Viking has announced that it now has the capability of conducting real-time environmental DNA (eDNA) sequencing of phytoplankton on board the company’s expedition fleet.

In partnership with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), the PCR lab on the Viking Octantis® contains a state-of-the-art scientific environment in which the Genomics at Sea Program (GASP) operates.

This means that scientists can monitor the environmental impact on phytoplankton by examining samples on board its vessels.

Viking is committed to offering opportunities for meaningful scientific research and discovery on board its expedition voyages. The company’s participation in GASP is adjacent to Viking’s collaboration with Fjord Phyto, a NASA-funded program by Scripps.

This program enables guests to contribute to research and public education via sampling of polar phytoplankton for genetic population analyses.

Karine Hagen is the Executive Vice President of Viking

Karine Hagen is the Executive Vice President of Viking and she stated: “Ever since we created Viking Expeditions, it has always been our intention to help facilitate meaningful scientific work. As we continue our third year of operating expeditions, we are pleased that we have been able to achieve our goal alongside esteemed scientific partners.”

She added “By repurposing a technology that kept our guests safe in the height of the pandemic to gain valuable insights into our environment, we are providing a critical research opportunity for all of our future expedition voyages.”

Viking Will Conduct Real-time Environmental DNA Sequencing of Phytoplankton Aboard Ships

The conversion of the PCR lab on the Viking Octantis took place earlier this year when the ship was in Antarctica. This season Viking will host Scripps scientists in the Great Lakes, and the PCR lab on its identical sister ship, the Viking Polaris®, will also be transitioned to support research efforts before both ships return to Antarctica later this year.

Viking Expedition Team & Scientific Partners

To date Viking has the world’s leading scientific enrichment environment in an expedition setting. They have accomplished this feat via partnerships with esteemed academic institutions.

During each sailing, visiting researchers from partner institutions are part of the multidisciplinary 36-person expedition team. This team explains meaningful scientific research to guests by way of world-class lectures and interpretation.

Viking offers destination-focused expeditions in Antarctica, the Arctic, and North America’s Great Lakes, aboard 378-guest vessels specifically built for expeditions, with more indoor and outdoor viewing areas than other expedition vessels.

Viking Partners With Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Viking’s scientific partners include Scripps Institution of Oceanography and JCVI whose mission is advancing the science of genomics to better understand the biological world.

Andrew Allen is a professor of marine biology at Scripps and JCVI and he stated “We are excited about the significant scientific potential represented by this collaboration. Our ability to understand how ocean plankton communities respond to shifting conditions, resulting from both natural variation and human influenced perturbation, is limited by sampling and observation. Through this work we will obtain a new and more comprehensive view of the genetic diversity of plankton, which will advance our ability to assess the biological response of the ocean to climate change and other stressors.”

Viking is also partnered with The University of Cambridge’s Scott anta Research Institute (SPRI) whose scientists perform fieldwork on Viking’s expedition ships and share their expertise with guests. Specialists from the Institute contributed to the development of The Science Lab, a 380-square-foot lab with wet and dry laboratory facilities, which supports a broad range of research on Viking’s expedition vessels.

In 2022, Viking announced the Viking Polar Marine Geoscience Fund which endows the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) with its first-ever fully funded professorship—the Viking Chair of Polar Marine Geoscience. Researchers in this post research the behavior of polar environments, including polar ice sheets, sea ice and ocean circulation.

Additionally, scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology conduct post-doctoral research on new observation methods and provide guests with advice and interaction.

In partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), research into the ecosystems of the Great Lakes and coastal regions is performed. Viking’s expedition ships have been designated official NOAA/US National Weather Service weather balloon stations, from which regular launches are undertaken.

Viking is also partnered with Oceanites, an American Not-for-Profit field research entity that conducts Antarctic penguin monitoring. Additionally, Viking coordinates with the IUCN Species Survival Commission Species Monitoring Specialist Group to develop marine biodiversity monitoring systems.

Viking’s World-Class Expeditions

Viking is devoted to providing enriching experiences for The Thinking Person and in 2023 the company was rated #1 for Expeditions, as well as #1 for Rivers and #1 for Oceans by Condé Nast Traveler in the most recent Readers’ Choice Awards.

From its inception, Viking has been committed to making decisions it believes to be scientifically correct versus politically correct. As such Viking’s fleet boasts environmentally friendly features such as diesel-electric river ships and energy-efficient ocean vessels equipped with closed-loop exhaust scrubbers.

Viking’s expedition ships have set a new standard for responsible travel by exceeding the current International Maritime Organization (IMO) Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) requirements by nearly 38%.

Viking is also working to make its next generation of ocean ships even more environmentally friendly, by introducing a partial hybrid propulsion system of liquid hydrogen and fuel cells, which could allow for operation with zero emissions while in port and while traveling at low speeds.

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