- Fair Winds and Following Seas
- Posted on Jul 25, 2010 09:20:12 AM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University
Haley Smith Kingsland (Photo by Karen Frey)
60° 7’ 155” N, 149° 25’ 532” W, July 24 — The fog lifted as the Healy steamed through Resurrection Bay ahead of schedule Wednesday morning. We pulled into port just before noon, enough time for both scientists and Coast Guard crew to disembark in Seward and readjust to the motionless ground beneath our feet, moving automobiles, fresh salads, the smell of flowers and vegetation, cell phone service, and other civilians!
Wednesday night, Bonnie Light (University of Washington) and I watched the colors of the sunset intersect the moon from the Healy’s helo deck. We spoke about the incredible amount of effort to reach the Arctic, a place so difficult to convey through prose or imagery.
“Sea ice may as well be the moon,” Bonnie said. We were already craving it — and the alternate reality of life aboard a ship — just hours after docking in port.
Among the many other aspects of icebreaking I’ll miss are walruses, polar bears, CTD casts, fresh-baked desserts, steel-toed boots, and 24 hours of sunlight. On top of daily lab work that consumed at least a third of my waking hours at sea, blogging for so many loyal and curious followers has been an honor. I wish I had had more time to tell you even more about our Arctic research and phenomenal Coast Guard hosts! Thank you for reading, commenting, and supporting ICESCAPE 2010!
- Photo Album: Final Deployments and More
- Posted on Jul 25, 2010 09:12:16 AM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University
Coast Guard marine science technician Dan Purse deploys the optical package off the fantail with Brian Schieber and Rick Reynolds, both of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The package measures light absorption and scattering by diverse contents in the water column such as water molecules, algae, and bacteria cells. Its frame carries a few pieces of optical equipment from different research groups. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
After the optical package’s final deployment, Rick Reynolds of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography rinses it with freshwater to prevent rust. “It’s time for a long bath,” he said. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
The CTD rosette is an aluminum frame that carries water sampling bottles all around its circumference, and different sensors attached to its bottom record characteristics like temperature and depth. The starboard staging area is a flurry of activity as scientists collect water from the CTD rosette’s sampling bottles after it returns aboard. Bob Pickart of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (top center) enforces the scientists’ sampling order and records the amount of water taken from each bottle and by whom. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
Our final deployment! Luke Trusel of Clark University (center) carries a hose to rinse off the Van Veen Grab for the last time while both the optical package and thorium pump rest in the aft staging area (left) for good. Cedric Fichot of the University of South Carolina (far right) watches the last deployment activity from a radioisotope experiment isolation van. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
Captain William Rall presented both science party and Coast Guard crew members with certificates for more than 21 days of service above the Arctic Circle. Captain Rall’s leadership was outstanding throughout the entire NASA ICESCAPE 2010 mission. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
- Photo Album: Arctic Wildlife
- Posted on Jul 25, 2010 08:49:42 AM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University
The Van Veen Grab, an instrument that grasps and traps soft bottom sediments, brought up this brittle star one day as well. Other times it captured sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sea stars, sea sponges, crabs, and sculpin fish. One of our stations, the Chukchi Hotspot, was particularly teeming with bottom-dwelling organisms. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
While steaming through the sea ice at the end of our journey, the Healy stirred the seawater enough that seabirds followed the ship’s wake diving for food like Arctic cod. “When the ship stopped, all the birds rested on the ice,” oceanographer Jim Swift observed. “This went on at all hours, day and night.” Here’s an ivory gull that lives on the sea ice. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
Black-legged kittiwakes are known to follow ships. This one is a juvenile. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
Two pomarine skuas hassle a black-legged kittiwake in attempt to steal the fish it caught. “Those three days the seabirds were following us, I felt like we weren’t alone,” said Melissa Miller of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her brother is an ornithologist, so she grew up watching and identifying birds. “For me, seeing them is comforting.” (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
Science stopped one morning while everyone went on deck to witness four polar bears: most likely a mother (left), two cubs from this year, and one from last year. Karen Frey of Clark University noticed a radio collar around the mother’s neck, so her movements are being tracked. (Photo by Karen Frey)
- Photo Album: Final Icescapes
- Posted on Jul 24, 2010 07:11:27 PM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University
Sea ice breaks into little fragments like these, known as brash.
The dark line of ocean here is a lead, an area of open water between sea ice.
Melt ponds during our final night in the ice.
All photos by Haley Smith Kingsland
- Photo Album: Final Ice Stations
- Posted on Jul 24, 2010 06:58:22 PM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University
Ice Station 10
Ice Station 10: Stanford University researchers (front row) haul crates of ice cores back to the Healy, while Clark University researchers (back row) deploy an optical profiler underneath a melt pond through the sea ice to examine how light varies with depth in the water beneath.
Ice Station 11: Matt Mills of Stanford University fills a glass bottle with under-ice water for Christie Wood of Clark University.
Ice Station 11: Ruzica Dadic lifts an instrument that records the amount of solar radiation through the sea ice. She holds it above her head so her face doesn’t affect the measurements.
Ice Station 12: During the final ice station, a few scientists plus Coast Guard rescue swimmer and swimmer tender walked to the edge of the floe and back conducting measurements — a total distance of about a mile.
All photos by Haley Smith Kingsland
- Our Voyage, by the Numbers
- Posted on Jul 24, 2010 09:23:46 AM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University, and Emily Kehrt, U.S. Coast Guard
Researchers working on the ice during one of our last ice stations. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)
Plankton images Sam Laney’s Imaging FlowCytobot collected: 1.5 million
Meal plates served on the mess deck: 12,900
Gallons of water made: 7,937
Nautical miles traveled: 5,430
CTD rosette water sampling bottles closed: 1,172
Coffee drinks sold in the ship store: 500
Science deployments: 366
Bottom depth at deepest science station (meters): 305
CTD rosette casts: 158
Science stations: 140
New “polar bears” initiated: 51
Days underway: 37
Mustaches grown/maintained for competition: 31
Bottom depth at shallowest science station (meters): 22
Days with more than five hours of “foggy” skies: 16
Ice stations: 12
Polar bears sighted: 7
Sunsets: 5
- Icebreaker Lingo
- Posted on Jul 23, 2010 09:24:11 AM | ICESCAPE
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From: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University
We enjoyed a rare glimpse of undular bore clouds above the Healy during a period of spectacular weather at the beginning of our voyage. Coast Guard crew member Jeremy Gainey snapped this photo while assisting with research on the Arctic Survey Boat. (Photo by Jeremy Gainey)
After five weeks aboard the Healy, we’ll all come back ashore speaking in nautical terms and Coast Guard lingo. You may hear some of the following new words slip from our lips:
Below: Downstairs
Bulkhead: Wall
Compartment: Room
Detail: Work crew
Drills: Coast Guard training sessions (on the Healy, each Monday and Friday)
Head: Bathroom
Heave: Ship motion up and down
Helo Hangar: Helicopter space
Ladderwell: Stairs
Liberty: Time off
Mess deck: Cafeteria
Muster: Assemble
Overhead: Ceiling
Pipe: Announcement
Pitch: Ship motion with bow and stern alternating as uppermost
Port call: Time at port
Quarters: Time with the Commanding Officer for official and ceremonial functions (on the Healy, every Tuesday and Friday afternoon)
Rack: Bed bunk
Red goat: Garbage disposal for food waste
Roger that: Yes
Roll: Ship motion sideways
Secured: Closed
Stateroom: Bedroom
Scuttlebutt: Drinking fountain
Swab: Mop
Topside: Upstairs
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