We were lucky to get dropped off by the Hanna Resvoll (one of the boats of UNIS) in the middle of a fuel crisis in Longyearbyen, so that we could sample mosses for a laboratory experiment. In the experiment, UNIS PhD candidates Merle Scheiner and Elise Blum Samuelsen will study the insulating properties of mosses and organic soil layers, to investigate how they could help keep permafrost cool in a warming climate.

In the valley Colesdalen we find an old mining settlement, and some plants that are otherwise rare on Svalbard, which grow on the warm, south-facing slopes of the valley. We only had enough time to scout for one of them. On the way back we spotted dolphins (white-beaked dolphins, we thought).