Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 12:52

Mr. Kasemodel, We would like to know what wildlife you've seen, and what you hope to see? Have you seen any animals you've never seen before? Will you post pictures of them if you do see some? Have any animals tried to attack? Have you seen the white orca? Have any whales come up to the boat, and which kinds of whales have you seen? Which of the creatures you've seen so far is most interesting to you, and why? Which animal do you think is most effected by global warming? Have you seen any dead animals? Will you be able to get close to any wildlife you see?

Are you finding a drop in numbers of creatures or any other signs of global warming impacts? Is the ice where you expected it to be? Will you get to walk on the sea ice?

Why did you want to go on this expedition? Is it what you expected it to be?

from Ms. Himschoot's class in Sitka, Alaska

Craig Kasemodel

Excellant questions! I am still in Dutch Harbor, we are waiting for the ship to arrive tomorrow. We will begin our expedition tomorrow and expect to reach the sea ice within a day. I have yet to see any marine mammals but I did go on a nice hike on the beach today. I saw my first Emperor Geese and many other sea birds. I posted a lot of pictures today. We do have a bowhead whale researcher on the Healy from the University of Washington and Walrus researchers from Anchorage. I hope to see them and many other organisms that will be studied on the expedition such as eiders, ringed seals, cocepods, and phytoplankton.
The BEST expedition is trying to address the issue of global warming or climate change by addressing three main questions.
1) What are the external forcing functions that link global and regional climate processes to the physical oceanography of the eastern Bering Sea?2) How does variability in the physical aspects of the marine system affect ecosystem processes and structure?3) How can spatial and temporal scales be integrated to permit forecasting how changes in climate will affect the productivity and sustainability of the marine ecosystems of the eastern Bering Sea? 
In other words, if any link of the food chain is affected by climate change, then the whole ecosystem will suffer as all of the critters are dependent on each other in some fashion.
No dead animals yet, but I am hoping!
I wanted to go on this expedition since it Alaska based and as a teacher in Alaska, I wanted to be an ambassador for Alaska-based arctic research for Alaskans. It is more than I expected, in so many positive ways! It would hard to single out one factor, however, meeting and working with such a group of dedicated scientists is awesome!