The Day the Sun Didn't Rise...and a Polar Bear!
November 17, 2011...the FIRST day on the Healy Map Server that displayed NO time for Local Sunrise. We are North of Barrow and today is the FIRST day on this voyage that we will not see the sun! I can't wait to see how “light” it gets!
This is the first day the sun will not rise above the horizon at our location.
Everyone aboard the Healy must carry a pager. Having a pager eliminates the need for so many messages over the public PA system, or “the pipes” as their called on a ship. I made a deal with David, the “Bird-Man”. If he sees anything of interest while he is on the Bridge doing his Marine Bird and Mammal Survey, he will page me so that I can come up and see it too! Sounds easy enough, but it's not! David does his work from the Bridge – on the 5th deck of the forward most part of the ship. The Main Science Lab is nearly opposite at the very aft of the ship and on the Main Deck. When I get a page that something cool is to be seen, I have to go through five watertight doors, walk the entire length of the ship and ascend 5 flights of stairs to the Bridge. On the first day at sea, I got a page that said “PORPOISE”...I took off, through the doors, down the passageway and up the stairs...NO PORPOISE. The next day, I got a page that said “SEAL”...I took off, through the doors, down the passageway and up the stairs...NO SEAL. You see – when you are on a moving ship and you are dealing with wild animals, it is really difficult to see those animals unless you are right there when they are spotted! Well...yesterday brought an interesting page. We had been waiting on it for days and David told us that he felt yesterday was going to be the day...my pager went off at 12:57...what did it say “POLAR BEAR”!!!
David, the Bird Man, got my heart racing with this page!
I shouted to everyone in the Main Science Lab (they said I squealed!) – “Polar Bear” and took off for the Bridge. My heart was beating so fast when I got to the Bridge that I could barely breath. David let me use his binoculars and tried to point out the yellow furry spot about a mile from the ship. It was SO hard to see because it was so far away! WOW – what an adrenaline rush!! I hope we get the chance to see one closer to the ship!
Yes - this IS a polar bear!
Erik the Red, the Marine Technician, captured the polar bear tracks when the Healy crossed it's path.
The Healy crossed the polar bear tracks on the ice!
Yesterday also brought the first full 24 hours of science. Up to this point, we had done a few Test Stations and isolated stations on our way North. We hit the Wainwright line yesterday. This is a series of stations that form a line. This particular “line” was selected because there is a line of moorings underwater that have been collecting data for the past year. The data that we collect during our CTD casts will be compared with the mooring data to see if there are any discrepancies. Dr. Okkonen told me that the “Station lines” for this mission were selected based upon the Capes that “stick” out into the Chukchi Sea”. The lines are perpendicular to the shoreline because there is a greater change in the water as you head away from land rather than traveling along the shoreline at a given distance. On the map below, our Science Stations are marked with pink squares. You can see the red outline of the Healy on the Wainwright line. It takes about an hour and a half to move from one station to the next, so things happen rather quickly. This is the main reason the scientists work on two watches – so that we can have continuous coverage for the science stations.
Current location map from the Healy Map Server showing the Wainwright Line
Not every piece of equipment is used at each station – the Board of Lies tells us which science operations will occur. I deployed the Bongo net with Bob at WN7 (Wain Wright Station 7). This was the first time I really “did” a science operation...I wasn't watching, or learning, or taking pictures. I was deploying the net with Bob!
Dr Campbell and I deploying a bongo net
I also got to “drive” the CTD, which means man the controls and fire the Nisken bottles. Celia taught me how to pick Calanus copepods. The sample from WN14 was brought into the lab and put through a 335 micron screen to further separate the animals. Celia explained the difference between males, females and C5's (a juvenile stage of copepod). Using the microscope and tweezers, I “picked” through the dish and separated the animals. I wasn't perfect by any means, but Celia was patient and checked my work, explaining as she went along. We are going to have LOTS of “picking” to do in the next 30 days so I need to learn how to do this!
Special message to my boyfriend and best friend in the world, Brian...Happy Birthday!! I hope you like your cake! (I had to arrange for one my fellow teachers, Mrs. Traylor, to bake his birthday cake for him since I was clearly NOT in Ohio!)
Stay tuned as we continue our exciting voyage on the USCG Cutter Healy. Until then...
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” - Mohandas Gandhi