JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: When Holga went in the Arctic (Part I/VI)

Photo Essay

When Holga went in the Arctic (Part I/VI)

By stouf

26 Dec 2008

Week 1 (Dec. 20 to Dec. 26, 2007)

N.B.: You can also see the story of my friend Ramon, he was my roommate during this cruise.

(see: http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/9735)

Day 1: 20 December 2007

02:00 – We leave the Québec airport. Our final destination is the Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker Amundsen, in the middle of the Arctic sea ice. We're all very excited, especially Ramon and I, because it's our second trip on the Amundsen, and we know what is coming...

But we also know that it is going to be a long trip before reaching the ship. The plane will stop in Winnipeg to take on other scientists and to re-fuel, and again in Yellowknife for more re-fuelling...

We finally arrived at Inuvik.

14:00 – From the Inuvik airport, we take twin-otters to reach Sachs Harbour airport... We're about 10 scientists by twin-otter and we have great fun, it's shaking, a bit scary, and so noisy that the pilot distributes hear plugs to passengers.

17:00 – We leave Sachs Harbour airport (if you can call this apartment-sized building an airport) by chopper to reach the Amundsen... Here, an important thing to add, is the fact that it's winter time, so we're in the polar night, we have only 2 hours of dusk-dawn (we don't even see the sun) and 22 hours of night...

So we're in the chopper, outside it's night, about -30°C and we're flying over the sea-ice... After five minutes, we can see a big white and orange light in the middle of the ice: the Amundsen. Now we all smile in the chopper, even if we're meeting for the first time (for some of us), we smile to each other, because we know that we're living an incredible experience, and also because our endocrine system is pumping adrenaline in our veins... This is a great moment.

The chopper finally reaches the boat surrounded by ice, lands gently on the heli deck, and we finally take our first steps on the Amundsen. Smiling is not enough, Ramon and I just laugh.

20:00 – After dinner, it's time for the first scientific meeting. Scientific meetings are directed by the chief scientist, and are moments where we organize the sampling schedule. Everyone wants different types of samples depending on their field of science. Physicists need to get on the ice to measure its characteristics, biologists want water samples or living organisms captured with big fishing nets, others are going to release meteorological balloons to make measurements in the atmosphere, and so on... So these meetings are moments where scientists decide when and what is going to be sampled, and these decisions are taken with the agreement of the Amundsen captain who as other priorities, such as not getting definitely trapped in the ice.

00:00 – We fall asleep. Still smiling.

Day 2: 21 December 2007

Position: 71.54°N / 125.25°W

09:00 – We could sleep late this morning... I feel great and remember that it is today the shortest day of our lives, less than two hours of light... After today, daylight will increase...

12:00 – We went outside to take some pictures... There is not enough light for a "Normal" speed setting, so I use a cable release, fix my Holga with the tripod clamp and shoot for 5 seconds... Is it enough? Is it too much? We'll see that in two months, back on land...

19:30 – During the science meeting, we decided that sampling will start tomorrow... Let's get ready.

22:45 – We went outside with Steeve, and Loic and saw northern lights... Loic was very excited, such as I was when I saw my first northern lights... And just like me he was excited but didn't know that they were very diffuse and could be hundred times stronger and more coloured... I just told him that we might see stronger ones later...

23:16 – I go to bed, still smiling.

Day 3: 22 December 2007

Position: 71.54°N / 125.25°W

12:00 – I joined a team that went onto the ice to take ice-cores. We took a ski-doo around 50 meters from the boat. When a team is on the ice, there must be a (licensed) person with a shotgun to protect us from an eventual polar bear attack... I started by taking some pictures, and finished the roll just before my hands start to really hurt from frostbite. My cable release froze and broke, but I think I can fix it. My Holga was fine, I was afraid that the little spring inside would freeze and break, but it didn't... So that was an extreme test for the Holga, and the result: you can still take pictures at -40°C. I love this camera.

20:00 – Tonight is the first night when the bar is open... Yes, there is a bar on the ship, opened every two days. As it was the first time for this expedition, it was the occasion to break the ice (it's a very common joke on board) between everyone, scientists and crew members. We laughed and danced until 01:00 in the morning...

Day 4: 23 December 2007

Position: 71.54°N / 125.25°W

10:00 – Here we are. We start moving! So the ship started to move backward and forward, in order to break the ice that was surrounding us. Then, the captain puts all the engines forward and we break ice... On the sides of the boat, huge blocks of ice, about 1 meter thick, are violently pushed away. Sometimes, ridges appear making a black broken line in the calm white ice. Blocks of ice move just like little ice cubes in a glass.

And the noise. An incredible noise, there is the vibration from the engines in background, but you constantly hear ice blocks shearing and choking on the sides of the boat. The whole boat is reacting, sometimes you can hear a scary metallic sound coming from the torsion of the boat, just like if we where sinking... But no. The Amundsen is a strong ice-breaker, making his way in thick ice. Oh, finally, we move...

15:00 – First sampling day for my team. We are the zooplankton team, so we use nets and capture zooplankton. Zooplankton are like little shrimps and they are at the bottom of the carnivorous food web. So zooplankton eats phytoplankton (algae) and is eaten by fishes which in turn are eaten by bigger predators (birds, seals, polar bears...). This is the way energy flows through the food web. As we are surrounded by ice, one way to reach water is from what we call the "moon pool", which is an aperture inside the boat at the front side. So, we're in the boat, but in contact with the water.

17:00 – Sunday diner. It is an important moment on the ship. Everyone has to wear their best clothes, and we can buy a bottle of wine. At the end of diner, we all get together around a table and make jokes. Crew members and scientists are all together and any hierarchy is forgotten. Engines stop at 71°14.015 N / 124°11.71°W.

Day 5: 24 December 2007

Position: 71.15.020°N / 124.19.239°W

11:00 – We heard a very strong, long and strange sound, like ice trying to crush the boat. We where all looking at each other, like "what's happening?"... The result was a huge number of ice blocks that came from under the ship and filled the moon pool...

15:00 – Crew members are still fighting to free the moon pool, but for each block removed, two new ones are coming from under the boat...

18:00 – Merry Christmas!!! Tonight, there was a big buffet with a lot of food and candies. After, we had a gift exchange. Names were picked from a bucket, and the person called could take a present from under the Christmas tree or steal someone else's present (a fact that I found strange). Again, it was a very funny moment when hierarchy disappeared. Then, the bar opened and we danced until around midnight when the music amplifier burned and stopped playing... It was a great night...

Day 6: 25 December 2007

Position: 71.15.020°N / 124.19.239°W

11:00 – We woke up late this morning... the crew succeeded in clearing the ice from the moon pool by putting in a big coil heated by steam, which melted all the ice. We're finally ready to move.

14:55 – We arrived in our new position in the middle of the ice (71°15.099N / 124°25.031). Ramon and I saw polar bear tracks. Only tracks... We're going to stay here for 5 or 6 days, build ice camps and sample from holes in the ice.

20:00 – We finally started the serious business. Sampling with the hydrobios. The Hydrobios is not a simple net, it is a multiple net. Its goal is to sample animals in the water at different depths. So it is comprised of 9 nets that can be opened and closed from a control room, which is connected to it through a wire. So, we send the hydrobios to the bottom of the ocean, and open the first net. We then lift it up 20 meters, close the first net and open the second for the next 20 meters and so on... So each net captures animals in water layers of 20 meters depth. The result at the end is prodigious because we are able to determine at which depths a given plankton species is living. And this is important because it allows us to quantify the vertical migration of zooplankton, recently proved to be the biggest animal migration on the planet. Trust me, it's important...

00:00 – We finished sampling. I'm going to bed. I'm very tired.

Day 7: 26 December 2007

Position: 71.15.020°N / 124.27.476°W

08:00 – I woke up early. I had a very hard day. I'm tired. Prepared material for ice camp... I'm tired and dehydrated. Dehydration kills you here, you don't feel it because it's cold, but the air his incredibly dry. I did a lot of work outside, with Steeve, our very-smart-technician. We prepared the chainsaws and the jifi, a machine to make 9 inch holes in the ice. Then I prepared the rope for the net. That was 2 hours of work, outside (-40°C). Just for a rope.

12:00 – Crew members built a tent on the ice. This tent is a security refuge. Tomorrow there will be a fire drill.

00:00 – I took long exposures photos outside. I hope they're good. The track behind the ship is frozen. The night is very clear. I feel very good.