At the ice edge, we met Tara Polar Station, a drifting station for the polar regions, which is starting its first test drift through the Arctic sea ice now. It cannot break ice, so it waited for us at the ice edge, where it was anchored to Polarstern for a short meeting of the captains and so that the Taranauts (as we call them) could come over to Polarstern and get a break from the swaying and wobbling of the Tara Station which is a lot stronger than Polarstern’s roll and pitch.
Later, they just followed in our ice-free path for one and a half days until they were far enough from the ice edge that they can drift through the ice for some time. Yesterday we said goodbye to Tara Polar Station and hope they have a good time drifting on!