I was waiting in the hanger for others to come. What happened? Was the time changed? The Coast Guard is always early. Their motto is if you are not there a half hour early then you are late. Something is wrong. Where is the meeting? I am paged. (We have to wear pagers so people can find you on this big ship.) The flight briefing is in the bridge and it has started!?! That is how I almost missed the best ride of my life.
At 19:15 military time, Jim Lovvorn, the Spectacled Eider researcher, Clayton Sandell from the media, Pilot Bill Springer, and I dressed in our MST 900 drysuits, the ones that require the buddy system to enter, and large white helmets with a microphone attached. We climbed aboard the helicopter to take the first best ride of my life.
Up in the air, a seascape, so white and vast, low in profile where the slightest changes command our attention, surrounds us. It is a world that is beautiful and full, with patterns and swirls, ice and water, and walruses and eiders. It is a world of abundant sea life. It is a world worth studying to see how we are changing this seascape. It is why we are here; it has a story to tell.
Enjoy the ride.
Click the video below if you want to experience take off and landing by helicopter.
http://
Click the video below to watch Spectacled Eiders, walrus, and ice art by air.
http://
Watching ice break from the air,
Deanna Wheeler 2009 PolarTREC Teacher