your correspondent

Carin Ashjian, Chief Scientist Carin is a researcher with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Read her Bio

See where Healy went during this trip

other bering blogs

Global Ocean Exploration, by Gaelin Rosenwaks (Healy Cruise #2)

PolarTREC: Bering Sea Benthic Studies, by Emily Davenport, with BEST-BSIERP investigators Allan Devol and David Shull (Healy Cruise #2)

PolarTREC: Bering Ecosystem Change, by Craig Kasemodel, with BEST-BSIERP investigators Lee Cooper and Nora Deans (Healy Cruise #1)

view from the bridge

The Healy “Aloft-Con” records hourly images of the ocean ahead of the ship. A list of images is available here.

working on the ice next to the healy

Note: All times are GMT; image file names ending in times between -1800 and -0600 show images made during the day. See more images

weather forecasts

45-knot winds, seas 12-19 ft, but at least there's freezing spray
NOAA Forecast for Bering Sea Offshore

Logbook: Second Healy Cruise 2008
March 29-May 6

Posts by Carin Ashjian, Chief Scientist for HLY0802

Cruise Highlights

Cruise Report | Describes who was on the cruise and what was accomplished
Archived Cruise Logs

After two months at sea, 8,000 nautical miles, and more than 1,100 science evolutions at 200 locations, the USCGC Healy returned to Seattle.

Chief Scientist Carin Ashjian said the expectations and goals of the science party were met or exceeded. “Overall, we were impressed by the importance of ice algae as early spring food for the animals in the water and on the seafloor, as well as the animals that actually live on the bottom of the sea ice,” she said. “We have made a significant step toward understanding how the Bering Sea ecosystem relies on the presence and persistence of sea ice.”

See full story in the US Coast Guard news

Ship's Log: May 6
Return to Dutch Harbor

healy back in dutch harbor 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.

Go to HLY0802 Log Archive