Edge of the Arctic Shelf

Home to Nome
This morning some strange sights greeted me as I stepped out onto the weather decks. The sky was orange, heralding a beautiful sunrise... And, shimmering in the distance, was a vague outline of land--Cape Lisburne. It had been weeks since we had seen any change in the flat gray horizon line. Jim Johnson, Julia Linke and I cavorted on deck, admiring our long shadows and the warmth of the sun's energy hitting our faces.

Packing and cleaning were our big projects today. It took some time to disassemble the rabbit's-nest of cabling, power supplies, and other associated computer gadgetry from my little bit of desk space in the main lab. I felt a strange mixture of happiness and sadness. I was happy that I would soon be seeing my family, but sad, too, to part with all of the new friends I had made on the Healy. I think others in the science party felt it too... was it really almost over?

While the Healy steamed towards the Bering Strait this afternoon, I joined LCDR Kenny, LT Hollinger, Petty Officer Holt, and Seth Danielson for a short recon flight to the Seward Peninsula. After following the coast for a few miles, we cut inland, flying past snow-covered mountains. Furry round blobs milled about below us... Muskoxen! We emerged on the other side of the Seward Peninsula and were awestruck by the drastic shift in coastal scenery - instead of flat beaches, sheer mountain slopes dove straight into the sea. It was an incredible trip, and before I knew it we were hovering over the flight deck in the warm afternoon sun.

These questions about animals are from Mrs. Lyons' fifth grade class at Mount Alvernia Academy in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Caitlin: What is your favorite Arctic animal?
Answer: Hi Caitlin, that's a tough question! Choosing between marine mammals like polar bears and walruses and land mammals like muskoxen and arctic fox is a pretty difficult task. I'd have to say that my favorite is the one common arctic animal that I have never seen - the arctic fox. I have always been fascinated by foxes, perhaps since I see red foxes frequently on Cape Cod. Arctic foxes wear beautiful snow-white coats in winter, but in summer their coats change color to either a bluish-gray or dusky brown. They eat seabird eggs and even follow polar bears out onto the ice to scavenge from their kills. Their ears are smaller and more rounded than their larger red fox cousins to the south, an adaptation that helps them retain more heat. I hope someday to see one!

Jay: Are there any huge animals?
Answer: There are indeed huge animals in the Arctic. The biggest of them all is the bowhead whale. They are one of the larger baleen whales, measuring 40-65 feet in length and weighing between 50 and 100 tons. You might think polar bears are big, but it would take 100-200 polar bears to equal the weight of one bowhead whale!

Michela: What animal is endangered the most there?
Answer: I had to do some online research to find this answer. I searched the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species website, which contains a listing and description of threatened species across the world. Two arctic species are listed as "critically endangered," which means they are "facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future." A tiny mouse-like animal, the Wrangel Lemming, and a bird, the Eskimo Curlew, both made the top of the arctic list. The IUCN estimates that there are less than 50 mature individuals left of each of these species.

Julia: Have you seen any whales, and if so, what kind?
Answer: We did see some whale spouts today on our trip south. It was hard to tell what kind of whales they were, but most likely they were fin whales heading south for the winter.

Tomorrow we bid farewell to the Healy, our floating home and office for the past 30 days. Both of the ship's helicopters will be shuttling our science party and luggage to the nearby town of Nome, Alaska starting before dawn.