We have sailed north from Skjervøy to the Hopen Trough where we have conducted four benthic stations in a transect heading northwest from the Trough up onto Spitzbergen Bank. At each of these stations a series of 6 grabs were taken to obtain quantitative samples of the benthic communities as part of a longer term study being conducted by Akvaplan-niva. As we moved up onto the Bank we were met with increasing sea-ice concentrations, and over the 80 m depth contour the ice became too dense to continue farther, thus preventing us from reaching the 5th benthic station on top of Spitzbergen Bank.
