ARKHANGELSK, July 23. /TASS/. The Arctic Floating University expedition returned to Murmansk after exploring the northeast of the Barents Sea, the north of Novaya Zemlya, and the Franz Josef Land's islands. Researchers managed for the first time to carry out work on the Prince George Land, the expedition's leader Alexander Saburov told TASS from aboard the Professor Molchanov scientific research vessel.

"We have managed to complete all the planned work, although we repeatedly had to adjust and change plans and even had to interrupt missions ashore due to weather conditions. Overall, the expedition is very successful. During the voyage, we made record-breaking four missions ashore the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. The Arctic Floating University was lucky to explore a new location - we have gone ashore the Prince George Land (an island of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago) for the first time. As for the Hooker and the Heiss Islands, our expeditions had not been there since 2021. In fact, researchers have visited these areas very rarely lately, so the collected data will help us in understanding conditions of the Arctic ecosystems," he said.

Over the voyage, the Professor Molchanov vessel passed about 3,000 nautical miles. In the Barents Sea, scientists carried out work at 48 stations during four oceanographic sections. A section is a line of points with fixed coordinates where specialists make measurements and collect water samples. Researchers were identifying how the warm and salty Atlantic water mass penetrates into the Barents Sea's northeastern and central parts. Based on hydro-chemical tests' results, the scientists identified all the three expected water masses that are characteristic of the area.

Experts collected samples to assess the marine carbonate system and the carbon dioxide flow at the boundary of water and atmosphere. The World Ocean plays a key role in climate regulating - it absorbs a significant amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is important to understand how climate change affects this process.

Who lives on the seabed

It was for the first time that the Arctic Floating University expedition's scientists monitored conditions of the Barents Sea's bottom communities. They managed to collect samples at several points where other expeditions had conducted research. For example, the dredging station made in Tikhaya Bay on the Hooker Island repeats what the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute selected in August 2006. Thus, scientists will compare the fauna over a 20-year period of time. In Sommerville Bay of the Prince Georg Land, samples of the seabed inhabitants were collected for the first time, and till now there is no data on the local marine population in the literature.

As for big macrozoobenthos representatives in the samples, there are Chionoecetes opilio crab, northern shrimp, sea lilies, Ophiurida stars, sea urchins, soft corals, numerous polychaete worms and bivalves.

Inhabitants of land, air and sea

Microbiologists collected samples to clarify the role of mass bird species as infectious diseases transmission vectors. They explored nesting grounds at Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, where they observed 22 bird species. The scientists for the first time found a colony of kittiwakes in Sommerland Bay on the Prince Georg Land.

"The expedition's success is that we have confirmed reproduction for 15 species," the expedition's leader added.

During the voyage, specialists could see more than 90 times 13 species of marine mammals, where seven are listed in Russia's Red Data Book. "It was surprising to see single bowhead whales and a male narwhal in the ice-free Barents Sea waters between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land," he said. The expedition also met four polar bears, noting the animals were quite well-fed.

It was once again for the first time that the expedition conducted a special entomological examination on all Franz Josef Land's islands they visited. According to Andrey Przyboro, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Zoology Institute, the insect fauna of Franz Josef Land is extremely depleted compared to the Spitsbergen Archipelago and is noticeably depleted compared to Novaya Zemlya's Severny Island. This is due to both the harsher climatic conditions and to the archipelago's bigger isolation.

About the expedition

The 20th voyage of the Arctic Floating University scientific and educational expedition continued from July 1 to July 22, 2026 on board the Professor Molchanov scientific research vessel. The expedition organizers are: the Lomonosov Northern Arctic Federal University and the Northern Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Sevhydromet). The project's official sponsors and partners are: the Russian Federation's Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Russian Geographical Society, general sponsor - VTB, the Norilsk Nickel Company, and the Floating University Coordination Center based at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).