And the seabed samples will tell the story of the fjord’s history before glacier melt, in the same way rings on a trunk chart the life of a tree. The water quality research collected by the Tharp and her crew will offer a critical snapshot of the current conditions stemming from climate change in the Arctic, assisting efforts to predict the future. Water from melting glaciers have filled that fjord with excess sediment, which carries nutrients capable of upending the ecosystem’s balance - the same phenomena playing out in an estuary closer to home: the Chesapeake Bay. But now it is stowed on the bottom of the boat, protected by metal shark fins that will work to divert potentially damaging ice chunks.ĭuring the trip, the Marie Tharp and her passengers (seven to nine people, including a rotating cast of scientists with Arctic research to complete) will visit what Trenholm called the “dirtiest fjord in all of Greenland,” located near the southwestern town of Paamiut. For one thing, the boat’s multi-beam sonar system was attached to a pole in front of the boat, frequently endangered by ice formations and the elements. The coronavirus pandemic found Rutherford living in a boat yard on his new ship, a layer of saw dust coating his bed and his belongings as he completed the repairs.Īfter the Tharp’s first trip to Greenland last year, there were a few kinks to work out, Rutherford said. Outfitting the boat, which had fallen into disrepair, for dangerous voyages north required significant work.
It quickly became clear that the nonprofit was outgrowing its aging sailboat, which - at 42 feet - could only hold about four people at once.Įnter the Marie Tharp, a Bruce Roberts Voyager 650 that hardly had been sailed at all when it was donated to the nonprofit.
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