Departure day! I’m not sure all this has hit me yet, but the excitement and adrenaline are really going now!
Before I go I have to write some thank you notes – to the International Arctic Research Center for inviting me and the Museum to participate in this awesome expedition, to my colleagues at the Museum for being excited about it right along with me, my family and friends for helping in general, and my roommate for taking care of my kitties while I’m gone! This is a team operation!
So my plans today? Head off on a plane across the ocean, to get on a boat across another ocean in a couple days. Wish us well, and I’ll see you soon on the other side of the Atlantic! (But still this side of the Arctic.)
My colleagues decorated my desk for me before I headed out!My roommate is taking care of my little furry people while I’m gone
I have talked about the equipment and operations that will be taking place onboard, but haven’t been able to show what that equipment is yet. But I just received some photos earlier today from Rob Rember, a scientist on the expedition from the International Arctic Research Center, of some of the equipment being organized for the expedition. I can’t explain the details of all of it yet, but we’ll see these things in action shortly!
Nansen and Amundsen Basin Observational System Map of Expedition Click to learn more about what this map means!
It’s a little deceiving, a little word like climate can have such BIG meaning. You can break it down a little more, and talk about oceanography, atmospheric science, meteorology, geology, physics, biology, technology… Then you can combine those things and get more detailed – hydrometeorology, biotechnology, geophysics… With this research expedition and summer school, scientists onboard will aim to look in even more detail in all these areas – with the goal of adding puzzle pieces to the BIG picture of climate.
What are these puzzle pieces? Based on operations and activities from this expedition, they want to:
Quantify the structure and variability of the circulation in the upper, intermediate, and lower layers of the Eurasian and Canadian Basins
Evaluate mechanisms by which the Atlantic Water is transformed on its pathway along the slope of the Eurasian and Canadian Basins
Evaluate the impact of heat transport from the Atlantic Water on ice
Investigate the strength and variability of the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea branches of the Atlantic Water
Estimate the rate of exchange between the arctic shelves and the interior in order to clarify mechanisms of the arctic halocline formation
Evaluate the storage and variability of heat and fresh water, particularly within the halocline of the Canada Basin
Quantify Pacific water transport, variability, and water-mass transformation mechanisms from the Chukchi Sea shelf toward the Eurasian Basin
These are certainly some impressive puzzle pieces, and scientists will be working together after the expedition as well, to put those pieces together AND fit them into the BIG picture.
To have people read this blog is amazing. To have people be involved, inspired, and participate in this blog is AMAZING. I have received some great comments and questions already (keep them coming!), and today, one reader of this blog wrote a comment related to our expedition “mascot,” Willy the Box Turtle, that I introduced in a previous post. Written in Russian, it continues the story of Willy the Turtle and Chilly the Polar Bear (and us “silly” humans). I wanted to put this comment in a new post, because it was so creative, and made my day!
I can’t wait to be on this expedition in the Arctic, and share with all of you the real science, the real equipment, and the real operations that will help us better understand the world we all share with Chilly and Willy.
Here is the Russian version, and the English translation (translated as best I could, with lots of help from a friend, as well as Google):
Жил на свете очень важный, милый ,белый медвежонок
его звали очень просто-Чилли,маленький медведь.
жил он в Арктике далекой,белоснежной и суровой,
очень он любил купаться,кувыркаться и реветь.
На другом краю планеты, на прекрасном жарком юге
жил черепашонок Вилли- балагур и весельчак.
Он любил в песке валяться, загорать и грызть морковку
Он любил всех-всех на свете-ни за что-то -просто так.
Но еще на той планете жили сумрачные люди,
Люди взрослые,большие,но как будто дураки,
Эти люди не любили ни закаты,ни рассветы,
даже нежный шум прибоя слушать было не с руки.
Эти люди не щадили нашу милую планету,
все живое разрушали, делали наоборот.
Если Арктика растает,как спасется милый Чилли?
Если жаркий Юг замерзнет,с ним и Вилли пропадет!
Люди взрослые,большие,вы должны остановиться,
вы должны понять ,как наша восхитительна земля!
Уберите руку с кнопки, уничтожьте все программы,
Что природу разрушают,губят реки и моря!
На своем прекрасном юге будет жить веселый Вилли,
Будет грызть свою морковку и на солнце загорать!
На своей огромной льдине будет жить отважный Чилли
Будет в море он купаться и с ледышками играть.
-“Ludus”
====================
Here lived a very important, dear polar bear
His name was very simple, Chilly, a small bear.
He lived in the distant Arctic, snow-white and gray,
He is very fond of bathing, tumbling and roaring.
At the other end of the planet, in the beautiful hot south
Lived a little turtle Willy, a joker and a merry fellow.
He loved to lie in the sand, sunbathing and nibbling a carrot
He loved everyone, everyone in the world, for no reason, simply that.
But also on that planet lived gloomy people
People mature and large, but like fools,
These people do not like sunsets or sunrises,
Even to listen to the gentle sound of the surf was not pleasant.
These people did not spare our dear planet
Destroying all life, doing just the opposite.
If the Arctic melts away, how is dear Chilly to be saved?
If the hot South freezes, will he and Willy be gone!
People mature and large, you have to stop,
You need to understand how amazing is our land!
Remove your hand from the button, delete all the programs
That destroyed nature, ruining the rivers and the sea!
In the beautiful south will live hilarious Willy
He will gnaw on his carrot and tan in the sun!
On his huge ice floe will live courageous Chilly
Swimming in the sea and playing with icicles.
-“Ludus”
===================
Willy, with our iconic Alaskan Kodiak bear who has been at the Museum since 1960. This is not Chilly the Polar Bear, but Kodiak and polar bears both like the cold, and they are the two biggest bears on Earth (just to prepare us for the size of polar bears).
Do a Google Image search for “mooring deployment ice.” Then do another one for “ice station buoy deployment.” I’m trying to imagine what these “operations” described in our expedition manual will be like, and I’m getting a feel for why they call any big production or mission “Operation:______.” But for our operations, you might just be standing on ice in the ocean (looking out for a polar bear).
How do you get the ship to “sit still” while you’re out doing your research?
Mooring operations are “the most dangerous at-sea operation.” A mooring is any kind of structure that helps secure a ship in one place, and it takes a core team of about 8 technicians to get it done. They will meet in advance to identify difficult or risky procedures, and will be responsible for operations whenever the ship arrives at a planned station (day or night). Apparently you can watch these operations from the ship – I can’t wait to see it!
How do you make an ice camp?
Establishing ice stations can also be dangerous. Firstly, you have to watch for “melt ponds” (open pools of water that form on sea ice in the warmer season). The Chief Scientist will use ice probes to test the ice conditions, and if it’s safe, other expedition members can venture onto the ice. But you still have to watch for polar bears. According to our manual, there is no armed guard, but there will be a watch from the ship, and the ship’s horn will blast to let us know to return to the ship if we see a furry friend approaching. (I want us all to be safe, but I not-so-secretly hope I see a polar bear!)
This image is from a previous expedition with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. I can’t wait to walk on the ocean too!
Willy the Box Turtle will be traveling to the Arctic! (Fingers crossed that we meet Chilly the Polar Bear.)
I decided to bring a new friend from Miami to join us in the Arctic! He is a box turtle, and is a Florida native. Even though he would never meet a polar bear in the wild (maybe he’ll see one on the trip!?), they are both so well-suited to their own environment that changes in climate can be catastrophic for them. For turtles, rising sea levels affect their coastal nesting habitats and increasing temperatures have an impact on the gender ratio of hatchlings. For polar bears, increasing temperatures and decreasing Arctic sea ice means they are losing their food hunting grounds. So our box turtle is joining the trip to see what we’ll learn about climate.
I recently received a poem from a reader of this blog (who prefers to remain anonymous) that I want to share with you all, while we’re on this topic. I think it sums up not only what’s happening to our friends the box turtles and polar bears, but also how we are all connected in what’s happening. In honor of this writer, I have named our mascot Willy the Box Turtle!
A polar bear from the Arctic named Chilly
A turtle from Miami named Willy
Who would ever think?
Is there really a link?
Oh Yeah! It’s mankind we’ll name Silly.
So if the ice is crucial to Chilly
And water equally so to Willy
If we all hold the key
‘Cause we’re the powers that be
Isn’t it time to stop being “Silly?”
What’s going on in this picture? There’s ice, water, currents, air, temperature, salt, life…How do we go about understanding all this?
I think a lot of people (especially students) have an idea that science is a class at school, and a scientist is someone who works only in a lab all by themselves. But one of the coolest things I want to share with people about this expedition is that science isn’t just a class – it’s a process, and a way of thinking, and a team effort.
I’m looking at our Expedition Booklet which outlines all the information we need – what to bring, who’s responsible for what, research activities, safety guidelines, etc. The first thing that is obvious is that everyone onboard is on a team, and each team has a designated team leader. Here are our teams who will try to figure out scenes like the one in the picture above (I’ll describe these more as we go along):
– Hydro
– Chem
– Meteo
– Ice
– Tech
– Admin
I’m imagining what it would be like to plan a trip to another planet, and all the different science fields and skills you would need to really get a handle on what you were exploring. And then I’m looking at this list of teams for the Arctic, and it makes sense that you need the same for the Earth. You still need smart people who know how to do a lot of things – operate specialized equipment, look at observations to figure out what’s going on, and then (shocker) talk to each other about what each team has learned. Imagine that.
The checklist for this expedition is not your simple to-do list. All the cruise participants have received a booklet of everything we need to know, including a checklist of what to bring and prepare for. I know that many of the scientists who will be onboard have been on expeditions like this before, but I also know that many (including me) have not. It’s a big document, but here’s just a few of the many things I found interesting…
Clothes (outdoor) – parka, over a jacket, over a base layer, windproof snowpants , steel-toe non-skid winter boots (to work near heavy equipment and to be out on the ice)
Clothes (indoor) – wool socks, flip-flops for the shower, swimsuit for the sauna onboard (“an excellent means of recreation after staying a watch on the deck, or after working out at an ice-station”)
Medications – for headaches, colds, sinuses, sunburn, and of course for motion sickness (a little nervous that it’s labeled “very important”)
Language – laundry is available, “with instructions in English nearby” (remember this is a Russian vessel), an interpreter is onboard to help (but we should “learn a few Russian words” to speak to the crew)
Sunscreen, flip-flops, motion sickness, multi-lingual environment… and this is for the Arctic, not Miami!
An amazing thing happened the other day when I went to go buy a new piece of luggage (my old luggage is on its last legs). I was standing in line at checkout, and the lady behind me asks me where I am going. I said, “of all things, I’m headed to the Arctic Ocean.” The lady and her son became all excited, and started asking 20 questions. I explained there were scientists going from all over the world, to study the ocean, the atmosphere, and climate in general, and that I was going as an educator to document the expedition and share it with the public. As I was about to leave, the lady says “the public so needs to understand more. Good luck sweetie, you all go change the world.” That just made my whole day.
Post your question or comment below, and I will reply!
The Museum is always looking for ways to connect people to science. I am Science Curator at the Museum, so I work on developing content for exhibitions for our upcoming Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science facility, but I am also always looking for new ways to connect our audiences with science and technology that affect the Earth and all of our lives. I am so excited to take an amazing opportunity to do just that, and represent the Museum on an expedition to one of the most remote regions of the planet – the Arctic. We are participating in this expedition to share the opportunity to learn about climate, and to get a sense of what a real scientific expedition is like. I hope our Museum audiences to follow along with the expedition via blog and other social media!
People don’t usually think of themselves as scientists, but the main thing scientists do is wonder how something works, and then look for the answer. How does the Arctic environment affect us in Miami? What is happening in the atmosphere, ocean, and climate? What does it sound like when a huge ship carves a pathway through a frozen sea? What tools do scientists use to study the Arctic Ocean and atmosphere? There are so many fascinating questions, and I’m so excited for the public to become inquisitive scientists right alongside me during this expedition. I hope to bring the science – and experience – of the Arctic a little closer to home!
Post your question or comment below, and I will reply!
Looking at my beach ball globe, Miami seems pretty far from the Arctic, but they really are connected through the climate!
