NOAA Fisheries News Releases
NEWS RELEASE
August 15, 2001
Carol Tocco, Public Affairs NMFS
(907) 586-7032
U. S. COAST GUARD ICEBREAKER SUPPORTS SCIENCE IN THE ARCTIC, VISITS RUSSIA
August 8, 2001 - The U. S. Coast Guard Cutter POLAR SEA's Arctic West Summer 2001 (AWS-01) cruise will support scientific missions for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraction's (NOAA) National Marine Mammal Laboratory, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and other scientists conducting oceanographic research in the biological and physical/chemical oceanography of the Chukchi Sea. But the cruise may be remembered as the first U. S. Coast Guard icebreaker research cruise to the Russian coast of Chukotka in almost half a century.
After conducting southern hemisphere operations during the Antarctic summer months of January through March, 2001, the POLAR SEA is proceeding to the arctic to conduct ship equipment tests and personnel training and is available to support Science of Opportunity. During the first portion of the POLAR SEA cruise, the ship's force will retrieve and redeploy hydrophones in the Gulf of Alaska, a project funded by NOAA's National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, Washington, and NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Newport, Oregon. These instruments have continuously recorded acoustic signals in the Gulf for a full year to study migratory patterns of large whales, such as blue, finback and humpback whales, as well as seismic, volcanic, and landslide signals around the North Pacific basin.
En route north, the POLAR SEA will deploy four Argos satellite-tracked drifting buoys off the mouth of the Yukon River delta. These drifters will provide the NOAA/NMFS, Auke Bay, Alaska lab with frequent positions updates to permit study of Yukon River outflow dynamics affecting survival of juvenile chum and chinook salmon emigrating out of the River. These stocks are now substantially reduced from historical levels for reasons unknown, which this pilot program will address.
During the second leg of the cruise, some 20 scientists will embark from Nome, Alaska, for the short trip across the Bering Straits to Chukotka, Russia. In the mid-1990's the U.S. National Park Service (NPA) worked in conjunction with their Russian counterparts to establish the jointly managed Beringia International Park. NPS has led the effort to coordinate regional research and cultural study collaborations. More recently, the National Science Foundation (NSF) agreed to fund the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC) to establish a Marine and Terrestrial Environmental Observatory in Chukotka, similar to the BASC-managed Barrow Environmental Observatory. NSF also funded BASC to help create the Chukotka Science Support Group (CSSG), a joint venture of two Native groups, the Yupik Eskimo Society and the Naukan Production Cooperative (Chukchi). CSSG, funded through NSF and BASC and encouraged by Governor Abramovich, will facilitate arctic ecosystem studies, including global change research. Part of the POLAR SEA visit to Chukotka will help CSSG staff personnel learn the science support capabilities of the U.S. Coast Guard so that CSSG and the Coast Guard can work together effectively in the future.
One of the main objectives of the science mission of the POLAR SEA in Chuktoka will be to assess sites for this Environmental Observatory. Of the 20 scientists participating in the Chukotka leg of the POLAR SEA cruise, some will also be interviewing hunters from the Polar Bear, Walrus, and Whale hunting collectives to assess the number of animals they harvested in recent years. And, samples of grey whale meat will also be taken and returned to the U.S. for analysis of chemical contaminants that might pose health risks to human populations dependent on these marine mammals for both food and fuel. Studies of economic, health, and infrastructure needs will also be made by science party members working in association with the Alaska State government, universities, and Alaskan native groups. The cruise will first visit the port cities of Provideniya, Laurentiya, and the northernmost village of Uelen. In addition to scientific research, the POLAR SEA will also be offloading some 30,000 pounds of humanitarian and medical supplies for these communities.
From the 1880's to at least 1934, U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (forerunner of the Coast Guard) and U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker visits to Chukotka were routine. Legendary icebreaker Captain Michael Healy made several trips to Chutotka, both to chase "rum-runners", and to transport Smithsonian scientific parties ashore. Both the ships' cruise reports from the time, as well as the Smithsonian Institution science reports included many science observations and reports with wonderful photographs of Chuktoka. But for the past 50 years, USCG icebreakers have not conducted any science missions in Chukotka.
Following the Chuktoka portion of the cruise, the POLAR SEA will disembark passengers in Barrow, Alaska, and embark scientists studying physical and biological oceanography of the Chukchi Sea. Scientists from the USFWS will also conduct helicopter video surveys of marine mammal populations (for whale, walrus and polar bear), in a repeat of similar surveys conducted in the summer of 2000.
During the return transit from Barrow to the ships' homeport in Seattle, an international crew of researchers from the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NOAA, NMFS, Alaska Fisheries Science Center) and Universidad Autonoma de Baja Sur (La Paz, Mexico) will conduct marine mammal observations from the ship. If conditions permit, the researchers will collect photo-ID data and small tissue samples (via a modified crossbow) from fin whales and humpback whales in the Bering Sea to determine genetic stocks of the populations observed.
For further information, interested parties may contact:
Jana Goldman, Public Affairs Officer
(hydrophone recovery)
NOAA Oceans & Atmospheric Research (OAR)
FSMC 3, Rm 11508
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Springs, Md. 20910-3282
PH 301-713-2483 / FAX -4020
Email: jana.goldman@noaa.gov
Carol Tocco, Public Affairs Officer
(whale observations, tissue sampling; and, Yukon River work)
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Laboratory Alaska Fisheries
National Marine Mammal Laboratory, and Auke Bay Laboratory
PH 907-586-7032
Email: carol.tocco@noaa.gov
Dr. Glenn Sheehan, Executive Director
(including Public Affairs
Responsibilities)
Barrow Arctic Science Center (Chukotka science)
PO Box 577
Barrow, Ak. 99723
PH 907-852-4881 / FAX -4882
Email: basc@nuvuk.net
Karen Boylan, Public Affairs Officer
(FWS helicopter polar bear,
walrus and whale video surveys)
US Fish & Wildlife Service
Alaska Region 7
1011 East Tudor Rd.
Anchorage, Ak. 99503
PH 907-786-3431 / FAX -3495
Email: karen_boylan@fws.gov
US Coast Guard, Icebreaker Operations
PENS Lance Tinstman
USCG PACAREA, Po, Bldg. 51-5
Alameda, Ca. 94501-5100
PH 510-437-3821
Email: ltinstman@d11.uscg.mil