Thin Ice.....
On Monday, photojournalist Gauthier DeBlonde and I went out with Capt.
Stéphane Julien and chief scientist Gary Stern on a helicopter scouting
mission to look for a suitable place for an ice camp in the Prince of
Wales Strait. We found one, but not without an adventure or two.
At one point, all four of us hopped out onto a trench with a ridge of
shattered ice on either side. The captain and the chief scientist
started drilling to test the ice thickness while the two journalists
took pictures.
Seconds later, the two auger operators yelled at us to get out of the
trench while themselves leaping for firmer ground.
It turned out the ice in the trench was a little on the thin side.
Gauthier didn't seem phased at all. In fact, he slept like a baby for
most of the ride back.
Today, I spent most of the day among the high school kids with Schools
on Board.
It started when I watch the sun rise over their homemade pyranometers
and the commercial ones nearby. The devices measure the amount of energy
from the sun that reaches the surface of the earth at any given point in
time.
Then, I followed Emma Brown, 17, of Wirral, England and Alison Kapalie,
17, of Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, the –23 C cold lab where they help
University of Manitoba research associate Pascale Collin slice and
prepare ice samples so the salt content of the ice can be measured.
Next, I went with Patti Alvarez, 16, of Barcelona, Spain, and Alysa
Almojuela, 17, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, to a large hole that the biology
researchers have cut into the ice as an outdoor version of the on board
"moon pool" so they can get some fresh air while netting zooplankton.
(Well, okay, that's not quite true – they're trying to sample the
surface layers that can't be used to produce reliable data in the moon
pool because they are too strongly affected by the ship. And they're
comparing their outdoor results to testing for the influence of the ship
on the rest of the water column as well).
After lunch, I trailed Dan Matchullis, 17, as he shadowed University of
Manitoba doctoral student Brent Else, who was calibrating and testing a
machine that measures carbon dioxide. It is to be deployed at the ice
camp if and when that gets set up.
I'm back.....
Sorry, I haven't been in touch – the Internet has been down these past
couple of days. The ship is embedded in a plate of ice and it seems that
plate rotated in such a way that part of the ship blocked the satellite
signal it relies on for Internet service.
A little ice breaking yesterday restored the signal even if it cancelled
the much-anticipated Crew vs. Scientists soccer game.
No matter – the ship's crew put on a good alternate show, steering the
ship toward open water so some of the scientists could do some sampling
and then returning us to our previous spot with our internet access
restored.
We still haven't seen any polar bears, but yesterday as the ship was
breaking some ice, a seal popped its head up from the water.
In the past few days, I've watched scientists core and slice ice, try to
measure gases from a sled out on the ice, haul glowing zooplankton up
from the deep, and work in instrument labs in little containers on the
deck. I'll be writing more detailed articles about them later on.
I've also tried to take a few shots of the stunning landscapes around
the ship.
I was outside with a group that was taking ice samples when I decided to
move a little further away and take some photographs. I was about to
turn around again, when suddenly, I heard a voice booming across the ice
and snow.
"Emily: You are too far away. Come back toward the ship."
It was Capt. Stéphane Julien who was watching from the Amundsen's
bridge. I guess he figured it would make for some bad press if a
journalist was eaten by a polar bear while out with the expedition.
Later, I learned that his admonishment was heard throughout the ship
over the PA system – how embarrassing!
Hello from the Amundsen!
Hello from the Amundsen! I'm a journalist for CBCnews.ca who is normally
based in Ottawa. I'm also a regular contributor to YES Mag, a Canadian
science magazine for kids.
Like Guido Romeo before me, I am one of 15 journalists selected and
sponsored by the World Federation of Science Journalists to report on
ship, the people and the research on board.
It's my first time in the Arctic, but a bit of a homecoming to the world
of scientific research. In fact, I myself spent many years doing
chemistry research as part of graduate school in Vancouver.
Now, I'm looking forwarded to seeing research in a different area of
science as it unfolds