Gene copies of the sympagic dinoflagellate Polarella glacialis were determined by droplet digital PCR on samples from marine sediment core KH21-234-34GC collected from the Yermak Plateu (81.2199280 ˚N, 2.3710955˚E ) with a gravity corer at 1011m water depth during cruise KH21-234. DNA from gravity core sediments was extracted in the NORCE ancient DNA laboratory using the DNeasy PowerMax Soil Kit (Qiagen). Primers targeting the ITS1 region of P. glacialis were used in ddPCR reactions to determine gene copies per g of sediment.