MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- We've just returned from 2 weeks at Bay of Sails, where we were deploying SCINI to look at iceberg scours on the seafloor and the destruction, and recovery, of benthic communities there. All our high-tech science and engineering was supported out of the most primitive of camps... {Read More »}

BARROW, ALASKA-- One afternoon a young adult female polar bear wandered by the ship. She appeared out of the blowing snow and walked past the stern, fairly close to the ship. An hour later she reappeared and approached the ship... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE BEAUFORT SEA-- For captures, we need calm winds, good visibility, thick continuous ice, and a good bear location. Those factors came together to allow us to recapture an adult female... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE CHUKCHI SEA– Over the last week we kept the ship in the same general area, in the northern reaches of the Chukchi Sea. Several days of cooler weather allowed the ice to thicken a little, and we had another successful recapture of an adult female with her cub... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Drilling a hole through 7 m (21 ft) of sea ice is the first step in Antarctic diving.... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE ARCTIC OCEAN– We have all adjusted quickly to life on a ship, but every once in a while, it is still quite striking to remember that we are on a very small, floating city, in one of the most remote places on earth... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE ARCTIC OCEAN-- This morning at breakfast we received word that we were within 20 miles of the last known location of a bear we are targeting for capture. Over the previous 24 hours we had cruised through several hundred miles of open water... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- When we arrived in late August the sun was up for just over 5 hours per day, and was barely peeking above the horizon, with pitch black nights. Today, the sun was up for nearly 15 hours, with the night sky not getting completely dark as the sun skims just below the southern horizon... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE BEAUFORT SEA-- After writing the last dispatch, I had a nearly sleepless night in Barrow because I was so worried about all the details involved with getting all the gear and people onto the ship the next day... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Our project is just about over. We flew our last two flights on Sunday and are scheduled to fly back to New… {Read More »}