Hi All,

For a brief moment this morning the sun graced us with its presence and it was glorious.

Arctic summer splendor.

Today was our last day of sampling at our standard station and we made the best of it. Captain Quuniq and Nelson again took us out to our standard station and we quickly sampled and came back in to process our samples in the lab.

Sampling complete!

Compared to conditions yesterday afternoon, the ocean was a bathtub today. And, with all the kinks worked out of our equipment and protocols, we made record time processing the samples. Victoria was even able to complete our RNA purifications by dinner time.

Molecular biology on the go.

All the samples are now safely stored in liquid nitrogen and in shipping containers ready to be shipped out in the morning.

Shipping containers ready to go.

With all the sampling complete and after a quick and not very satisfying dinner of Ramen noodles, it was time to think about starting the process of cleaning and packing-up. Since our stuff is scattered all over the campus its quite a daunting task gathering everything, cleaning all of our salty equipment and packing it so that it will be organized and ready for next January.

Its nearly 2 am now and I’ve been at it since 7 so I think I have to cut this one short. Tomorrow promises to be a busy day of cleaning and packing, but the end is near and we’re all looking forward to heading home.

Marc