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Ice harvest

On an expanse of ice-covered ocean, Gigi Engel, a graduate student at the University of Washington, slips an ice core out the core. She took the core to find and collect algae growing on the bottom surface of the ice, to feed to shrimplike krill—a key part of polar ocean ecosystems. Engel was part of a spring 2009 research cruise, led by WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian, to study the Bering Sea ecosystem at a time of changing climate. The cruise was featured as a “Live From the Poles” expedition on the WHOI Polar Discovery site.
(Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)