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Bering Sea Ice Research Cruise 2009
USCGC Healy,  April 4 - May 12, 2009

Page Updated: 5/15/09        

Our Spring, 2009 Bering Sea research cruise aboard US Coast Guard Cutter Healy has finished.  We left Dutch Harbor, Alaska on April 4 and returned there late on May 11, 2009.  Our research, a part of the NSF-BEST and NPRB-BSIERP programs in conjunction with NOAA's NPCREP, examined the transition from winter conditions, with well-mixed water column and annual ice, to spring, the bloom, the thermocline and productivity that jump starts the seasonal food web and ecosystem in the Bering Sea.

Our research cruise travelled through ice and open waters of the eastern Bering Sea shelf mostly north of the Pribilof Islands. We have been as far west as the International Date Line and shelf slope, north of 62°N, and east almost to Nunivak Island. Links below will show you where we have been, stories about our work, and some data that were sent from the ship.



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View:  PolarDiscovery GoogleMap with Images
Cruise Preparation:  proposed cruise track - Draft Cruise Plan (doc)

Coverage at other Sites: BEST-BSIERP - PolarTrec Teacher-at-Sea - Washington Post Article
Meet the Scientists (BEST/BSIERP site) - Polar Discovery, Woods Hole

Departing Dutch Harbor, Alaska Walrus on Ice PMEL on Ice
View of the town of Dutch Harbor, Alaska as we leave on the USCGC Healy for work in the Bering Sea View of Dutch Harbor from the ship through a confining mesh barrier. Leaving Dutch Harbor via the USCGC Healy, a view of Priest Point is seen. Walrus on Ice in Bering Sea EcoFOCI scientists at an ice station in the Bering Sea, April 7. Photo by N.Kachel
Dutch Harbor receding from view. photo E.Cokelet From the confines of USCGC Healy. photo E.Cokelet A view of Priest Rock as we leave Dutch Harbor.
photo E.Cokelet		 Walrus on ice, SE Bering Sea shelf in early April.  photo E.Cokelet EcoFOCI scientists sampling at an ice station in the Bering Sea, April 7.  photo N.Kachel

Water samples from the underway seawater sampling system were analyzed to obtain these along-track data, with plots shown below:  temperature, conductivity (for salinity calculation), chlorophyll concentration, nitrate concentration and dissolved oxygen values. Additional plots: air temperature and wind speed. [click for full size]

Along-track near-surface water temperature, eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009
Along-track near-surface salinity, eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009
Along-track near-surface chlorophyll, eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009
Along-track near-surface NO3, eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009
Along-track near-surface oxygen, eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009
Along-track air temperature, eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009
Along-track wind speed (true), eastern Bering Sea shelf, April, 2009

Previous Spring Ice Expeditions:   2006 - 2007 - 2008
Cruise tracks from previous Expeditions
Photos from previous expeditions
Cliffs on St. Paul Island in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska A puffin on the cliffs at St. Paul Island, Alaska Fur seal rookery on St. Paul Island, Pribilofs, Alaska A seal in shallow water with rocks at St. Paul Island, Pribilofs, Alaska
Deployment of CTD. photo P.Sullivan Healy in ice, algae colors.photo D.Hyrenbach Steller Sea Lions on St. Paul Island
photo E.Cokelet		 Ice-coring team in 2007
photo C.Ladd
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