Location: Lat: 71 44.589 N Lon: 153 46.375 W
Today was going to be the first day the researchers went out on the ice, however rarely do things go as planned. I am learning about how flexible you need to be when working in the field. Small logistical issues can become larger problems when you are out in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. This morning, the helicopter had to fly to Deadhorse (a small town on the coast) in order to pick up different radios for the GPS collars and some gasoline for a generator to be used while on the ice.
This afternoon, the helicopter had to fly back to Barrow as well in order to pick up a part for the boat. On the first night, the steering mechanism of the boat broke! It seems like not only the scientists need a backup plan at all times, but the Coast Guard is also well prepared to deal with mechanical issues as well. They were very clever and figured out a way to steer the ship using a pair of vice grips from the aft (back) of the ship. It's really interesting to watch the people in the bridge (the area near the front of the boat where the Captain and his team direct the boat). They have to radio the directions to a person in the aft of the boat, who then steers the boat! It's amazing that we have been able to continue on without trouble thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of the Coast Guard. Tonight, hopefully they are able to repair the boat so that someone doesn't have to stand there steering the boat 24/7.
In the down time today, we prepared the tracking collars that will be placed on the bears that are captured. The collars have multiple tracking devices to monitor the bears. There are three ways to track the bears location - GPS (the white box on the back of collar), satellite (white triangle shaped part near the front) and radio (the silver antenna). In addition to location, the collars also track outside temperature and activity. The brass colored metal piece is conductivity probe to measure when the bear is in salt water. The data from the collars is sent via satellite while it is on the bear once daily, which allows scientists to find out data before recollecting the collar. Today we added a second activity monitor to the collars that gives more precise data than the one that already exists in the collar. It works using an accelerometer that can measure the bears movement in any direction.
The tracking collars for the polar bears had to get prepared today. In this shot you can see the brass conductivity probes to measure when the bears in water.
John Whiteman is explaining the 3 antennas that the collar uses to track the bears and the automatic release mechanism
Eric Regehr (US Fish and Wildlife Services) showing me the vintage VHF receiver that receives the radio signals from the bear collars.
Since the researchers aren't always able to recapture every bear to take off the collars, they have automatic release capabilities. It's important for the collars to release as the bears grow. In fact, normally it is impossible to put collars on adults male bears because their neck size is larger than their head size. However, since it is a short term project, they can put collars on the bears since they know they will automatically release. The release device is the small black box on the back of the collar which contains a programmed very small explosive that releases the collar. The explosive is very small as to not hurt the bear in the process - in fact it's just a small popping sound. These collars provide lots of invaluable information for scientists and each only costs about $3,000, which is not much for science equipment.
The other projects took todays time to work on final preparations for their projects as well.
Dawn Sechler, from Southern Illinois University, in her high tech dark room they created for their experiments.
On the ship, people work hard, but also make sure to take some time for themselves. I made sure to take a bit of time to wonder around outside today. I have been surprised that it has not been too cold (right around 30 Fahrenheit).
Just taking a break for some fresh Arctic air.
Tonight, after all the hard work was done on the ship, the Coasties busted out Rock Band! It's nice to know that even in the Arctic Ocean you can still let out your inner rock star!
Coastie Rock Band!
As long as the weather cooperates, tomorrow should be the first day out on the ice for the researchers to collect data.