The Japanese oceanographic research ship Mirai arrived at Dutch Harbor in Alaska on Monday local time, completing its Arctic Ocean observation mission for this year.
The vessel left the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, in late August for the mission.
During the voyage, researchers on the Mirai conducted observations at more than 40 locations. The northernmost point the ship reached during the journey was a location with the coordinates 76.9 degrees north and 167.45 degrees west.
The Mirai, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has been used for Arctic Ocean observations almost every year for study on environmental changes in the area, which is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth.
During the latest journey, researchers took seawater samples for data including those on nutrient salts and alkalinity levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. They also collected sea ice, mud and plankton, and conducted tests of undersea drones.
“I’ve studied the Arctic from data and in terms of knowledge, and it was a good experience for me to actually feel the Arctic with my own five senses,” said Ikkan Kamiyama, a 23-year-old graduate student at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, who joined the mission for the first time.
The Arctic Ocean was “covered with fog all the time, and the sea was quiet,” Kamiyama said. “I’ve seen no animals, and I got an eerie feeling that something was going on.”
Japan’s first Arctic research icebreaker, the Mirai II, is expected to be completed in fiscal 2026. The current Mirai will conduct its final mission in 2025.