OK, well really it was the Beaufort Sea, but it is contiguous with the Arctic Ocean. We did a lot of data collection of many types. I will share the whole story soon. Right now, I forgot to bring my glasses to the school where I can get internet reception and I am about to fall asleep AND we need to filter all of the water samples that we collected. It could take six hours and it's already almost 8:30. I will get the pictures uploaded. Tomorrow I do not go into the field so I will have time to get that done. Thanks for listening! jill
Photos and more details of the day.
I started my day at the school where I will be teaching Chemistry and Environmental Science to high school students with Pam Sobey.
The K-12 school in Kaktovik. The hangar can be seen in the distance.
School signs are in English and the native language.
Student projects reflect their unique culture.
After noon we were ready to load up and board the boat for a day of sampling. These first few photos were taken as we boarded and motored out to the first site.
Our vessel, the Boston Whaler.
A foggy start to the day.
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Thank goodness, the back of the boat is enclosed!
Discarded carcasses and bones of whales are here in the bonepile. It attracts Polar Bears in whaling season in September.
A bone pile in the sea.
Our first site is coded ________, and there we tested light penetration, collected LOTS of sea water (in large and small volume containers), measured water quality parameters with a Sonde and did a mud grab from the sea floor.
Tara reviews data from previous collections.
All hands on for the first light penetration data. Tara Connelly on the left and the Dunton brothers on the right.
A peristaltic pump is used to pump water for small vials.
The LAST thing one wants to do in the Arctic is shed clothes and put your arms in the water, but that is what is required to fill many larger vessels for sea water collection. Bbrrrrrr!
The team looks on, hoping for a good mud grab.
A good mud grab creates lots of opportunities for sampling
The top layer is drawn up into open ended syringes.
The excess is scraped off to yield the correct amount.
Tara protects herself from with gloves.
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This larger sample is used to investigate .
After the good mud grab is sampled for micro components, it is "washed" to find the macro fauna.
The mud is washed with a hose connected to a bilge pump which pulls up sea water.
A very large isopod from the mud sample.
Fish! and amphipods and a jelly or two.
Two large isopods were in this sample. They will travel back to the bunkhouse in this vial.
Dragging the plankton net allows for some down time. It was a beautiful afternoon. I actually took a 10 minute power nap and then took in the beautiful scenery.
The view while dragging the plankton net. Beautiful! Kaktovik can be seen in the distance.
The sea water goes in here
The plankton are trapped in a micro filter in this canister.
This is the device for measuring the light penetration through the water column.
Dunton makes a field repair on the bilge pump used for mud washing.
A full and successful day of sampling and collecting mean a full night of processing samples and filtering water. These women are tireless!
Carrie Harris of The University of Texas in Austin, Texas processes the days collection.
Carrie always has time for a smile.
Marilyn Cook of Port Aransas, TX. ISD reflects on a week of summer science with Kaktovik children.
Tara filters water from the days collection.
Stephanie Smith of The University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas filters water.