One of the nine mesocosms (experiment water enclosures) settles in the water, after being lowered into the fjord from the deck of the Esperanza. The mesocosm has been attached to pre-placed mooring buoys, it will be secured and made ready for the experiment. Snow covered mountains surround the fjord where the experiment will take place. The Greenpeace ship Esperanza and its crew are working with scientists from the German marine research institute IFM-GEOMAR to investigate ocean acidification, by deploying the nine large mesocosms in Kongsfjord, near the Arctic scientific research station of Ny-Ålesund. The mesocosms are being used to investigate future implications of ocean acidification, a phenomenon caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that has just as much potential to damage marine ecosystems as climate change. Absorption of excess CO2 pollution by seawater causes its PH level to drop, making it more difficult for creatures integral to the food web to form shells and skeletons.