell … !

Thomas

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Through the eye of the needle

On March 20th, we were working in Foyn Harbour, our latest station, and completing the sampling. Everything is fine, and now the team’s work has reached an optimum in terms of fluidity and efficiency. But the time has come to leave. With Ben, we are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast, and the time is right to head back to the mighty Drake. First, we were planning to leave on the next day, but then we felt it would be best to set sails earlier, late afternoon or in the evening  at the latest. This was a bit earlier than anticipated, but very strong westerlies are forecasted in a few days, as well as headwinds towards the end of the crossing, next to Cape Horn. No time to waste anymore. After a last dive in Enterprise Islands (right next to Foyn Harbour), on a shipwreck, we pack all our gear and get ready for the crossing. Done in a little more than an hour. We prepare the ship, and by the time we are ready to go, snow starts falling heavily, significantly reducing the visibility. We still need to cross the Gerlache Strait, and pass by the Melchior Islands to make our way to the open ocean. Not that easy with no visibility, icebergs and reefs all around us. The radar is our eyes, and we sail very slowly… At 0:30, we hit something, and the familiar noise of the hull against ice sounds really loud. Close encounter with a big iceberg. The hull of the Australis was spared this time, but not the anchor, properly bent. 

But we manage to reach the Drake Passage at the end of the night and start the crossing. A long crossing again.

The Drake Passage gives me this strange impression of being in a time capsule. Everybody gets ready and braces for the crossing. Our bodies go in standby for 3 days. I’ve spent most of the time in bed, probably seasick. Any normal life task is very demanding and you struggle to get your ideas together. The final part of the crossing, once we’ve reached Cape Horn is tricky as well: the ocean is still rough, and we get the false impression that the crossing is over, when there is still a full night of navigation, this time closer to land, closer to rocks. 

At that point, and this is why I called this blog “Through the eye of the needle”, we checked the weather again and realised that 2 hours behind us, the storm was closing the path with very strong winds, the kind you don’t want to find yourself in. Lesson is, and probably for the rest of the expedition: always listen to your instinct. When it tells you its time to leave, leave!

The Beagle channel brings serenity after the crossing, and we reached it at the end of the crossing, enjoying a very peaceful ending to the expedition, reaching our final destination, Ushuaia.

Final relief for all.

Now that we are back to the connected world, we will feed this blog and our website, so keep up with us.

The B121 expedition in a few figures:

22 sampling days

226 gear deployments

1739 samples

38 scuba dives

1727 nm

4280 l of fuel

Mission accomplished.

Bruno

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Crowdfunding: we made it!

WE MADE IT!

After setting up a crowdfunding campaign via kickstarter, we now have additional funds to produce a really fantastic documentary about our expedition, which will be directed by Lilian Hess.

And all our Backers made this possible! Thank you very much for your generous support all over the world. It is amazing to see so much enthusiasm about Antarctic research. Thank you!

We will update everyone through various channels with news about our expedition, the documentary production process and how we spend the funds from this crowdfunding campaign.

Currently, we are completely absorbed with the preparations for the expedition. The dates are set: We will leave Brussels for Ushuaia on the 19th of February and return on the 28th of March. Our exact departure dates from Ushuaia to Antarctica will be weather depended.

Stay tuned!

The B121 team

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Getting students onboard

Last year, a group of three students from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)  approached us in the framework of their course on science communication. They were interested in organising a post-expedition conference on Belgica120. As we unfortunately needed to turn around after our first attempt, Lea, Maya and Géraldine decided to draft a general audience paper in Science Connection, a journal edited by the Belgian Science Policy Office. The paper has now been published and you can discover their work here (in French of Dutch): FR- NL-

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Launching our crowdfunding campaign!

Marking the 121st anniversary since the first Antarctic expedition in human history, an international team of nine scientists embarks on a journey to the frozen continent. Our choice of transport: a small sail boat.

We are launching a crowdfunding campaign to support the  preparation of a documentary about this extraordinary adventure. This documentary is an intimate account of a small group of ambitious individuals, who are passionate about introducing a more sustainable way of conducting Polar research to the science community. The harsh beauty of the Antarctic landscape is reflected in the rawness of the footage, which will be captured by the scientists themselves – above and below water. Some of the most deeply poetic and profoundly personal texts have been produced by the original explorers during what we today refer to as the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration”. While the old diaries speak of the struggle for survival, this documentary rather resembles a first-hand video journal about the fervour that comes with realising ones aspirations, the hope for making a change, the strains of the sea, and the intensifying pressure of no escape.

More information on our kickstarter project page…

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From B120 to B121: a team is born

The Belgica120 crew left Ushuaia on Feb the 25th, around 10 am, next stop Antarctica. After finalising the last details, going through the initial briefings and getting the Australis ready, we set sails out of the Beagle Channel, towards the Melchior Islands along the Antarctic Peninsula.
The initial timing was set to an initial 12 hours to get to Cape Horn, then 2.5 days to cross the Drake Passage to the Peninsula. Everything was going fine, we were getting familiar with the boat (and with sea sickness) and steaming at 8 knots towards the South.

Ben setting the sails

On the second day of navigation, something went wrong with the engine’s gearbox (there was a big “bang” and rumble, like a rolling bag of bolts), and we had to stop the engine, after approximately 1/3 of the distance. The Australis is a 50/50 boat: it is designed to steam using to propulsions modes: engine and sails. Without the engine, Australis cannot be manoeuvred precisely, and the general design of the boat (shape of the hull and sails) does not allow here to sail close to the wind.
After stopping the engine, Ben and Simon (the captain and first mate of Australis) started investigating the mechanics and tried to find a solution to fix the gearbox. Unfortunately, it was impossible: the part that snapped was a shaft inside the gearbox. Ben called me to the wheelhouse to inform me there was no way they could fix the problem at sea. Simon and Kari (our cook) were there as well. There was this dreadful moment of silence, as I realised we were in an actually delicate situation. We were well engaged in the Drake Passage, our engine was useless, and we could only rely on our sails to turn back to Ushuaia. At this moment, the wind was in the right direction. We swiftly decided to tack, set all sails and head north. At the same time we decided to inform all ships around us that we would probably need assistance in a reasonable delay. I informed the team about the situation, and that we would probably have to delay our attempt. There was a big disappointment of course, especially given the amount of effort that went into preparing this expedition, and the high hopes we all had… but there was not much more to do than accept the situation and work our way out of the Drake.
The other “detail” we were worried about was the weather: strong winds were announced to hit us in a couple of days.
Under sails, with the wind strong enough and in the right direction, Australis made an amazing job. She was actually sailing at 8 knots in 25 knots of wind. But we couldn’t get closer than 60 degrees in the wind. Thanks to her speed we beat the storm, which passed behind us: one problem less. We managed to sail ca. 175 nm (320 km) before receiving assistance…
Meanwhile we managed to get in touch, by radio, with an Argentinian navy vessel, the Puerto Argentino, who confirmed they would give us a tow, as soon as they cached up with us (they were about 100 nm behind when we first contacted them). So the situation was more or less under control. A few sailboats passed us on our way to the North, always making contact to make sure we were alright. Our situation was never critical, nobody felt unsafe at any moment. On our way back, we had many contacts, including also with a Chilean Navy ship, the Sibbald. They offered to escort us up to the coastline. We didn’t really understand the purpose of that offer, as we were in need of a tow, before the situation became actually dangerous.
The wind was now coming from the North, and we were making extremely slow progress. If we didn’t get a tow, it would take us days to get back. The more time we spend at sea, the higher the chances we get hit by bad weather.
At this point we were about 30 nm East of Cape Horn. The Puerto Argentino had catched up with us, in the morning of the 28th of February. After some contacts with the vessel to coordinate the towing manoeuvre, which is always risky, the navy ship sent us a towing cable, which we successfully attached to the bollard. This was a great relief for me, until about 3’ later, the captain called us on the radio to inform us he had received the order not to tow us and let go the cable. At first I thought I was dreaming alive. I couldn’t believe this nonsense. Why would they let us go after risking a manoeuvre to start the tow, knowing we could never make our way back to safety? Two extremely tense, nerve-wearing hours started: we were trying to save time, hoping we would at least be towed over a reasonable distance, but the navy ship was just staying in place, probably on purpose. Ben was trying to call everyone he could to unlock the situation, so that the captain would get the authorisation to tow us. We also tried to call our networks in the area to get things moving. But the captain of the Puerto Argentino kept insisting on the radio that we should let go the tow cable. He sounded more and more nervous as the Chilean Navy vessel was approaching. Our nerves were worn, and we finally let go the cable, despite the fact that we didn’t get the point. As the Puerto Argentino left us behind, we got in touch with the Sibbald, which was now very close, and which again offered to escort us. We didn’t set the sails, and let ourselves drift to make a clear point that we couldn’t manoeuvre to safety. After about 10 minutes, they contacted us on the radio and offered a tow. Instead of being relieved, I was still wondering what kind of last minute trick would happen to us. But everything went well apart that the Sibbald was going to let us go somewhere in the Beagle Channel, as we were getting close to the Argentinian border.
Ben arranged a pickup by a tugboat from Ushuaia, and after a few more hours of towing we were safely brought back to our dock.

Our last tow to Ushuaia…

We think the behaviour of the Argentinian Navy vessel was linked to the fact that we were in Chilean waters. I think we will never know…
During the whole process, we had some time to think about how we could turn this into something positive. Even if its been a huge disappointment (and I think its safe to say especially for Ben and myself), the Belgica120 expedition was a first attempt. Its an expedition, and its Antarctica. We’ve learnt a lot during these few days, about the Australis, about ourselves and about our future project. Thanks to the B120 team keeping very calm and positive, and moreover to the Australis crew for handling the situation with amazing skill, we got ourselves out of a situation which could have become critical.
We now have a year to prepare for our next attempt, which of course will go by the name of Belgica121… stay tuned!
Bruno
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