Journal Entry

Believe it or not, this is the title of a paper published in 2008 by two UCSD physicists. And whereas we aspire to have notable research results as well (hopefully a little more exciting than tangled string), we spent today continuing to plan, prep and unpack. Even scientists have mundane chores to do. First order of business....untangle this rope!

Jessica and Kean are working on this mess.Jessica and Kean are working on this mess. Courtney joined in. They did finally get it untangled.Courtney joined in. They did finally get it untangled.

Meanwhile, I put my sewing skills to work making this drogue. The drogue will suspend in the water column at different depths and the current will carry it. By marking the visible buoy with GPS we can measure distance and calculate the current velocity of the water at that depth. One of the drogues already has a bag of rocks attached that will weigh it down and keep the line taut. We also have a current meter and will use both.

Drogue making is my new skillDrogue making is my new skill

And then we all went for a polar bear ride.

The Arctic is a really cool place. We got to ride polar bears! Created by Courtney Payne.The Arctic is a really cool place. We got to ride polar bears! Created by Courtney Payne.

Take a Closer Look

Svalbard is the land of the midnight sun. The sun rose April 20 and will set August 23, meaning that I will not see night (at all) the whole time I am here. It seems many are concerned about me getting enough shut-eye, which is a real problem. Shelby H. from Los Coches Creek Middle School asks, "What time do you go to bed and wake up?" Emma, from Girl Scouts wants to know, "How bright is it at night and how can you fall asleep?" And Ryan S. from Brooklyn Prospect Charter School is wondering "How does the 24 hours of sunlight effect humans and animals?"

What time do you go to bed and wake up?What time do you go to bed and wake up? How bright is it at night and how can you fall asleep?How bright is it at night and how can you fall asleep? How do the 24 hours of sunlight effect humans and animals?How do the 24 hours of sunlight efect humans and animals?

I've been going to bed between 10 PM to midnight, which is very late compared to when I am at home. The problem is, it is light out and it doesn't feel late so I just keep working. But, I wake up at really early times like 1 AM or 4 AM and before I look at the clock, I think it is morning and time to get up! Of course that is just my mind playing tricks on me. I sense that it is light out and so I think the whole night has gone by. It is actually quite annoying and is making me very exhausted. Here is a picture that I just took out the window of my room and it is 9:30 PM. And it won't get any darker than this all night long.

This is a beautiful view to have out a room window, even it is 9:30 at night!This is a beautiful view to have out a room window, even it is 9:30 at night!

I go to sleep by pulling the curtains and putting my head under the blanket. That makes it a little darker, but not really dark. In fact by 4 AM the sun position has changed and it is blazing away straight into this window. Sigh.....

How does 24 hours of sunlight effect me? It stinks and is really cool at the same time! Maybe I will get used to it. I hope so. The good news is that I am so excited about everything that unless I sit in a chair for awhile, I really don't notice how tired I am. But if I sit awhile I will start to fall asleep! Animals have a better time handling this. They are adapted to it. To read more about the circadian rhythms of arctic ground squirrels, I recommend the PolarTREC journals of my friend Andre Wille, which can be found here: http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/arctic-ground-squirrel-studies-2014

Comments

Tue, 07/29/2014 - 14:30

Bobby

10PM to Midnight?! All that food looks good...yumm

Tue, 07/29/2014 - 20:45

Peggy McNeal

Bobby- Happy to report I slept until 6:30 this morning! The trick was to open the window. It's been too hot in here!

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 05:04

Stephanie

I cant believe you are staying up until midnight.....never thought I would see the day!Can u get blackout curtains? I am impressed you sewed the drogue!

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 09:09

Peggy McNeal

Ya, my night time escapades are pretty impressive. Sewing comes in handy, for sure. Never thought I'd be sewing an ocean measurement device!

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 12:27

Jonathan McNeal

do you ever eat the snow buntings

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 12:40

Michelle Brown

Hi Peggy! I love your journals and the photo of you all riding polar bears is pretty fantastic! Do the drogues slow down the water velocity? We learn in Earth Science that larger rocks require a stronger velocity to move them, so would that affect your data? If so, how do you account for it? I hope you are having a great time out there!

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 16:04

Lucy Ivey

I'm so glad to read that you're sleeping better. I can't help it--all day I've been designing in my mind sleeping masks for you. They are roughly black, leather, batman-like designs that cover your pineal gland and eyes, leaving only your nose and mouth open. Why didn't I think of this before you all left?

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 20:24

Peggy McNeal

The arctic fox preys on snow bunting eggs and chicks. The eggs and young are also eaten by gulls and skuas. That surprised me; I didn't know that seagulls would eat other birds. A skua is another seabird. The Gyr Falcon preys on snow buntings as they migrate. All told, it is a pretty risky and harsh life to be a snow bunting. Survival of the fittest.

Wed, 07/30/2014 - 20:28

Peggy McNeal

Lucy- I think you just came up with a great product and business plan! You can sell them in the store here!

Thu, 07/31/2014 - 05:45

Peggy McNeal

Hi Michelle!I've been thinking about your question and talking with others about it. The question really is "how closely does the velocity of an object in the water match the velocity of the water molecules? Really the object (in this case the drogue) is a proxy for the velocity of the water. How accurate is it?
A drogue is a pretty low tech way to measure water velocity and has been used for hundreds of years. In 2011, another student calculated water velocity in front of the glacier using a drogue so we have baseline measurements. Three years later we have the drogues again but also a current meter. The current meter measures the Doppler shift of sonar pings against tiny sediment particles in the water. So a current meter uses the same principal of measuring something moving through the water to calculating velocity (although the object is much smaller). We will be able to compare the current meter readings to the calculations from the drogue and determine the accuracy of our baseline measurements and account for any descrepencies.
I think the most accurate measurements comes from an instrument that stays in the same location while the water flows past it, turning a fan mechanism. The rotation rate of the fan is converted to water velocity. It is like an anemometer for water.
Incidentally, I discovered the origin of the unit "knots". It dates back to the 17th century when sailors used a devise called "a common log". It was a coil of rope with uniformly spaced knots tied in it, attached to a piece of wood shaped like a slice of pie. The piece of wood was lowered from the back of the ship and allowed to float behind it. The line was allowed to pay out freely from the coil as the piece of wood fell behind the ship for a specific amount of time. When the specified time had passed, the line was pulled in and the number of knots on the rope between the ship and the wood were counted. The speed of the ship was said to be the number of knots counted (Bowditch, 1984).
That was probably a longer answer than you expected, but I had fun thinking about it and learning about knots!

Mon, 09/08/2014 - 16:02

Ryan S.

Wow! It is pretty awesome that the animals' internal clock works not only with 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness, but with 24 whole hours of daylight! Thanks for visiting Brooklyn Prospect and answering my question, Ms. McNeal. Please visit again someday!
Sincerely,

Ryan Shepherd

Wed, 09/10/2014 - 01:45

Peggy McNeal

You are very welcome, Ryan and I would love to return to Brooklyn Prospect. My daughter lives in NYC, so maybe I will! Thanks for following along.