bering sea in the news

sound of the sea

walrusWalrus, recorded using a hydrophone by BEST-BSIERP scientist Sue Moore. LISTEN

More Sounds of the Bering Sea

program updates

  • Cruise Report from the first Healy cruise | Read More

bering sea bits

bering sea conditions
right now

Data and Imagery from AOOS

  • Sea Surface Temperature
    Tracking SST is critical for developing climate models and improved weather forecasts.
  • Sea Ice Conditions
    Sea ice movements are critical to marine mammals and humans.
  • Chlorophyll-a
    Chlorophyll-a, used by plants to turn light energy into food, is a measure of productivity at the base of the oceanic food web.

bering sea haiku

As the cold seas warm,
scientists plunge in to find
where the fishes go.

Nora Deans
BEST-BSIERP Outreach Manager

Dispatches from Healy:
The Second Cruise

healy back in dutch harborShip's Log: May 6
Return to Dutch Harbor

By Carin Ashjian, Chief Scientist for 2nd Healy Cruise, March 29-May 6

We docked in Dutch Harbor this morning. It is hard to believe that the cruise is over! But then, I just need to go back and see the labs, all clean with no equipment on the counters and no instruments humming or beeping, and I know that it is true. It has been a very successful cruise. We accomplished many of our planned objectives and sampled at many (184) different locations.

Some of the scientists have already departed, packing up their bags and cleaning their rooms before they left. The rest of us hang around, waiting for our turn to depart Healy.

It is going to be strange to return to the "real" world where we are barraged with news and facts and where our attention is diverted from doing science to the many other activities of our lives, some enjoyable and some just busy.

Soon I will board the plane for Anchorage and leave the Bering Sea behind ... until next year.

See the other log entries from the second Healy cruise

Highlights from the First Healy Cruise

  • Elusive Eiders: Spotlight on Spectacled Eiders, with more detail and pictures. >>Go!
  • Life in the Ice: Spotlight on Sea Ice, where life teems in a frozen world. >>Go!
  • First Looks: Winter oceanographic measurements in the Bering Sea. >>Go!
  • Find, Tag, Follow: BEST-BSIERP scientists managed to tag a few walrus on the first Healy cruise. >>Go!
    --    See where the walrus are right now
    --Hear an Alaska Public Radio interview with walrus researcher Tony Fischbach

BEST-BSIERP is ...

A six-year study of the Bering Sea benthos, atmosphere, and everything in between

From 2007-2012, we will look at the Bering Sea ecosystem from atmospheric forcing and physical oceanography through humans and communities.

We will also study the social and economic impacts of a changing marine ecosystem. Innovative ecosystem modeling, sound data management and exciting education and outreach activites will ti the program together.

Learn more about the program
  • "At-a-glance" version describes the program in general terms
  • In-depth presentation provides more technical detail, including the Oscillating Control Hypothesis, the BSIERP and BEST programs, and specific studies.