Hey hey Boo Boo lets go steal some picnic baskets

This beautiful she bear came within ten feet of the stern of the cutter yesterday. She sniffed the air, dug at some snow, even got on her hind quarters and begged for some bacon covered doughnuts. She stuck around for half hour before she bunkered down in the snow to get out of the driving wind. She returned an hour later to see if we had any treats for her. It is pretty exciting to get within a few feet of a wild polar bear. I don't think I could have gotten any closer if I was at a zoo.

Make the cold stop

Today is a frosty 12 degrees with the wind blowing 30 knots sustained andchilling the air to -12 degrees. Burrrrr

I'll just forget about working on my tan.

Today is the coldest day in the Arctic yet. With temperatures peaking in the teens and frigid gust of 30 knot winds, buttoning ones jacket is a must. The five minutes of standing in formation for quarters resulted in teary eyes and runny noses. In one of the photos the deck department is struggling to put down the safety nets around the flight deck because of strong, blowing winds

They tried to ditch me

I was on the ice pack the other day documenting dive operations when one of the Lieutenants noticed that the ship was drifting off the spot it was parked. The ship drifted so much that they had to send a helicopter to come pick us up, rather than using the crane. It was my shortest helicopter ride to date.

I'm Going On A Bear Hunt

I was having dinner, scallops in a pepper creme sauce, on the mess deck when I hear my name piped over the 1MC to contact the bridge. It was the National Geographic producer telling me that a bear and her two cubs were spotted from the bridge of the cutter. I quietly informed the scientist and then beat feat my room to grab my 80-400 lens, that I almost left at home, and took the stairs two at time. I arrived at the bridge breathless and eager to see the bear. I must have snapped 50 pictures, but to see a polar bear in her natural element is a special thing. One of her cubs seemed incredibly curious, and kept straying from his mom to get closer to the big red boat breaking up his icy home. In the photo his mother is standing, as if to tell the boat not to get any closer to her wayward son.

Polar Bears but no Coca Cola

What About the Bears?

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea’s red hull cuts through the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean set on finding polar bears. Aboard the 399-foot icebreaker is a team of scientists dedicated to recapturing bears that are tagged with collars that transmit a global positioning signal to a locater device allowing the cutter’s crew to steam toward the bears. The scientists are hoping to gain a better understanding of how polar bears are surviving in their changing environment.

In the spring scientists, working from a base camp near Deadhorse, Alaska, used helicopters to track polar bear paw prints and locate the animals.

“We targeted females because male bears necks are bigger than their heads and can shake off the collars,” said Dr. Merav Ben David, professor of Zoology at the University of Wyoming and one of the lead scientists in charge of the mission.

Every spring, as temperatures warm and ice melts, the polar bears either stay near shore, and scavenge for food, or follow the receding ice to hunt for seals.

While the earth as a whole is getting warmer, polar bears are losing their hunting ground. Scientists are going to use the data collected from the recaptured bears to analyze how ice loss is affecting these arctic creatures, said Ben David.

Ben David said that the scientists captured and collared 19 bears. Of those bears that were caught and released four shook off their collars and two remained on shore. This leaves 13 bears for scientists to track, tranquilize, study and release.

The collars, in addition to transmitting a position signal, also relay the ambient temperature and are submersible, to study how much time the polar bears spend in the water.

The collars are outfitted with a self-release mechanism, and slated to separate from the bears on Nov. 1. The scientists, working together with the Coast Guard, have limited time to find the bears before the collars deactivate.

The Coast Guard was commissioned by the National Science Foundation to transport the scientists to the northern end of the earth. The Polar Sea’s icebreaking capabilities allows the scientists to get closer than ever to the polar bears and study the bears in a new way. This collaboration marks the first time bears have been studied using the Polar Sea.

My Partners in Crime

In addition to the various scientist aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea there are also various photographers and vidoegraphers. From new to the art, such as your local blogger, to the seasoned pro, i.e. Daniel Cox, who is currently working for Polar Bear International.

Photos tell a story, and if captured in the right way can be very effective. The photographers aboard are here to tell the story of different scientific groups heading to the Arctic.

Of course Greg Marshall from National Geographic is here, and Daniel Cox, as mentioned before, but there is also Rick Morris, a freelance videographer who is documenting the ice-dive teams, and Christina Galvan, a Hayward, Calif. native, who is here to gain experience, take photos, and blog to her students about her trip.

Aside from the inherent beauty and cold temperatures of filming in the Arctic comes with a bountiful cornucopia of challenges to over come. Challenges that include but are not by any means limited to as shipboard isolation, slow or no Internet, potential for equipment failure and just plain not having the right equipment at the right time, and preparing cameras and lens for different atmospheres.

The icebreaker is also fundamental challenging to shoot because its overhead florescent lighting, steep ladders, and constant ambient noise that is always being picked up by the camera.

I had every intention of time lapsing a sunrise sequence this morning, however I got outside just in time to watch the fog roll in. It is a good thing I have four and half weeks left.