Underwater Soundscape Station

The two acoustic moorings (Position and depth: 79°03.219’ N - 11°32.830’E - 72 m 78° 54.743’ N - 12° 24.308’ E - 79 m), operational since May 2014, is located in the Kongsfjorden. The first mooring was located in the inner part of Kongsfjorden at a distance of approximately 4 km from the Kronebreen glacier front, one of the largest fast-flowing and actively calving marine-terminating glacier streams of the Svalbard Islands; the second mooring was located at the mouth of the fjord, 27 km away from the Kronebreen glacier.
The fjord oceanography is regulated by the mixing of melting ice, cold Arctic waters, and warmer Atlantic water masses. Actively calving marine-terminating glaciers supply icebergs and freshwater input, which, together with other physical factors, determine the local species composition. Glacier fronts are upwelling areas for zooplankton and attract many top predators. However, climate-induced changes in oceanographic conditions are significantly altering Kongsfjorden habitats. Tidewater glaciers in Kongsfjorden are retreating, and recently, during the wintertime, sea ice formed only in the inmost parts of the fjord.