HLY1502 letter 05 from Jim Swift

Monday, 07 September 2015, 7:00 pm, local date and time (2100 07 September UTC)

90°N (in the Amundsen Basin of the Arctic Ocean)

air -3.8 degC / 25 degF

water -1.4 degC / 29 degF

wind 16 knots from N (not certain what the “N” on the meteorological display means, considering our location!)

n station 34, at the North Pole

Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

At 7:47 am ship’s time Saturday, September 5th, USCGC Healy became the first US ship to reach the North Pole unaccompanied by another icebreaker. I am not certain of this, but Healy may also be the first ship of any nation to reach the pole from Bering Strait unaccompanied. It was also a milestone of sorts for me, because there have been three scientific crossings by surface ship from Bering Strait to the Pole - 1994, 2005, and 2015 - and I was on all three, doing similar work each cruise (and thus learning about ocean change in this remote part of the World Ocean).

My informal observations of the Arctic Ocean sea ice we have been traversing continue in the same vein as during the past two weeks: much of the ice appears to be first-year ice and passage through it has mostly not been difficult. Yes, there are larger, tougher floes and some pressure ridges. [Pressure ridges form when floes and sheets are pushed together and pile up high (and well below the surface) and can be very tough to pass through.] But these can usually be avoided and even the ones we have crossed have not yet been significant impediments to our progress. Extra power (provided by bringing more engines on line) has been required remarkably few times for an expedition working in the central Arctic Ocean. This is very different from the experiences we had with the ice 10 and 21 years ago.

There was a seal near the ship at the Pole and people saw bear tracks on the way here, so the ecosystem we associate with the Arctic Ocean - a simple food chain from phytoplankton & algae, to zooplankton, to Arctic cod (a small fish that lives under the ice), to seals, and finally to bears - is active even at the Pole.

There was a large lead (open water) quite close to the Pole, so we first carried out a long, 8-cast Geotraces science station. On our deep cast we attached several net bags full of decorated Styrofoam cups which were shrunk by the more than 400 atmospheres of pressure they encountered, making nice souvenirs. I earlier told some of you who asked how we handle the cold, “well, it isn’t all that cold in the Arctic Ocean in summer, just about freezing”. Perhaps it is time to eat words … yesterday a high pressure system built up, and with it came clear skies and a still, dry atmosphere, causing air temperatures to dip down to -14°C (7°F) when we were working. This was cold enough to freeze up our CTD in the time it took to move it from the sampling room and deploy it - it took nearly 20 minutes in near-freezing ocean waters to thaw it. This freezing damaged the CTD’s pumps and at least one sensor (we have spares), but we were able to complete the cast. Freezing was a problem during sampling, too. So we are considering some adjustments to our deployment and recovery methods such as making space to install one of those heater- blowers that are used to keep football players warm on the bench. We will use it to blow warm air over the rosette when it is outside on deck.

After we were done with the science work the captain looked for an ice floe nearby that was large and rugged enough for an excursion onto the ice. This began with a recognition and awards ceremony on the ice - I was surprised and deeply touched to be recognized for my experience and contributions - and a group photo. Then came fun for all - known as “ice liberty” - a chance to play and let loose on a couple meters of ice, floating on more than 4000 meters of water on the top of the world. Bill Landing (FSU), the co-chief scientist, played Christmas songs on his saxophone. Santa visited, too!

Life on board: Fresh vegetables are now only a memory, but there is still watermelon, apples, oranges, and grapefruit. Someone in the galley has been making very good salads from non-fresh ingredients on hand, including Asian orange, snow pea, & water chestnuts; asparagus & feta; a flavorful bean salad with a ton of minced onion; and an excellent halibut salad. We were talking about the extreme hardships long ago polar explorers faced daily. Here’s how one of the intrepid polar explorers on my hydro team summed up his first visit to the Pole: “I was awakened in my warm bunk by the pipe [announcement on the ship’s PA] that we had reached the Pole, and went back to sleep. I had Greek food for lunch and pizza for dinner.” He also worked a solid science shift including sampling freezing water barehanded, before heading out onto the ice, and quite enjoyed all his experiences at the Pole.

The North Pole is a point on the globe, a spot similar to many other places in the Arctic Ocean. I joke that it is a magnetic pole in the way it attracts steel ships. The Canadian icebreakers Louis S. St-Laurent and Terry Fox passed us southbound as we were on the final stretch to the Pole, and the German polar research ship Polarstern pulled up near us today as we were preparing to leave. We held up, each ship hosted visits, and a good time was had by all. In the next year measurements from all three nations will be compared. In our immediate future, however, we have resumed our station work, obtaining water for isotope samples that are being done in parallel with work from the Polarstern. In 2-3 hours we will be heading south (no matter which way we point the ship!).

All is well.

Jim Swift

Research Oceanographer

UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography