During the MARINŘK-99 cruise, organised by the Norwegian Polar Institute (1-26 May), in the marginal ice zone of the Barents Sea we conducted the following sampling procedures to collect zooplankton, fishes and seabirds:

Seabirds (Brünnich’s guillemot Uria lomvia, Black guillemot Cepphus grylle, Little auk Alle alle, Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla) were shot with a shotgun and steel ammunition from a Zodiac boat. The birds’ livers (for POPs and enzymes analyses), stomachs (diet analyses), breast muscle (stable isotopes analyses) and heart were dissected and frozen separately. Within 15 minutes after the seabirds were shot, the liver part for analyses of CYP P450 enzyme activities were put in liquid nitrogen. Each bird were aged, sexed, weighed and measured (lengths of the wing, beak and beak-head) before they were frozen.

Polar cod (Boreogadus saida) were collected by divers using hand held nets and suction pumps. We measured the total length of each fish, preserved the stomach on 70 % ethanol and dissected the otoliths to store them in paper bags. The rest of the fish was frozen whole at -20 ° C for analysis of POPs, stable isotopes, dry weight, wet weight and total lipids. Some polar cod were stored on chloroform and methanol for lipid class and fatty acid analysis.

Calanoid copepods Calanus glacialis and Calanus hyperboreus were collected with a WP-3 net (1000 m m mesh), the MEGA net (1550 m m mesh) or the Tucker trawl (1000 m m mesh). The samples were stored in polypropylene buckets until processed. C. glacialis C VI females and C. hyperboreus C IV, C V, C VI females were identified and sorted under stereoscopic microscopes.

Megazooplankton like euphausiids (Thysanoessa inermis, T. longicaudata, T. raschii), amphipods (Parathemisto libellula, Hyperia galba), gastropods (Clione limacina) and chaetognaths (Sagitta elegans, Eukrohnia hamata) were collected with a WP-3 net (1000 m m mesh), the MEGA net (1550 m m mesh) or the Tucker trawl (1000 m m mesh). The samples were stored in polypropylene buckets until processed. The different species of euphausiids, amphipods and chaetognaths were identified and sorted under stereoscopic microscopes and divided into size groups.

A few specimens of ice amphipods (Onisimus glacialis, Apherusa glacialis and Gammarus wilkitzkii) were collected by divers using a suction pump or hand held nets. Due to the ice conditions in May with only first-year ice, we did not obtain ice amphipods for analysis of POPs.

All samples for POPs analysis are stored frozen at -20 ° C in containers of polypropylene. The analysis of POPs (organochlorines; HCHs, HCB, chlordanes, DDTs, non-planar PCBs, Mirex) will be carried out at the Environmental Toxicology Laboratory, The Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine, Oslo, Norway, during the autumn 1999.

The seabird’s livers will be analysed for the activity of testosterone hydroxylation and ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylation (EROD) during the autumn 1999.

Samples of calanoid copepods, euphausiids, amphipods, chaetognaths and gastropods for analysis of stable isotopes were collected parallel to the ecotoxicology samples by the zooplankton group. The samples for stable isotopes were stored in zip-lock plastic bags. The analysis of stable isotopes will be carried out at The Institute for Energy Technology, Kjeller, Norway.

Samples of calanoid copepods, euphausiids, amphipods, chaetognaths and gastropods for lipid analysis were collected parallel to the ecotoxicology samples by the zooplankton group. The analysis of polar and neutral lipids classes will be carried out at NERC Unit of Aquatic Biochemistry, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland.

We collected samples for analysis of POPs mainly at the ice stations in the central Barents Sea (Transect A), and north of Hopen in the western Barents Sea (Transect B). Due to a tight cruise schedule and few animals, we only collected zooplankton at two of the pelagic stations along transect P (station 003 and 015) in 10 % ice cover towards ice transect A. At station 008 along transect P, during an inspection of the trawler "NES", the captain kindly allowed us to take samples from the bottom trawl. We collected shrimps Pandalus borealis and polar cod for analysis of POPs and stable isotopes. In addition, we collected samples of Leptagonus decagonus, Leptoclinus maculatus, Lycodes ap. Lumpatus lampraetaeformis, Artedicellus europeus, Sabinea sp., Triclops nybelini, Liparus liparus, Careproctus reinhardti, Hippoglossoides platessoides, Gadhus morhua, which were pooled and stored frozen at -20°C in aluminium foil.

Table. 1. Summary of the organisms which were sampled at the different stations

The progress of the project is running according to the our planned schedule. Our next activities are to plan the upcoming cruise with R/V Jan Mayen 23. September to 12. October which will take place in the marginal ice zone north of Spitsbergen and west towards the Fram Strait.