After being cooped and getting a severe case of cabin fever, we ventured out today to assess the wind damage. We checked out our tent, which holds field supplies: hammer, nails, tags, bug dope (lots of bug dope) and Fruit by the Foot (a necessity for any Arctic Tundra Researcher). I've posted a picture below so you, too, can assess the damage.
This is how we found our tent the morning after the wind storm. I doubt we will use this tent next year.
After assessing the tent damage, Jeremy and I went bug collecting. We didn't exactly collect bugs, rather we collected the exoskeletons left behind from insects. Many insects lay eggs in small stationary bodies of water like ice wedge ponds. When the eggs hatch they are called larva. They begin life in the pond. Soon after, they outgrow their exoskeleton so they shed it as they fly away from the pond into nearby grass leaves. We are sampling the water of three different ponds every three days to see if there is a spike in molting of insects, especially midges. Midges are small insects that closely resemble mosquitos.
I am using a dip net to sample the water for insect exoskeletons in Hollister Pond South. Jeremy named the pond after Bob. And my feet are soaked because the water came over the top of my boots!
To take a water sample we follow the same protocol to keep everything uniform. We use a dip net and take five strokes of water in the same direction from different areas at the pond's surface because the exoskeletons float on the surface although you generally cannot see them. Then we turn the dip net upside down over a funnel that drains into a plastic bag. We scoop water into the upside down dip net to make sure all the exoskeletons are deposited into the funnel and bag. We write the date, location, and weather conditions on a small piece of waterproof paper and we drop the paper into the bag. The bag is called a Whirlpak and we close it by vertically whirling the clear plastic bag and folding over yellow wires to seal it. When we get back to the lab, we un-whirl the bag open and add ethanol to perserve the specimen. Then we reclose the Whirlpak. The principal investigator (PI), Dr. Malcolm Butler, of North Dakota State University and his research team at the university lab will comb through the specimens under a dissecting microscope to classify and figure when the larva emerge. And we do this all while evading the adult female mosquitos who are known for their biting tendencies. The males just swarm and annoy...no biggie.
I'm closing the Whirlpak. This is tundra fashion on a hot day when the temperatures soar into the 60's. All we really care about is being comfortable because sweat while we hike and then get clammy when we take growth measurements. We can get pretty wet and the weather can change instantly, so we have to be prepared...for anything. Today, our biggest concern was mosquitos. Can you tell?