Aerial view of icebreaking ship Arctic Sunrise seen from above, among broken floes of Arctic Ocean sea ice

The Arctic ship is covered in delicate frost or rime crystals which resemble frozen stalactites

A polar bear dozes on a snow bank on the edge of a large floe of sea ice -Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard

Sea ice floes breaking up -photographed from a helicopter over the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard

Viewing a thin section cut from sea ice in polarised light revealing hidden structures inside the ice -like brine channels

A pod of Narwhals swim for cover towards the edge of some sea ice in the Arctic Ocean

A polar bear swims inside a break in thin sea ice

Finger rafting is the name given to a process where ice floes get pushed together overlapping into a tooth-like formation

A lone ivory gull spreads its wings soaring above sea ice on the Arctic Ocean against a deep blue water sky

Three sleds or ‘pulk’ stored on sea ice outside of the ship await use by scientists the next working day

A carpet of frost flowers which form on calm cold days cover the surface of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean

Aerial view of sea ice from a helicopter -the track of a ship makes an ’S’ shape in the debris of an ice field

Aerial view of Bowhead whales or Greenland right whales -swimming through icey waters in the Arctic Ocean

Frozen pools of meltwater make patterns on an ice floe in the arctic ocean

A flock of Ivory Gulls rest on a floe of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard

Sea ice researchers known as physical oceanographers at work on an ice floe -look tiny in an aerial view

A researcher measures the width of a snow covered pressure ridge which has formed among sea ice floes

A Walrus on sea ice with an ivory gull directly behind, both animals are sea ice dependent

Pieces of pancake ice forming on the surface of the Arctic Ocean -circular in appearance and freezing together