3 July, 2001

Rough Seas!

Tuesday, 3 July 2001

Hej! (Hello!)

Life on Board

Our vacation cruise is over! In the afternoon, a large swell came up which is causing the ship to pitch quite a bit. It also started to get cloudier than usual. It became very difficult to work or even get around the ship. I was using the laptop computer, trying to get the satellite connection to work so I can send my daily journal. I was working on the 7th deck in what they call a laboratory container (looks like a big dumpster} and it really started to rock and roll, especially being on the 7th deck so far above the water. When I went back to my cabin on the 4th deck, I found things all over the floor that had been flung off shelves. Also, the drawer lock in our small dresser didn't work so the drawers had flown out and scattered. What a mess!

Scientists at Work

This morning, before we hit rough seas, all of the people who will be working on the ice attended a meeting to learn how to use the radios for communication between groups and contact with the ship. I will be helping 2 other scientists collect ice core samples when we get into the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ), which means that there is some ice floating around but not complete coverage. We will be working on a large floating ice sheet, or floe. Because of our task, we chose the call sign ìIce Boxî to be used in radio talk.

The helicopter will be used to take us and our equipment out onto the ice so we learned how to enter the chopper and buckle in as well, and how to load our equipment using slings under the helicopter.

We also had to practice loading guns again for polar bear safety. Apparently, they will be most common in the Marginal Ice Zone due to the abundance of seals along the edges of ice floes. Each group working on the ice is required to carry one radio and one shotgun.

Where Are We Now?

Our current latitude is approximately 70o N and we are heading mostly north-northeast along the top of Scandinavia into the Barents Sea. It was interesting because I went outside last night about midnight and the sun was shining through a gap in the clouds directly in front of the ship. It now just goes around us in a circle, if we could actually SEE the sun for an entire day

Well, I am going to try to send this now with some pictures via the Iridium Satellite System. I have no idea what will make it to the website because although I have intermittent email connections, I don't have website access. I'll hope for the best!

Adjo! (Adios!)

Dena Rosenberger