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Bremerhaven (dpa) - The research ship “Polarstern” is back from its Antarctic expedition: On Thursday it arrived in Bremerhaven's home port, as announced by the Alfred Wegener Institute.
Long-term data for climate predictions were collected during the trip.
Because of the corona pandemic, the expedition went differently than usual: the scientists boarded the Falkland Islands at the beginning of February.
That is where they had flown - according to Lufthansa, it was the longest non-stop passenger flight in the company's history at 13,700 kilometers.
The scientists and the Lufthansa crew were in quarantine for two weeks before the flight took off.
The research team also went back by plane from the Falkland Islands.
During the expedition it had been able to explore the seabed beneath a freshly broken iceberg.
The scientists discovered a surprisingly large diversity of life.
The first photo and film recordings had shown a species-rich ecosystem in a region that had been covered by ice for decades.
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After a stop at the shipyard, the “Polarstern” will start her next expedition on May 24th: Then it's off to the Arctic.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210429-99-406390 / 2
AWI on exploring the giant iceberg
AWI about the expedition in Corona times