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Operative Habitat Mapping and Monitoring in the Polar Night

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POLAR NIGHT Marine Ecology

Part of the book series: Advances in Polar Ecology ((AVPE,volume 4))

Abstract

The Polar Night has long been regarded as a period of no biological activity. As a logical consequence, environmental management has mainly been neglected in this period. We will use the Northguider accident in December 2018 as a case study for the need to prioritize operative habitat mapping and monitoring to provide a sufficiently knowledge-based environmental operative management. After the ship ran ashore in a remote location in the northern part of Svalbard, the entire crew was safely rescued and airlifted back to Longyearbyen within hours. The ship, however, remained, potentially posing a threat to wildlife – not only wildlife that is expected to return in spring but also for the many organisms that we now know are present and active during the Polar Night. There is, however, still a strong need to provide necessary understanding of the dynamic marine biodiversity at the sea surface, water column, and seafloor during the Polar Night, focusing on the threats for ecosystems and habitats.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Media publication date and sources

    • December 28, 30, and 31, 2018: Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK, Nyheter), Troms

    • January 2, 2019: Spitsbergen-Svalbard.com

    • January 6–10, 2019: Newspaper “Vesterålen”

    • January 13, 2019: NRK Troms

    • January 15, 2019: Teknisk Ukeblad

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations & Systems (AMOS), Trondhjem Biological Station, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Geir Johnsen & Jørgen Berge

  2. The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway

    Geir Johnsen & Jørgen Berge

  3. Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and System (AMOS), Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Aksel A. Mogstad

  4. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty for Bioscience, Fisheries and Economy, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

    Jørgen Berge

  5. School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, USA

    Jonathan H. Cohen

Authors
  1. Geir Johnsen
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  2. Aksel A. Mogstad
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  3. Jørgen Berge
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  4. Jonathan H. Cohen
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Correspondence to Geir Johnsen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty for Bioscience, Fisheries and Economy, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations & Systems (AMOS), Trondhjem Biological Station, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Jørgen Berge

  2. Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations & Systems (AMOS), Trondhjem Biological Station, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, The University Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway

    Geir Johnsen

  3. School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, USA

    Jonathan H. Cohen

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Johnsen, G., Mogstad, A.A., Berge, J., Cohen, J.H. (2020). Operative Habitat Mapping and Monitoring in the Polar Night. In: Berge, J., Johnsen, G., Cohen, J. (eds) POLAR NIGHT Marine Ecology. Advances in Polar Ecology, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33208-2_10

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