Trying to stay awake

We should be on station tomorrow sometime, which means that tomorrow night
will be my first night of sampling. I got the special pleasure of the
night shift. Trying to adjust my sleeping before I actually need to stay
awake hasn't worked. After about 10pm there just isn't anything to keep
me awake. They get the armed forces network on the TV, but that really
isn't all that entertaining. I spent three hours last night on the
bridge, watching ice go by under the light of ice lights--two giant
floodlights mounted on the bow of the ship. In some places they made the
ice sparkle like you wouldn't believe. That's what they use to steer the
ship by a night; they pick out the path of least resistance through the
ice. Slow and tedious, but we'll get there eventually.

I saw my first mammal today, a couple of seals in the crack between two
huge sheets of ice. One of the other guys saw a group of walrus, but I
missed them. There will be more.

We had three guys go out in the helicopter today. We have one scientist
from Fairbanks studying the community structure of algae and zooplankton
that live beneath and within the ice itself. I should get an opportunity
to go out sometime and help take some ice cores. What else is there to do
when you're surrounded by ice?

Should have something more exciting to tell y'all tomorrow.
Steve

Thanks to Kathy Kuletz for the photo.