A dark sky highlights the 'mesocosms' (experiment water enclosures) on the heli-deck of the MY Esperanza in the waters of Kongsfjord. The huge pieces of science apparatus were pulled from the arctic fjord one at a time and strapped to the deck of the Greenpeace ship, which will take all the equipment used in the five week long ocean acidification experiment back to Kiel.
Greenpeace has worked with a team of scientists from the German marine research institute IFM-GEOMAR to investigate ocean acidification, by deploying nine large mesocosms. Ocean acidification is a phenomenon caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that has just as much potential to damage marine ecosystems as climate change. Absorption of excess CO2 pollution by seawater causes its PH level to drop, making it more difficult for calcifying creatures integral to the marine food web to form shells and skeletons.more difficult for calcifying creatures integral to the marine food web to form shells and skeletons.