March 17, 2008 Nighttime on the Healy

Journal

These pictures are for Ms. Manning's class! I took these pictures of the sunrise and nighttime we were traveling between sampling stations. If you would like to see more pictures of from aboard the Healy, click here. The images are of the bow of ship. They are updated every two minutes.

A snowy night

A snowy night

A snowy night aboard the Healy

A pressure ridge in the night

A pressure ridge in the night

A pressure ridge in the night

Dawn breaking

Dawn breaking

A sunrise in the Bering Sea south of St. Lawrence Island.

Early morning

Early morning

A sunrise in the Bering Sea south of St. Lawrence Island.

I finally saw my first male walrus on Saturday! Off to the portside of the ship, we saw him just prior to reaching our first sampling station. We have been in the ice for the past couple of days. First year ice, less than a meter thick, moves a lot with the wind. There are leads, open patches of water that look like creeks, interspersed throughout the floes of ice. Our big lone bull out on the ice, was near a location a lead had closed. There was a lead less than 100 meters away.

Off in the Distance

Off in the Distance

Walrus on the pack ice in the Bering Sea, Alaska

The depth of the Bering Sea was approximately 80 meters when we went by the male. Walrus can dive up to 90 meters to feed on clams on the bottom. More than likely, he came up to rest on the ice when the lead closed. We have seen several groups of walrus in the past couple of days. Most of them have been swimming in the leads. As we approach the polyna near St. Lawrence Island, the abundance and density of the walrus is expected to increase.

For more information, Visit the USGS walrus research home page at http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/walrus/index.html.

Coming Closer