Biology of the Mertz Glacier Polynya - Protist Data

There are very few observations of this ecosystem in winter and there is a fundamental lack of knowledge of understanding of even basic questions such as 'what is there?' and 'what's it doing?'. The proposed visit to the sea ice zone in winter is a rare opportunity to conduct observations on phytoplankton, krill, birds, seals and whales, so that we can begin to understand the biological processes that go on in winter.

Data for this project were intended to be collected on a 1998 winter voyage of the Aurora Australis, but a fire on board meant that the voyage had to return to port before work could be carried out. Data were then collected the following year during a 1999 winter voyage of the Aurora Australis (IDIOTS), which ran from July to September. Data attached to this metadata record, include protist, bacteria and virus data collected from the Mertz Glacier region.