FjordPhyto

What is it all about?

FjordPhyto started in 2016 and investigates how melting glaciers are affecting the phytoplankton communities along the western Antarctic Peninsula.

So far around 300 samples have been collected with more than 135 species of phytoplankton detected in samples collected by past travellers.

Phytoplankton play a critical role in drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and contribute to over half of the Earth’s oxygen. Being at the base of the food web, they provide important food for species such as Antarctic krill and ultimately penguins, seals and whales. The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming regions on our planet resulting in more and more freshwater flowing into the coastal fjord areas. Scientists therefore need to understand what impacts this will have on the phytoplankton communities and the wider food web. Head out with guests in a small Zodiac-style boat, take a variety of measurements and drag a net behind the boat to collect phytoplankton. Each FjordPhyto sampling cruise that you conduct helps scientists to better understand these processes.

Project partners: NASA FjordPhyto with Allison Cusick in the Vernet Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography USA and Martina Mascioni at Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina

Project website: www.fjordphyto.org