Cruise Day 9
Speed 11 knots (kts)
Course 354° (N)
Location Chukchi Sea, approx. 162 nm north of Point Hope , Alaska
Depth 48 m
GO DEEPER DISCUSSION: (see previous journal for the questions.)
Big and Little Diomede Islands are not only separated by an international border but by the International Date Line as well. Due to the time zones each has been administratively placed in they are 21 hours apart (usually crossing the International Date Line results in a 23-hour change forward or backward, depending on which direction you cross.)
TODAY’S JOURNAL:
Early this morning I realized the ship was moving a lot more than it had been when I went to bed. When I got up I saw big rollers out my porthole, and after breakfast I went up to the bridge to watch the waves. The winds have been strong at around 30 nautical miles per hour (kts) for most of the day, which has kicked up 10-12 foot waves here in the shallow Chukchi Sea.
The Healy plunges through a wave as it pushes north through the Chukchi Sea.
Fortunately for us, the Healy rides very well for an icebreaker in large waves. Many icebreakers have a rounded hull to help them slide up onto ice, letting their weight break through the ice as they go. While this is a good hull shape for icebreaking, they roll like a barrel in heavy seas according to CDR. Karl Lander, Healy’s XO (Executive Officer) whom I spoke with today. The Healy has a more squared hull, so we are mostly pitching forward and backward without too much rolling from side to side. Still, the strong winds and high seas have forced a cancellation of today’s science station so we are continuing farther north, with hopes of starting our next station at 06:00 tomorrow morning. As we approach the ice edge (perhaps later this week), conditions should certainly calm down as ice has a dampening effect on waves.
Chief Marine Science Technician Karen Aquino launches an XBT (*Expendable Bathythermograph*) despite the rough seas we experienced today. XBTs give oceanographers a quick look at the water column by reporting temperature vs. depth back to the ship as they sink. They are not retrieved after they are used, thus the expendable part of their name.
The wind is at Beaufort Scale 7 today, also known as high winds or moderate gale conditions. The Beaufort Scale is cool because you can use environmental indicators to estimate the strength of the wind without instruments. On land, Beaufort Scale 7 is indicated by: Whole trees in motion. Effort needed to walk against the wind. At sea Beaufort Scale 7 is indicated by: Sea heaps up. Some foam from breaking waves is blown into streaks along wind direction. Moderate amounts of airborne spray.
One of the Healy network pages I typically keep open on my computer is the Tabulated Meteorological Display. In this screen shot I captured a gust of 34.4 kts (almost 40 mph.)
The storm we are experiencing brought a visitor on board in the early hours. A little bird landed on the ship and has been foraging and seeking shelter in protected areas of the fantail (aft) deck and in two of the staging areas out of the wind. I didn’t recognize the bird and emailed some friends back home who are familiar with birds that show up unexpectedly in the Arctic on ships and islands. All agreed that it is a juvenile Eastern Yellow Wagtail. This means that the bird hatched this summer and is heading off on its first migration. I hope it rests up and resumes its travels soon, as we are going to be headed north for nearly a month, which isn’t a good direction for this bird to be going. Still, it is exciting to see a new bird, and testament to the amazing ability of these small organisms to cover large distances as they migrate.
A juvenile Eastern Yellow Wagtail decided to take shelter from the storm aboard Healy today.
GO DEEPER!
Take a look outside and note what the wind is doing. Can you see leaves rustling? Are whole branches moving? Look up the Beaufort Scale online to estimate how fast the wind is blowing where you are based on what you see.
Aloft Con web cam updated every hour
Healy Track
That's all for now. Best- Bill
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