Even after more than two decades of monitoring one of the fastest changing regions on the planet, researchers with the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) External Non-U.S. government site program can still encounter a few surprises. Ironically, one of those surprises involved the presence of sea ice across the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, a region experiencing some of the most dramatic climate changes on the planet…”The very late sea ice retreat likely triggered this humongous bloom. Our job now is to figure out how,” noted Oscar Schofield External Non-U.S. government site, chief scientist on the cruise from Rutgers University.