Herring spawning survey

The first survey (tokt in Norwegian) of the year for me was 12 days aboard M/V "Vendla" for the hunt for Norwegian spring-spawning herring. We began the tokt from Ålesund and finished in Tromsø.

The first night was a rough one. I did not get seasick, but the wind gusts were over 30 meters per second and I felt like a ragdoll in my bed. After a couple of days we finally found some herring and began sampling. We worked 12 hour shifts and I was happy that I was able to find time to run on the treadmill nearly everyday and still get a full-night's rest. The food on board was amazing, and we all looked forward to what Tor had made for us for dinner.

On the eve of my 29th birthday, I received a message from one of my colleagues on another boat of the northern lights, so I threw on my jacket and boots and ran out to the bow of the boat. It was pretty amazing! We were pulling in a catch, the seagulls were going crazy, the sky was clear but full of stars and then I saw the dancing lights. I had seen northern lights before, but this was the first time I saw them truly dancing - pink, green and yellow. I stayed on deck for about two minutes before getting too cold and turned in for bed knowing that there would be a basket of herring waiting for me after breakfast.

I woke up the next morning in a great mood knowing that Tor had prepared pancakes for my birthday breakfast. In the afternoon I was also given a gorgeous cake and we enjoyed tacos for dinner. I was just looking forward to getting to Tromsø though to celebrate. We got in on the 25th, went out for dinner and enjoyed some drinks with the crew of the three boats that were out and I had a lot of fun. It was a successful first tokt of the year.

The first beautiful, sunny morning on day 4 or 5...I can't remember.

Pulling in a trawl of herring at 7AM


Not good quality, but the best I could manage on my phone of the northern lights.

Survey is finished and we are ready to get on land.
Valentine and I having fun in the lab one morning

Always beautiful as we get closer to Tromsø

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