“Here is nature. Nothing more. A connection with the world that you cannot experience in the city. And that feeling of discovery… Everything you do here is new,” shares Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas. Although expeditions to the Arctic have become almost routine for the scientist, the discoveries made here never cease to amaze.
“The Arctic affects people differently: some, having been there once, never want to return, while others are drawn to it every year,” admits Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas.
Transferred experience to a new lagoon
Until now, KU scientists have mostly worked in the Eidembukta lagoon, which formed over the past decades as the glacier retreated. Four detailed expeditions were conducted in the area discovered in 2019: studying the lagoon’s development, seabed relief, water properties, flora and fauna, and later – pollutants arriving from the atmosphere and melting glaciers. The accumulated experience allowed raising another question: how to apply the methods used in one well-studied lagoon to a broader network of Arctic coastal lagoons.
According to Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas, there are more than 400 such lagoons in the Arctic, and about a hundred of them have appeared in recent decades as glaciers have retreated. However, these coastal water bodies remain poorly understood: most studies cover the open sea, fjords, or land, while the coastal zone between them remains a kind of “white spot.”
“This year’s expedition was an attempt to transfer our experience to a new location. If we expand the research, we will no longer be able to spend as much time in each lagoon as we did in Eidembukta. Quick methods are needed: you arrive, take samples – and can move on to the next place,” explains the scientist.
Vallunden was chosen specifically as a new and different testing environment. It is connected to the sea by a narrow channel, and initial measurements showed different salinity and water turnover compared to Eidembukta. Therefore, it was possible to check whether the previously applied methods work not only in one well-known lagoon.
Environmental DNA – from microbes to whales
One of the most important tests was taking environmental DNA (eDNA) samples. All organisms leave traces of genetic material in the environment, so water samples can help determine what lives in a specific place – from microbes to large marine mammals. KU alumna Dr. Anastasija Zaiko, who founded the molecular research company “Sequench” in New Zealand, tested this method during the expedition. Its Lithuanian branch collaborates with KU in Arctic ecosystem research.
Sampling went smoothly, but scientists are not yet drawing final conclusions. The collected material will now be analyzed in the laboratory, and the data obtained will show how accurate and reliable the quick method is.
“An expedition is a very concentrated action, and then months of much less romantic laboratory work follow. Only then do the results begin to emerge,” notes Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas.
Seabed scanned by marine drone
Another innovation of the expedition was an autonomous marine drone, a small robotic boat that sailed the lagoon along a set route and automatically scanned the seabed. The drone’s capabilities were tested with the help of a specialist from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
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“Working in an unfamiliar lagoon, you don’t know the seabed relief or where you might run aground. You launch such a device – it buzzes around the lagoon and records everything. It’s a very useful tool that we would like to include in KU research in the future,” says the expedition leader.
This technology would allow faster mapping of the seabed relief, safer planning of sampling sites, and collecting more comparable data in a short time. Whether it becomes a permanent part of KU’s polar research will also depend on future project funding.
Twelve hours of work between two tides
The expedition included Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas, KU Marine Research Institute biologist Dr. Dzmitry Lukashanets, and Dr. A. Zaiko. The entire trip lasted just over a week, but the team spent two nights and one full working day at the Vallunden research site. Researchers could enter the lagoon at high tide and left it after about twelve hours, waiting for the next tide.
Although this time the researchers stayed in a small cabin, the preparation was no less serious: they had to complete additional safety courses, learn how to behave when encountering a polar bear, use a weapon, and rescue themselves if they fell into icy water. During fieldwork, one team member monitored the surroundings while others took samples and worked with equipment.
“There is fear – without it, a person would be crazy. A polar bear can disappear behind a hill in an instant and appear in a completely different place a few minutes later, so safety rules there are not a formality,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas.
Goal – KU polar research tradition
This year’s expedition is preparation for broader research, not its end. KU scientists have submitted an application for a new Lithuanian Research Council project and expect a response in November, and are also looking for opportunities to join larger international projects. If funding is granted, the tested methods could be applied in other lagoons of Svalbard and the wider Arctic region.
The direction of polar research is already reaching students. Last academic year, the Polar Biology course offered for the first time at the KU Marine Research Institute attracted great interest. According to the professor, this is important to raise a new generation of researchers and establish Klaipėda University’s competence internationally.
“We have found our niche and want to hold on to it. We want polar research to become a tradition of the institute, and for KU to grow a generation capable of working not only in the Curonian Lagoon but worldwide,” says Prof. Dr. S. Oleninas.
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