OMG! It has been a very long journey

OMG! It has been a very long journey: flying out from the US to Brazil first, then to Chile and last New Zealand. After isolating for two and half weeks in a hotel in New Zealand due to the COVID-19 protocols and then an additional ten-day transit onboard of the Research Vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer (NPB), we have finally arrived at our research destination, Eastern Antarctica! Differently from other regions of the frozen continent, Eastern Antarctica has been much less explored and information about their marine biodiversity is still limited, especially regarding small metazoans. This makes our expedition even more exciting as we will have the opportunity to discovery and characterize many marine species new to science. In Eastern Antarctica, we will be studying the benthic microeukaryotic communities, in particular free-living nematodes, and their associated microbiomes along the continental shelf with depths ranging from 200-800 m. Nematodes are exceptionally abundant and diverse in marine sediments and the likelihood of finding new species in this remote region of the globe is extremely high.
 
During this cruise, most of our work will be concentrated in collecting sediment samples using a mega core sampling device. On deck, these cores will be sectioned into fractions of 2 cm (0-10cm depth) using an extruder so that we can also understand how these communities change vertically in the sediment, that means, things will get muddy! As we hit our first scientific stations, we started to get a sense of how our next month onboard of the NBP will be, lots of sediment cores, lots of sectioning, and lots of astonishing views. It was an amazing experience to see huge icebergs for the first time so close as we waited for core deployments. The white icebergs really stand out from the darkish blue ocean. Also, working in 12-hour shifts give us the opportunity to experience spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Overall, the weather has been pleasant thus making our work even more enjoyable. As we continue our adventure in Eastern Antarctica we will have more updates, so stay tune!
 
Tiago José Pereira
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgi