19 June 1998

Day 20: Polar Bear, Box Cores

Today started off in the morning (naturally) where Mr. Buckley and I ran all of the samples from yesterday through the usual procedures of nutrient/chemical wheaton bottles, salinities, and filtrations. It took a fair amount of time, and I finished it up as Mr. Buckley went to wait in the ever-growing line at Polar SBC (the ship's coffee shop). The day turned out to be fairly nice, though, and I began to spend a good deal of time outside afterwards. It turned out I had little to do all day, and I could hang around outside, and soak in the beautiful arctic sky. Terry had gone on some helo photo flights, and wasn't intending on sampling today, so I had the afternoon to myself.

I was at my usual post on the bow, and Pete Tilney came to join me. It started off -- us looking for Polar Bears, the usual drill, but that soon faded away, and we went onto other subjects. Time passed, probably about an hour. The boat was parked for a station, though the ice-folks weren't out on the ice. Pete had been enjoying the sun, reading, before coming to converse and watch for ice-life. We ended up talking about various athletic activities, either running, or canoeing, when I happened to glance over my shoulder.

"Oh my God!!" I exclaimed.

"Oh my God!!" Pete repeated.

Polar Bear StandingRight up on the hull, on the edge of the ice the ship had broken, was a magnificent polar bear staring inquisitively up at us. It cocked its head at our surprise, and then struck a pose that was too beautiful for a camera to capture. At that point though, I was already snapping away. Pete and I were the only ones on the bow, exchanging surprised glances with each other and the bear. It was nothing short of full-grown, appearing large even from the twenty feet at which we viewed it from. We had a moment alone with the bear -- a priceless moment, and then the crowd came, at which point the bear became cautious, and made his way back into the pressure ridges.

This bear had a sleek white coat, with a yellow belly and paws. His nose poked in the air like a blind man would use his walking stick. He made no noise -- vocal, or otherwise. His paws were so large that they muffled the crunch of the snow that you'd expect to hear from such a large animal. It was impressive to see how easy a bear of that size and speed can creep up on you so silently. It is probably the same way they are able to sneak up on a seal -- or a human being when the situation serves the bear's purpose.

On my bear tally list, this would make for seven wild polar bears in my life. I hope to see more, as the rush is never lost, but I am content with the interaction I had today. It cannot be bought with money -- to interface with an animal that is so cunning and efficient that it can live on this barren ice to me is the most honorable gift that the heavens can provide... We talk about interacting with intelligent life from other planets when we are ignoring it here on earth (which gives an indication of our intelligence).

The rest of the day was fairly laid-back. I got into the geo-lab after my workout, and designed a cup to go down with the box-core at the 200 meter station in Barrow canyon. On the outside I drew a landscape with a walrus in the foreground on one side, a polar bear on the other, the ice-flow in the background with the ship breaking through it and the midnight sun. On the outside rim I wrote my name, the name of the ship, and I wrote "N of the Arctic" meaning I was north of the circle, but I ran out of room. On the bottom of the cup (outside), I filled in all the negative space around "A.P. 1998" with blue. It was meant to be the water under the ice flow. On the inside of the cup, I drew the bottom of the ice, with Melosira hanging down and the other type of algae that we saw earlier on the trip was living on the ledges underneath the ice. Below that was an ROV cruising around with its halogen lights shining bright, a swimming Bill, and a Bowhead whale. On the inside bottom of the cup I drew the bottom of the ocean (as I had seen it on the ROV tapes). I included brittle stars and sand-dollars -- which were all I could fit in my "cup's universe."


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