We had a chance to try out Arctic water survival suits. We will be travelling from Longyearbyen to Kapp Linne (our field area) by boat through isfjorden, an inlet water way --technically it is called a fjord because the inlet was cut by a glacier and has very steep sides. The trip will take 2-3 hrs by boat so we need to be prepared for any emergency. Svalbard sits to the east of the Greenland Sea, to the west of the Barents Sea, to the north of the Norwegian sea and to the south of the Arctic Ocean. Which ever way you look, the water is very cold and if you fall in the water without a survival suit...well you have seen the movie Titanic!
An Arctic dip wearing survival suits.
We received our training by donning our survival suits, getting on a boat, motoring out into the water and jumping in. Once we were in the water, we had to hook ourselves together and try swimming. The best way to swim is on your back, the suits are not that easy to move around in. We drifted away from the boat and needed to swim back as a group to climb back into the boat. We all had a great time in spite of the fact that some of the suits had small holes and the arctic cold water seeped into the suits.
Cheryl, Berit, Diana and Wes trying on our arctic water survival suits!
Andrew, Jeremy, Simon, Greg and Terra trying on our Arctic water survival suit!
Terra and Cara cinching the wrist bands on the survival suit to keep the water out.
Terra adn Cara zipping up the Arctic water survival suit.
Squatting removes the excess air in your survival suit.
Cara, Berit and Diana all bundled up in the Arctic water survival suit.
Andrew, Jeremy, Simon and Greg looking for the hooks on the Arctic water survival suits.
Andrew and Jeremy practice hooking to the instructor.
Cheryl getting helpful tips from the instructor.
At the dock on the boat before the dip in the arctic ocean.
Andrew, Terra, Greg, Simon and Sara vefore the plunge into the cold arctic waters.
Cheryl still dry before the plunge.
Hooked together in two groups floating in the arctic waters.
Cheryl perfoming the Dead Women Float
Trying to get back on the boat after an arctic swim.
Now it is a little colder after our arctic swim.
Another training we received today was rifle practice. There are roughly 3000 polar bars on the Svalbard Island and since animals are unpredictable, they can turn up anywhere on the island. Of course, they are more likely to be found near the ocean where their food is but they can wander inland. Polar bears are a protected species so you are only allowed to kill a polar bear if your life is in danger. If you do shoot a polar bear, there will be an investigation to determine if it was necessary. The rule in Svalbard is that if you leave the perimeter of the town Longyearbyen, someone in your party must carry a rifle.
Jordan and Wes practice rifle shooting.
Jordon and Wes reloading the rifles.
Sara, Jeremy and Greg with shooting practice.
Greg practices in perfect form.
Cheryl and Steve practice lying down shooting position.
Jeremy and Greg shooting practice.
Jordan and Wes put theirrifles on their shoulder after they finish shooting a round of amunition.
You practice shooting the target in the kneeling position and in the lying position. Both are more accurate than standing. And you don't want to miss the bear if it is charging you. We practiced several rounds and shot at targets. We first practiced loading the magazine with blanks and learned general gun handling safety. Then we tried hitting the targets. There was even a prize for the person with the best aim: a large candy bar. Greg DeWett won with every one of his shots hitting the center of the target.
Sharp shooter Greg wins the candy bar.
We also learned how to shoot a signal gun and learned that it would be best to first try and scare the bear away with a flare gun than to shoot it with a rifle. We will be carrying 4 rifles into the field area with us so we will work in 4 groups and somone in each group will always have a rifle.
We also have 4 new members of our research team (our group now consists of 14 scientists). Three students have joined us and one research assistant. Sara Cohen and Wes Farnsworth are american students who have been in Svalbard since January studying at UNIS on exchange from their own Universitites. Berit Osteby is from Norway and will be studying at UNIS after the field season. Our field assistant, Jordan Mertes, is also an American graduate student and has been doing research in Svalbard for a while.