Finale

Back ashore, even the hard times seem great, as we settle in to normal day-to-day work. Thanks to all the folks in the field and behind the scenes for such great work. Photos taken by Captain Dave Janka, Deborah Mercy, Scott Pegau, Jim Pettigrew, Rebekka Federer and Leslie Abramson. Music by Mark Halverson and Kerstin Cullen.

Last Night on the Auklet

Mark and Kerstin playin' old favorites, as the sun set yesterday evening. Our last night on the Auklet was filled with laughter, music and finally, sleep!

Winding Down

Another beautiful sunny day out on Prince William Sound. We are all so grateful for the light breeze and blue skies. Today, we continued our normal operations, but with an eye toward cleaning-up, as tomorrow is our last day in the field. By Sunday evening, we will all be back in Cordova, and  then starting Monday, we can begin to further analyze our data.  But for now, we get one more delicious meal on the Auklet and one more night at sea, rocked to sleep by the seas and sounds of nature.

Glider Operations

The Alena K finally joined us from Cordova on Wednesday to help with drifter deployment/retrieval and ctd transects. The Alena K is a platform for launching the two AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) that are part of the Experiment. These photos are of the glider, a special type of AUV  which moves up and down in the water column by changing buoyancy. Wings allow steerable gliding, thus horizontal propulsion. The vehicle glides without an engine, taking oceanographic measurement , and, at the surface, fixes its position via GPS and communicate via satellite. Every morning the crew of the Alena K sends these AUVs out on their mission and then picks them up at a pre-determined spot in the evening.

SUN!!!!!

We had a glorious day aboard the Auklet. Heading down to Northern Montague we saw a humpback whale, lots of Dall's Porpoises, a pod of Resident (fishing eating) Orcas, all the more spectacular becuase a great ball of hydrogen and helium plasma was visable in a blue sky. Luckily videographer Deborah Mercy, from the Alaska Sea-Grant Marine Advising Program, was there to see it all as we did CTD casts and Biological Sampling.

We had just put the CTD cast in the water of Green Island when a humming bird buzzing at full speed zoomed into the Auklet's cabin. The confused bird needed help finding its way out (i.e. not via the closed windows), so we had to delay sending the instrument down and help it to freedom.

-Kerstin

Public Event in Valdez

On Tuesday, a public event was held in Valdez where researchers presented the experiment and the findings so far to a crowd in the Valdez Civic Center. The presentation was followed by an open house on the dock where people could view the oceanographic equipment. It was a great success with a lot of interest from the public. The attendance included Valdez Mayor Cottle, House Representative Harris, Commissioner Hartig of the DEC, the US Coast Guard, and many others.

Top left: Dr. Yi Chao of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab shows wind direction produced by different models. Top right: Dr. Carl Schoch describes surface currents from HF radar.

Bottom left: School children from Cordova model an ROV used to clean up oil spills (popcorn) in the Valdez harbor while Dr. Scott Pegau and Molly McCammon watch on.

Bottom right: Nancy Bird and Torie Baker answer questions and serve refreshments on the Alena K.

-Darcy D

Stowaway on the Alena K!

Yesterday, a stowaway was discovered aboard the Alena K... Pete Puffin! He looked hungry so Scott fed him some Mike and Ikes (although his favorites are fish, squid or crustaceans). Turns out, Pete is pretty handy as an oceanographic researcher. He knows a lot about circulation in the Sound, can use a marine radio and perform a CTD cast. Learn more about Pete Puffin's adventures in Alaska's currents in the children's book, Pete Puffin's Wild Ride, by Libby Hatton.

http://www.alaskageographic.org/store/products/pete-puffins-wild-ride-cruising-alaskas-currents