The AO26 Blog: The expedition Arctic Ocean 2026

We just had an amazing blizzard, at least for Arctic standards. The snow was coming down, like one of those powder days back home in the Colorado mountains when you can’t wait to get up to the slopes to ski some light and fluffy turns.

Matthew Shupe: There has been a fascinating transition happening in the past two days. The open, ocean water in between ice floes has started to freeze. This process begins with the formation of grease ice. It is clearly some sort of “solid” interface sitting on top of the water, although it is still quite flexible allowing waves to propagate through.

Bellagente: It’s been a couple of weeks since we reached the North Pole and now we are moving around the other side of the Arctic Ocean. Since we left from Svalbard we have lived in constant daylight, but lately we have been experiencing almost a day-night cycle. In the morning when we wake up, it’s very bright outside.

Matthew Shupe: One of my main scientific interests in the Central Arctic is the interaction between the atmosphere and surface. Surface exchanges of heat, moisture, movement, gases, and particles are very important for the Arctic and the global systems.

Lying in my cabin at night, the mechanics behind it feel far away. Instead, there is just the gentle rocking of the ship and that deep humming sound travelling through the hull. — Hanna Winge

Linnea Huusko: Yesterday we saw a polar bear! It is actually not the first one we have come across, we also saw one a couple of days ago, but that one was so far away that it was hard to see it even with binoculars. But last night I got a call on my ship phone as I had just gone to bed, and Faustine told me that there was a polar bear close to the ship...

Matthew Shupe: I’ve felt increasingly uneasy about the state of the Arctic system as we’ve travelled north, and then south after passing the North Pole. So much open water. Large stretches, and one after another. It made for smooth sailing, but it’s not a good sign for the ice. At the same time, apart from our first day in the ice, we’ve seen almost no open melt ponds (perhaps a better sign for the ice!).

It has been a frustrating experience trying to get things to work — Linnea Huusko

I was asked if I went on vacation prior to this expedition. Several people I have spoken with spent time on holiday before the expedition. I have spent the summer working almost every day, preparing major projects for my PhD before I departed for Oden, knowing that I will not be able to attend to them while I am away.

Today we arrived at the North Pole! When we started getting close to the pole we all gathered on the bridge as the crew guided Oden as close as possible to 90°N. As far as I was able to tell, we reached 89°59.9960’N, which is only a few meters from the true North Pole (measured from the center of the ship). We celebrated reaching the pole with (nonalcoholic) bubbles and a fanfare on cornet and clarinet.

Today we publish a collection of stories written by our researchers on Oden, August 15, 2026. Hanna Winge becomes stranded on an ice floe as the mist rolls in, Irene Bellagente has to repair a broken aerosol research instrument, Linnea Huusko explores the on-board gym and Matthew Shupe shares his thoughts on the mood of the crew.

Conditions can change remarkably quickly in the Arctic. We took off, but as the fog thickened, continuing back to Oden was no longer possible. Instead, we landed on another nearby ice floe to wait.

We are steaming northward at 88 N through a vast ocean of open water embedded within the ice pack. In two directions I cannot see the next ice, while in the other two the ice is very far away...

Surely it must be melting? As we are moving northward in our journey I’m surprised to find almost no active melt ponds on the sea ice. Instead, in the middle of August, the ice floes are the bright white of fresh snow; The surface...

One of the things we in the met team do is launch radiosondes (weather balloons). A radiosonde is a small instrument that is attached to a helium-filled balloon. The balloon is released and allowed to rise through the atmosphere. As it rises...

On Monday evening, we arrived in Longyearbyen and boarded I/B Oden to start our six-week journey into the Arctic. We got to the ship in the evening, around 21:00, tired after travelling all the way to Svalbard...