As you probably can guess from the title of my post, today is the “equator” of our trip to the Northern seas. And also it’s my turn to write the post for the blog, so I think it’s a good idea to sum up everything that’s happened to me during these two and a half weeks onboard. I’m not going to do it in detail but I will try to remember the most wonderful things for me.
I came here from Moscow as a student of the Summer School, and this is my first experience participating in an Arctic expedition, so I have mixed feelings about things that are happening here to me. On one hand, I am in almost total isolation from the entire world and my friends and family, and I know about news only from letters from my friends. During my first week here it was a real problem for me, although after 2 weeks passed I finally realized that the absence of internet and a mobile phone is not as catastrophic as it seemed to me in the beginning. On the other hand, this certainly is not the most interesting thing, as there are really A LOT of exciting events happening here, and the experiences I am having seem really unique. All the lectures here are given by real professionals and have no chance of being boring, the fieldwork we take part in is very exciting, and all of the people and the atmosphere onboard are pretty nice and friendly. For example, problems with taking measurements or some other scientific problems can easily be a discussed at lunch, just because the people at the table are really interested. It’s a pleasure for me to listen to a person that is telling me something that he or she is very excited about! Sometimes people just share the impressions they had from doing one of the observations or experiments. The most exciting activity for me was walking on the ice and drilling a hole in it to find out how thick it is. For me, what I am most curious about here is the view of the scientists and students from different countries on climate change and global warming problems, and I am looking forward to starting my own research in this field.
So I feel like the two and a half weeks I’ve spent here are definitely one of the most interesting and memorable experience I’ve ever had.
– Maria Parfenova
What are the most amazing things that you have learned on your expedition to the arctic.
Hi Henry, I think you “win the prize” for the most difficult question, because I have learned so many amazing things! The fact that this ship can crunch through 6 feet thick ice, that we can put an anchor down to the seafloor more than 2.5miles deep, and put scientific instruments along a cable between the bottom and the surface, and that those instruments will continue to take measurements long after the ship has left. Also, that you can find out amazing things by looking at the ice and the layers of water in the ocean – you can tell where and when the ice formed by its shape, thickness, layering, and coloring, and you can tell where a current of water is coming from by analyzing its chemical composition! So many cool things, and so many cool people to learn it from!
Hello, Lindsay!
We are 4th graders from Amherst Elementary in Jackson Local Schools. We enjoy looking at all of the cool pictures you have posted to your blog and Instagram. We especially liked your parrot picture!
How many layers of clothing do you need to wear in the arctic? Does it get pretty cold? What part of the arctic are you exploring? Have you seen polar bears or penguins? How thick is the ice?
Thanks for sharing with our class!
Miss Wolf’s 4th Grade
Hello Miss Wolf’s 4th grade class! I’m glad you are enjoying the stories and pictures – you have so many great questions! I will tell my friend in the radio room that you liked the parrots – they are so pretty. You need to wear layers of clothing depending on the cold, and also how long you will be outside. Most people, when they’re outside for more than a couple hours, wear maybe 2 layers of pants, 3 layers on top (base layer, then a sweater or fleece, then heavy coat), 2 layers of socks, 2 layers of gloves (fingers get cold easily) then boots, hat, gloves, etc. Some of the scientists who get off the ship and are out working on the ice for several hours wear special suits over all these layers too. The coldest it’s been here so far is -6°C (and it’s even summer here), but the wind makes it feel a lot colder. If you look at a map, we started from the tip top of Norway, headed north, and went around the ocean to the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea (north of Asia), and if you look at a globe, we will get to almost 85°N latitude! The ship can crack through ice 6 feet thick, and keep going. (That is amazing right? Think about the ice being as thick as a tall person.) But when the ice gets thicker than that, we have to wiggle out of it, back up, and try another path. We have seen polar bears, but penguins only live in the southern hemisphere (so polar bears and penguins would never meet in nature). But seeing polar bears was the coolest thing ever! They are so adorable, and so powerful, and amazing that they survive here!