NOAA Teacher at Sea
Mary Cook
Onboard R/V Norseman II
March 18-30, 2016
Mission: Deepwater Ecosystems of Glacier Bay National Park
Geographical Area of Cruise: Glacier Bay, Alaska
Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Time: 7:40pm
Data from the Bridge
Temperature: 37.6°F
Pressure: 1013 millibars
Speed: 0.0 knots
Location: N 58°51.902’: W 137°04.737’
Science Log
Happy Birthday to Cheryl!
Unbeknownst to Cheryl, Chief Scientist Rhian Waller, even though she was very busy preparing for the cruise, brought balloons, streamers, candles, and noisemakers to celebrate Cheryl’s birthday today.
The ship’s chef is secretly making her a cake. The celebration is slated for tonight at dinner. Shhhhh……
This morning, Chief Scientist Rhian Waller announced that we are steaming toward the end of the west arm of Glacier Bay to Johns Hopkins Glacier. This is a place where cruise ships take tourists in the Fall. But the Park Service has it closed during the Spring and Summertime because it’s a harbor seal nursery. The nightshift workers are trying to catch a few winks of sleep before we get there. No one wants to miss it. We are hoping for clear skies. Johns Hopkins Glacier is one of the few glaciers that is advancing instead of receding. As it advances, it is joining the Gilliman Glacier.
It’s 10:30 am and we’ve arrived sooner than I expected. Johns Hopkins Glacier is really something to see! So massive. Once again everyone is out on deck taking pictures and oohing and aahing.
The glacier has shades of blue and white with streaks of brown and gray. It has a covering of white snow that looks like cake icing. The glassy water is a blue-green color with a multitude of icebergs floating in it. Bob Stone uses a term we all like—“bergy bits”—meaning small pieces of floating ice. He even brought some “bergy bits” onto the ship for us to add to our water or soft drinks. So refreshing!
While on deck taking pictures we hoped to see the glacier calve and fall into the sea. It sounds like thunder. We waited and we waited and finally a couple of small ones happened. Also, a couple of snow avalanches slid off the mountains into the water leaving dirty brown streaks along the slopes.
Our scuba divers went down for another exploratory look and came up with a first! They found Primnoa pacifica in the West Arm! This is the first Primnoa pacifica ever found here. They described it as spindly and small in comparison to the others found in the East Arm.
The scuba divers continue their search for Red Tree Coral.
The significance of this Red Tree Coral being in the shallow water is that it has been considered a deep-water coral. There are two broad categories of coral: warm-water coral and cold-water coral. Generally, warm-water coral live in shallow, tropical waters. Cold-water coral live in deep water. The emergence of cold-water corals like Primnoa pacifica in the shallow waters of Glacier Bay has caused scientists to re-evaluate their understanding and descriptions of these organisms.
The third and last scuba dive for today was described as “mud, mud, and more mud”. A bit of a disappointment but they did bring up an interesting little critter.
This sea peach is a tan color here in the wet lab, but according to Bob, in its natural habitat it has a bright cherry red color.
Well, it’s finally suppertime! That means “Birthday Party Time!” The ship’s chef, Harry served up a delicious meal of salmon, barbeque chicken, steamed kale, baked summer squash, scalloped potatoes and a big salad. For dessert, he prepared a layered chocolate cake with freshly made whipped cream and strawberries. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Cheryl.
After she blew out the candles we went out on the deck and ate cake with new friends in the view of majestic mountains and glaciers.
A birthday to remember, I’ll say.
Now it’s back to work and the ROV crew is getting ready to deploy Kraken 2 for another night of exploration!
Personal Log
Today has been a day of anticipation and inspiring wonder. I’ve tried to stay out on deck watching the glacier. Hoping for calving and avalanches. It’s really neat to me that no one else is here. We haven’t seen anyone else except four Park Service employees who boated out to meet us today. I found out that there are over 1,000 glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park! Some of them aren’t even named. I enjoyed watching a couple of bald eagles sitting on icebergs. And the absolute coolest thing has been the discovery of Primnoa pacifica in the West Arm of Glacier! I could feel the excitement in the air!
It’s so thrilling to be a part of this scientific exploration and to learn from these world-class researchers!
