Baby Polar Bear

Here's a photo taken by Seth, a polar bear tracker for the Canadian government, of a baby polar bear with his mother. Seth took this photo on Friday while they were measuring and tagging the baby bear's mother. The mother is immobilized while Seth and Dennis do their tagging. It does not hurt the mama polar bear. She is up and about within a half hour, so the guys have to work fast!

Final Hours

It's Monday morning and we have an authentic arctic blizzard blowing outside the center. Last night, several of out team members slept inside the igloo we built on Saturday. We'll see how they survived when whey come stumbling back in!

Saturday we had a day off and were able to see a little of the town of Churchill. We did some shopping (that was fun) and hung out at the local restaurant and mingled with the locals. Some of the team went dog sledding. I didn't ride the sled but I did hug and cuddle the puppies. They were too cute!

We are winding down our work here at the CNSC. We took measurements from all of our snow pits and have nearly processed all of the branchlets. It will be a bittersweet goodbye tomorrow when we fly out. I have met some great people - not only my fellow Earthwatch teachers but the staff and other volunteers. I am SO glad I was able to participate in this program. I encourage everyone reading this to do something that's out of your comfort zone. I even came to enjoy getting out in the sub-zero temperatures and riding the qamatuk!

This will be my final post since I will be leaving in the morning. I will bring back lots of pictures and, on Friday AFTER the chapter 27 test, I will share some of my experiences with my students.

Until I see you again........ SCIENCE RULES!

Mrs. Barrett

Here's How We Travel!

One Week in the Arctic!

Today marks my one week "anniversary" here at the CNSC. Time has passed so quickly. I guess if you are really busy, like the team has been, time seems to speed up.

Yesterday we had an excellent lecture from Dennis and Sean, who work for the Canadian government tracking polar bears. Unfortunately, we are here at the wrong time of the year to see any of these great, white, creatures. The males are still out on the ice feeding off the ring seals that live there. The females are on land, in dens, preparing their young for the harsh life of a polar bear. The females are starting to take the young cubs out onto the ice, though. This is why Dennis and Sean are here - to tag these young cubs so they can be tracked throughout their lives. It was very interesting and I will share what I learned with you when I get back.

Today, we will be building an igloo! No, I'm not brave enough to sleep in it. I will, however, help with the building. Then, this afternoon it's back out to the snow and ice to take more samples. It's supposed to be REALLY cold today. We'll see how Mrs. Barrett handles that! I can see myself kvetching already.

Question of the day: What is the lifespan of a polar bear?

It was a cold day......

It's now 6:30 p.m. and I am recovering from a long, cold, day. We struck out early this morning to collect more snowpack data. The site we collected from was very deep, 195 centimeters. Although the temperatures weren't that bad, the wind picked up so it felt even colder. It took us a long time to take our measurements from the two snow pits. By the time we got back, I was tired, cold, and hungry. Luckily, we were able to spend the afternoon relaxing. I took a nice, long nap!

Last night we were treated to a wonderful presentation about the auroras from Roger the "Starman". Auroras are really spectacular to see in person. I hope you all get the chance someday. Although Churchill is not considered "arctic" by its latitude, it is ideally situated to take advantage of the aurora umbrella. I can't wait to share the rest of his lecture with you.

Question today: What sun cycle are auroras associated with?

Be good!

Finally, some rest!

It's Tuesday afternoon here in the subarctic and we are finally experiencing some downtime. Yesterday, I spent most of my time weighing the branchlets that were processed on Sunday. Afterwards, I stayed behind while everyone else went out to collect snow measurements. That is because I was elected to setup the database for the branchlet data. Since I have a lot of experience with Excel spreadsheets, the rest of the team thought I was the best member for the job!

This morning, however, I was able to suit up and ride the qamatuk (that's a sled pulled by snowmobiles) out to one of the snow collecting sites. I'm so proud of myself. I was out for about 2 hours in 0 degree F temperatures and didn't snivel once. Pretty good for a California girl.

Tonight, we have a lecture by Roger, affectionately know as "Starman". He is the guru of astronomy here at the center. I'm sure I'll be bringing back lots of good information to share with you.

Thanks for the questions. Katarina asked about when will we know the results of the study we are doing. Unfortunately, this is a long term study. The scientists here will be collecting data for many years, They will be logging the measurements that are taken daily and keep a running record of them. They will then be able to look at the measurements over a period of years and see if there are any changes. Most scientific work that is done in the field like this are long term. These studies aren't the type that give you instant results. In this case, patience is a virtue.

Question of the day: What are the native people of northern Canada called?

Until tomorrow........

Getting Down To Business

The first full day here at the Churchill Northern Study Centre (I called it the Canadian Northern Studies Center in previous posts) was busy. We were up at 6:30 am, ate breakfast, and then spent the rest of the day cataloging tree branch samples that had been gathered last week by the previous Earthwatch team. It was very tedious work, to say the least. We had to cut, measure, preserve, and weigh 567 samples. The team felt a great deal of accomplishment when it was over. We all worked well together and had a great time getting to know one another.

Tomorrow, most of team will go out and gather snow samples. I will not be with them because I have volunteered to stay behind and weigh the 567 samples we prepared yesterday. We have to weigh the samples everyday for a week to measure how much moisture was in the branchlet. The data gathered from this study will provide a baseline moisture content to measure against in the future.

We did go outside for a few minutes this afternoon. The temperature was actually warmer than usual. However, it was still very cold, less than 0 degrees F. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to "suit up" for cold weather. Below is a list of the clothes I had on:

Silk undershirt

silk "longjohns"

Polyster pants

Cotton Longjohns (top & bottom)

Sweatshirt w/hood

Ski Pants

Parka

3 pairs of socks

boots

3 pairs of mittens

knit hat

Balaclava 

face mask

nylon hood

Whew! It took me a while to put them on and take them off. I felt very warm but my glasses kept fogging up underneath my goggles. I didn't have them on tight enough.

Question: One of the scientists up here is studying the tree rings of the various trees that grow here. What do we call the study of tree rings?

Until then.........