OCTOBER 11

Temp: 29

Weather: Partly sunny to cloudy and snowing, winds 25 knots

Hello from a place with no name. We are about 100 miles north of Barrow, straddling the shelf break in the Chukchi Sea. This was a day of deploying research equipment, so the ship was stationary much of the time. We only perform seabird surveys when the ship is in motion, so after a week on this vessel, I went exploring to see what the other scientists were up to.

Follow the Healy's route and see more photos on this map.

Today we tested a "glider" which is a shiny yellow 6-foot-long tubular device with fins that resembles a small jumbo jet. It's a new generation of oceanographic equipment, which has the ability to collect continuous data as it travels, self-propelled, through the ocean. The remote-controlled device is programmed to dive, collect data, resurface, and dive again. Data is relayed through a satellite link when the device breaks the water's surface, similar to satellite tracking tags glued to the backs of marine mammals.

In the afternoon, amidst 8 to 10 foot swells and 25 knot winds, they lowered a small boat to take the glider out for a test run. This was not the glider's maiden voyage, but the first step was to make sure it would work in Arctic water. Why, is the glider sensitive to cold? Will it get sad and lonely? Why might it not work in the Arctic? The answer might surprise you.

It's all about ocean salinity. Salt water is denser than fresh water, which is why swimming in the ocean is so much easier than in a lake. The dense water makes things more buoyant. Chukchi Sea water is very fresh due to sea ice melt and other freshwater inputs. So if the water has low salinity, the glider may not be able to float to the surface to transmit data.

A few crewman waited more than a half hour for the test to be complete, decked out in survival suits and bucking seas tall enough to make the small boat disappear at times. The glider did not resurface on its own, so they pulled in the recovery buoy and discovered that the tether had broken-no glider attached. But don't shed a tear just yet, that's not necessarily the end for the glider-through remote control it can be sent on its pre-programmed mission where it may resurface properly. But for now it’s spending its first night alone in the Arctic Ocean, quietly transcribing sensory data in wait for its big chance to transmit to the world. May it find its way to saltier waters.

Melanie Smith, Landscape Ecologist, Audubon Alaska