25 May, 2000

Greetings from St. John's, Newfoundland!

What's red with a white stripe, brand new, and about the length of one and one-half football fields? GIVE UP?

The new United States Coast Guard Cutter Healy!

Today scientists and the Coast Guard will be working together on this new icebreaker to learn more about the Arctic region. The Healy has been specially designed to conduct scientific research in the extreme conditions of the icy Arctic Ocean where temperatures can be lower than -50 degrees F.

The Healy was named after Michael Healy who in the late 1800's was the captain of the BEAR, a famous Coast Guard cutter. Captain Healy helped to protect natural resources in the Alaskan waters, got supplies to isolated places, helped to enforce laws and treaties, and conducted scientific research as well.

Since the Healy is a brand new ship for conducting research, each week for the next four weeks different groups of scientists will be coming aboard to test a wide variety of scientific operations. They'll be watching to make sure everything is working correctly and that good data can be collected from the Healy. These are called "Science Ice Trials."

Now another little riddle for you. What is big and white, starts its life on land, and ends its life floating in the ocean?

GIVE UP? To find the answer to the riddle and to learn more about the city of St. John's, Newfoundland, go to:

Janice's page.

Did you know thatŠ

the Nunavut Territory came into being on April 1, 1999? About 80 percent of the Nunavut Territory's population is Inuit. This territory of Nunavut is about one fifth of Canada's landmass. See if you can find Nunavut on a new map.

Data for the day (5/25/00) :

air temperature: 5.5 degrees C / 42 degrees F

latitude 48N

longitude 51W

P.S. I haven't seen a polar bear or a puffin, but we have seen lots of fog!

This is the USGSC Healy docked at Pier 17 in St. John's, Newfoundland. Look at those cars in the parking lot and you can see just how huge the Healy is. It is 420 feet long! The bow is the front of the ship, and the back of the ship is called the stern. Can you find the helicopter on the helo deck?