I now have another official responsibility onboard, which is cool – I will be communicating our daily position (latitude and longitude) to the International Arctic Research Center in Alaska. I was planning to periodically tell you on the blog too, but the days get a little confusing here. At the time I’m writing this, we are at about 79°N and 105°E, and the air/water temperature are both around 0°C. But when am I writing this really? Here’s why it’s confusing. Firstly, it’s daylight ALL the time. Secondly, there are no landmarks. Then there is the issue of time zones. The Captain has decided to keep the ship on Norwegian time, but in real time the ship could pass through multiple time zones pretty quickly (since time zones converge at the pole). Every day, I am writing about happenings that day and the day before. I only have access to send email once a day, and what I write and send then gets forwarded to you on the blog the following day. To add to this, as the ship moves around to the other side of Earth, it’s going to be daylight and we’ll be awake at night, because on our ship time, it will be daytime, even though it’s the middle of the night local time. Confused yet? Einstein would have a hard time keeping time and space straight around here. Grab a globe and try to figure it out.
Hi i am a student in Ms. Gilbert’s 9th grade science class and was intrigued by your blog and have a few question .
1.Do you use oxygen tanks when hiking up the glaciers and icebergs?
2.Do you scuba dive under the icebergs to measure there depth , height , and width?
Dear Oscar, we are spending our entire time on the ship, since there is no land in the Arctic (other than islands near the northern coast of Asia and Canada). So there’s no hiking. About diving, the water is below freezing temperature, so there’s no diving either. But we do send lots of scientific instruments down under the ice to take measurements of the water, like temperature, currents, and salt content.
What drove the group to take the turtle “Willie” to the arctic ?
Hi Alana, we decided to take Willy to the Arctic not just as a mascot for the expedition, but also to remind people that the Arctic and Miami are connected through the Earth’s climate.