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Friday 16 February 2007 What a full day! Barrow Data Links (BASC) Third picture down – back of my head – sitting with Dennis Hipperson (Aerosonde) and Alice Brower Drake (BASC) spring 2004 Barrow Sea Ice Observatory and Ice Cam Yesterday and today I spent a total of 13.75 hours in the air. I left Asheville at 307 pm on 2/15 arrived in Barrow 1030 am 2/16. After spending a few sleepless hours in the Anchorage airport, we took off at 7 am Friday morning. It was still too dark to see anything so I missed the beautiful scenery around Anchorage. It was still dark when we got to Fairbanks, but could tell that there was very little snow. By the time I left Fairbanks (a little before 9 am), a tiny bit of sunlight was creeping up. The land looks brown and cold – not much snow at all – only on the surrounding peaks, there doesn't appear to be much on the ground. The temperature is hovering at -9 and a light wind is blowing. I am finally headed to the Arctic Circle. To my surprise I am not traveling on a cargo plane this time. I am aboard a regular jet with a first class section and everything! Things are changing. Now there are two flights a day to Barrow, one must be the cargo run. There will be a lot of scientists and people visiting Barrow over the next two to three years as Barrow will a host site for the International Polar Year 2007-2008. Heading NW toward the Brooks Range the patchy brownness gives way to white covered peaks. The sunrise is stunning. A coral glow on the eastern horizon gives way to deep blue above. By the time we are over the Yukon River the highest peaks are pink-tinged and the sky is pale turquoise blue. Brown still smudges the mountains in places. I am amazed by how pink the snow looks. It must have something to do with the angle of the sun, the percent humidity of the air, and the composition of the ice crystals in the cloud-barren sky. Maybe I will investigate this later – right now it is magical and I will not seek further explanation. I am satisfied with the magic. From thirty two thousand feet above, the Brooks Range seems to suddenly rise up out of the earth and then flatten into tundra just as quickly. The tundra is shiny white. It looks as smooth and as cold as white porcelain. The color palette of the Arctic winter is white, pink, blue, brown, black, blood red. Some of the rivers and lakes had gray/black patchy areas instead of being solid white. This could indicate that they were not completely frozen. When I traveled this way in the springs of 2004 and 2005 (March and April), things looked very different. The snow and ice seemed denser, more abundant, and the waterways blended into the landscape. Now they are disturbingly distinctive. I had another shock as we approached Barrow. The airstrip is close to the ocean, and the airplane comes in from the ocean side. I kept looking for the vast expanse of sea ice that was supposed to be there, but the ocean was not frozen. I couldn't believe it. The water was an oily gray-green. Scattered ice chunks and pancakey-looking ice were floating around, and there did appear to be a skim or film of ice on the surface. But it was not frozen. There were plumes of steam coming off the water (air temperature was about -20), and I could see small waves. The pack ice was way, way off in the distance. The shorefast ice appeared to extend for less than a mile, and it looked pretty shaky. Unbelievably, in February, the coldest month of the year, this side of Barrow had open-ocean between the shore ice and the pack ice. Landed safely, -20F and dry, dry, dry. I had forgotten how quickly water leaves your skin and returns to the air. Nok Acker from BASC was there to greet me and give me a ride to the NARL (Naval Arctic Research Lab) Hotel. Almost before I said hello, I was asking him questions about the ice. Apparently, it is a topic of great concern with the people here. While we were waiting for my bag, which did not make it until the next day, Nok talked about the ice, or rather the lack thereof. He told me that there were waves on the beach in December, something that he had never seen before. The ocean is supposed to ice over in September/October, and be fairly solid for October whaling. But this year the ice was really late. I asked him how spring whaling would be affected. “Right now the ocean is so open that there isn't really a lead (opening in the ice where whales and other marine mammals can swim through). The leads help keep the whales together so that the umiaks (skin boats) can catch them. It is going to be difficult to catch the whales with so much open water.” My luggage is somewhere in either Anchorage or Fairbanks, and it is supposed to come in on the evening flight. As we left the airport I could see a huge vapor plume over the ice, so a lead had opened up on the other side of Barrow. I could not tell how far out it was. Nok said, “Look at those people out seal hunting. See those specks at the ice edge? Those are people.” His eyes are much better than mine. He has spent many years scanning the horizon for whale and seal. I hope to travel out onto the ice next week. As soon as I got to the NARL Hotel and went to find Dr. Glenn Sheehan, the person who has made so many trips happen for me. Winona Squirrel, the BASC intern responsible for community outreach and education met me at BASC. As we talked, I found out that she is from Cherokee, NC and a student at Western Carolina University. What a small world! Winona is working on a degree in Environmental Sciences. She received a Department of Energy grant for education and research. She was looking for a position where she could work as an interim in a research facility in both education and environmental sciences, and her academic advisor at WCU suggested Barrow. It was a perfect match. Winona, who is Cherokee, is now working in a native Inupiat village with scientists from all over the world, gaining experience both in science and educational/community outreach. At home we live 60 miles apart, but we had to travel almost 4,000 miles in order to meet! Winona brought her 12-year old son, Randy, with her to Barrow. He is a student at Hopson Middle School , and they live on site at BASC. Next was a meeting with Laura Smith, the archaeologist working with Anne Jensen on the excavation at Nuvuk . Laura was in the lab with two students, recent graduates of Barrow High School , who have been participants in the project for two years. I first met them, along with Laura, in the summer of 2005 when the excavations formally began. In the summer of 2004, three Carolina Day School students (Rachael Wood, Cate McLean, and Hannah Sims) worked digging test pits for Dr. Jensen. They located many potential sites which have now become part of the on-going excavation. I will be spending more time with Laura and the students next week. Winona took Laura and me for a tour of the new science facility at BASC. “Barrow is becoming the premier science city in Alaska.” Even though it would be a very short walk, at -20F we opted to drive. Plus, my heavy clothes were still up in the air (literally). The Barrow Global Climate Change Research Facility is still under construction but should be open by the end of next month. I was truly impressed with its state of the art design, the number and types of laboratory spaces, and the huge technology center incorporated into the design. Dr. Sheehan has a beautiful corner office with a curved window and an amazing view of the tundra. The building is raised, and it is a rather tall structure for this environment. In several of the outer rooms there were gigantic metal cross-bars on the inside walls. Winona said that these structures were not decorative, but were to stabilize the building against the gale force winds that often sweep across the tundra. Many of the inner rooms and labs have windows in the walls so that visitors can observe scientists at work. There is also a large media/presentation area easily accessible to the public. There will be monitoring stations and spaces for experiments on the roof. We went up there, but did not stay long due to the cold. After supper it was time to head over to Kivgiq , the Messenger Feast. The villages of the North Slope Communities have come to Barrow to celebrate with food, gift exchange, and dance. Kivgiq was being held in the high school gym. Winona, Cameron Smith (an anthropologist from Portland State University who treks across glaciers in his spare time), Monty Rogers (an anthropologist with the SNACS Bowhead Whale Project ), and I arrived about 730 pm. The place was absolutely packed and was vibrating with both English and Inupiat dialects. Each performance was announced in English and then in Inupiaq. Other announcements and instructions were given in both languages as well. Everyone there seemed to know everyone else. Babies were running all over the place, even little ones that were barely crawling were passed from family to family. There were no strangers here. When I ran into Richard Glenn , President of BASC, whaling captain, and leader in Barrow, he said, “Welcome home.” I was surprised that he remembered me from my previous trips, and his kind words truly touched my heart. The elders were seated on the floor and no one was allowed to sit in front of them. We finally found space on a bleacher on one side of the gym. Dancers from each village had a scheduled time. At the end of each performance the audience was invited to come up and dance, with preference given to adults and elders. The Inupiat have a wonderful sense of humor – there was even a dancing Eskimo Elvis who stole the show. We left about 1130 pm and they were still going strong. Later I heard that the dancing lasted until about 2 am. Learn more about the Legend of the origin of Kivgiq When I got back to BASC my luggage was waiting for me outside of my room. It was a welcome site. It has been a very full day. What adventures await me tomorrow?
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