Day 18
Monday, August 31, 2009
An Arctic Winter Wonderland and NABOS the snowman

Today I awoke to a true Arctic/Winter Wonderland as I headed out on deck, which was covered in at least half of an inch of fresh snow. That was more than enough for Birke and I to have an impromptu snowball fight, and even make a snowman on deck that we named NABOS.

The CTD casts continued through the day, with the last few casts of the Severnaya Zemlya transect being much shallower, as we were approaching the shelf. These shallow casts are usually fairly simple and quick because it takes less time to lower the rosette to the ocean floor and raise it to the surface, however at our last cast location the ice flows kept compressing in around the ship, so it took longer to make an opening in the ice to drop the rosette. We kept in communication with the bridge over the radios to take extra care to keep the cable away from the ice.

NABOS the snowman

~Becki Legatt

Day 17
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Arrival at the Severnaya Zemlya transect

The scientists on board working on with samples and water chemistry were able to catch up on some well deserved sleep during the early part of today while we were still in transit to the Severnaya Zemlya (Sev Z) transect. Many of them work around the clock collecting samples from the CTD rosette after each cast so they’re always looking forward to a break in the action.

We arrived at Sev Z and began our first CTD cast in the late evening and began one of our deepest casts, down to 1800 meters! To put that into perspective that’s lowering the CTD rosette down just over a mile from the deck of the ship! It was another very windy night out on deck, but it was fun to see the snow flying yet again. Tonight we had lots of ice plate shaped snow, another shape I don’t recall seeing all too often.

~Becki Legatt

Day 16
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Completion of Laptev Sea Transect

We have all noticed that the temperatures out on deck now are much colder than when we started the arctic expedition, so when working outside for a CTD shift or anything else on deck we all bundle up like it is mid-winter. The winds today were very strong to make it feel even colder. They reminded me of the North Dakota winds that you could almost lean back into and still stay vertical! This was the kind of arctic weather I was really looking forward to as I’m a big fan of winter and snow.

With the strong winds we had to be extra careful with CTD operations making sure the rosette and nets didn’t swing around on deck when moving them around the deck. We successfully finished up the Laptev Sea transect late this evening with a total of 16 CTD casts, 11 Biology net casts, and 1 mooring deployment during the transect. Now we head on to the Severnaya Zemlya transect location.

~Becki Legatt

Day 15
Friday, August 28, 2009
Chilly Day with more snow

CTD casts continued as we continued along the Laptev Sea transect. Today many of the mooring technicians were kept busy as they listened for one mooring and attempted to retrieve another. During the retrieval a signal was sent to the mooring and was received (in the words of the techs, they were able to “talk with the mooring”). So they were fairly confident in the location, and sent the signal for the mooring to release from the ocean floor, which should cause it to rise to the ocean surface. The problem occurred when for some reason it would not release, so after many attempts we ended up having to move on.

It was a very chilly and windy night on board during the CTD shift, but we did get to enjoy a passing snow shower. The snow fell in a shape I don’t recall seeing all too often back home. I believe the type of snow is called ice needles or ice splinters, about a quarter to half of a centimeter long.

~Becki Legatt

Day 14
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Dark skies and my juggling German friend

The last CTD station of the transect was completed in the early morning hours, and as everyone awoke from their slumber this morning we were greeted with very dark and overcast scenery. We were now in open water, and the rain and snow clouds had rolled in, taking over the sky. After coffee time my German friend and I found a new announcement on the bulletin board written in Russian, so I ran back to my room to grab my English/Russian dictionary and we had fun trying to interpret the message. We got through the first line of the message to find out there was going to be a movie showing upstairs as we sailed to the next transect. We popped our heads in and watched part of the movie and found it quite
entertaining to try to guess what was being said as we watched.

We arrived at the Laptev Sea transect shortly after dinner and completed a CTD cast and biology net cast before my shift was over for the evening. When I returned to my room my German friend had found her juggling balls to keep herself entertained in between taking samples at the stations. We shared some laughs over the entertainment before she found some prunes and tried to juggle those too! It was very funny, and pretty soon we had two men from the crew coming out to see what we were laughing about and they decided to show off their skills as well.

~Becki Legatt

Day 13
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Polar Bear Sighting #9

We have been extremely lucky with all of the bear sightings on this cruise, with yet another young visitor this afternoon. He was lying down on the ice about 50 meters off the starboard side of the ship. Shortly after I arrived on deck he playfully slid down an ice ridge and toppled over onto his back, all 4 of his feet up in the air. Then he sniffed the air, rolled over a few more times, and continued off on a walk into the distance.

Work continued on deck with CTD casts and biology net tows at stations throughout the day. It was absolutely beautiful out on deck today with a sunset that was simply breathtaking! The bright yellows and pinks of the sunset reflecting off of the ice and open water left many of us out on deck taking photos and enjoying the amazing views. It was one of my favorite nights working on the CTD shift on deck.

~Becki Legatt

Day 12
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Arriving at the Lomonosov Ridge Transect

Most of today was spent sailing to the Lomonosov Ridge transect. Many of the individuals on board used the time to prepare instrumentation and equipment. It was another cloudy day and we even were greeted with our favorite winter precipitation! Yes the snow was flying! It’s kind of neat seeing snow in the middle of winter. Even though you realize you’re in the Arctic it still seems slightly odd. We continued our CTD casts and biology net deployments on the snow covered deck as we arrived at the first station of the Lomonosov Ridge transect around 10 PM.

~Becki Legatt

Day 11
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sailing, Sleep, Sighting, and Social Day

After catching up on some well deserved sleep overnight, we all enjoyed another afternoon polar bear sighting. I think ironically some of us on board awoke mid-nap to the announcement as we also caught this guy mid-nap, sleeping on the ice. He was a very curious bear sniffing the air and even standing up on his hind legs while looking at the starboard side of the ship.

Later on in the evening we all gathered for a presentation given by the shipŠ„s radio officer, A. Talanov. The presentation was about a private company he works for, Barneo, which builds a base camp for one month each year very close to the North Pole. He showed photos of many of the visitors and the equipment used to build the camp, as well as fun events including a wedding at the North Pole.

~Becki Legatt

Day 10
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Finishing Franz Joseph Land Transect and Mooring Deployment

Many of the researchers on board were very tired this morning after working over 24 hours collecting their water samples after each CTD cast during the transect. Everyone was kept pretty busy with many CTD casts as well as the successful deployment of a mooring during the day. It was pretty neat to watch the team build and attach each of the instruments to the chain as the mooring was deployed.

A smile appeared our faces when we had a special treat on the lunch and dinner menu - juicy red watermelon. It was delicious! We finished up the transect shortly after dinner, so now we’re all looking forward to a couple days to rest and catch up on sleep before we reach the next transect.

~Becki Legatt

Day 9
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Continuing Franz Joseph Land Transect

I spent part of the evening today wandering around deck taking in the arctic views. While wandering there was another polar bear announcement. It took about a minute for us to spot the bear in the distance, but we were so excited when we did! This time it was a mother and her cub! It was simply amazing to see the little guy running after his mom, and I was one again thankful to have kept my camera in my pocket!

On a different note, tonight for dinner we had the infamous beef tongue that I have heard so much about. From what others have told me this isn’t the most liked dish on board the ship but it probably is one of the most talked about haha. For the record I did try a couple of bites just to say I had sampled the dish.

~Becki Legatt