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Michael O. Snyder

Emlyn Davies watches the data come in on an array of laptops aboard the Helmer Hanssen. The laptops are connected to a variety of sensors measuring light and phytoplankton in the water around the ship. Emlyn has to work with only the light of his headlamp as even the faintest light could interfere with the experiments.

A research vessel pilots a team of Arctic research scientists through ice north of Svalbard, Norway. Working in the middle of polar night, little light is visible. The team wears survival suits in case the boat capsizes, and they carry rifles in the event they stumble upon a polar bear.

Morgan Bender uses a syringe to sample blood from two polar cod. She has to work with only a faint red light so as not to disturb the ongoing light pollution experiments.

Describing zooplankton, seen here, scientist Gier Johnsen says, "They provide the food for all of the other organisms like fish, seabirds, seals, whales, polar bears. About 50 percent of the oxygen that we breathe is from these microscopic algae in the world’s oceans. So, that is why we are here. We really want to look at those small, really important organisms, because they are the key groups in the ecosystems. Without those key groups there would be no life. Simple as that."