Interview: Dr Damon Stanwell-Smith on Viking's Genomics at Sea programme

Every Viking expedition is an opportunity for scientific research and discovery. Can you tell us more about your latest finding?
With scientific support from University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the J Craig Venter Institute, earlier this year the laboratory on board Viking Octantis was converted into an advanced scientific environment while the ship was in Antarctica.

This means visiting scientists contributing to the Genomics at Sea Programme (GASP) can now sequence phytoplankton DNA and research their genetic response to environmental change in real time – without months of delay transporting samples to a distant shoreside laboratory.

Viking will regularly host Scripps’ scientists on board this season in the Great Lakes of the US and Canada. Their findings will contribute to GASP and provide critical research for future expedition voyages.

Has a travel company done anything like this before?
No, it’s a milestone in marine research and exploration. Viking is the first travel company – and Viking Octantis is one of the first research vessels – to support real-time environmental genetic sequencing on board a ship.

Will this take place on both of Viking’s expedition ships?
Yes – the lab on board our identical sister ship, Viking Polaris, will be transitioned to support research efforts this summer, before both ships return to Antarctica later in 2024.

Why is this scientific advancement so valuable?
Oceanic phytoplankton absorbs 40 per cent of the world’s carbon and provides 50 per cent of the world’s atmospheric oxygen. Along with forests, they are the ‘planet’s lungs.’ Every second breath we take comes from phytoplankton – which is reflected in the programme’s name, GASP.

We are proud to offer scientific partners the ability to better understand these organisms that play a critical role in our planet’s carbon cycle in the remote regions we take our guests to.