Speed 8.2 knots (kts) Course 88.1° Location 71.965 N, 155.319 W Depth 222.8 meters
SPECIAL FEATURE DISCUSSION:
(see previous journal for the questions.)
The Sun never sets along the Arctic Circle on the Summer Solstice (June 21 this year.)
On this day in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun reaches its highest angle above the horizon and we have the greatest length of daylight.
The Sun never rises along the Arctic Circle on the Winter Solstice (December 21 this year.) On this day in the Northern Hemisphere the Sun is the lowest in the sky at local noon and we have the shortest amount of daylight.
TODAY'S JOURNAL:
At around 4 am this morning I was awakened by a bumping sensation in my bunk accompanied by low thumping sounds. It almost felt as though someone had banged into the bed or slammed something into the wall outside my cabin. Ordinarily I'd be concerned with this development but I knew that chances were good that we'd get into loose sea ice overnight. Sure enough, when I got out of bed, a quick peek out the porthole showed a collection of drifting ice in the waters north of Barrow, Alaska. Most of the ice looked clean but here and there were dark, dirty-looking chunks. This is beach ice that has picked up sediments on shore before being rafted back out to sea on a spring tide (a tide with an extra large change in sea level.)
The view out my cabin's porthole this morning, showing the sea north of Barrow, Alaska littered with melting sea ice.
The view off the bow of USCG Cutter Healy this morning, showing the icy sea north of Barrow, Alaska. Thin fog banks also prompted the ship's crew to sound the foghorn every two minutes.
NOAA's Observer's Guide to Sea Ice is a handy reference when ice is around- I know I'll be consulting the guide a lot in the days to come, particularly the pages on sea ice forms and sizes. I've posted these two pages for you to check out below. I'd say the size of the melting ice we've been in and out of today ranges from brash to bergy bits (isn't that a great term!) The forms of the ice pieces seemed to range from ice cake down to brash.
Page 16 in the NOAA Observer's Guide to Sea Ice indicates various forms ice can be found in.
Page 17 in the NOAA Observer's Guide to Sea Ice gives examples of differently-sized ice features compared to other common objects of comparison.
I'm sure we will see plenty more ice before the cruise is done but I was pretty excited to see my first sea ice today!
SPECIAL FEATURE:
One of the most common types of seabird that we've seen on this cruise so far are murres. They nest on small rocky islands and feed on small fish. They closely resemble penguins but in addition to being good swimmers they can clearly fly, unlike their penguin counterparts. This flock flew back and forth past the bow a few times giving me my best look at murres so far on this trip. There are two species of murres, Common and Thick-billed. The difference is subtle but based on their name, can you find the two Common Murres amongst the Thick-billed Murres in this picture?
Common & Thick-billed Murres in the Chukchi Sea.
Can you give a reason why murres retain the ability to fly while penguins do not?
That's all for now! Best- Bill