Boom! Smash! Crash! They had to get one more drill out of the way before we disembarked, and the straight-faced reading of those onomatopoeias over the pipes really set the scene for that last collision and flooding drill. Make-believe obstacles aside, the rest of the transit home was pretty smooth. At the last all-hands meeting, I was surprised and delighted to learn I had received a “Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal,” which will definitely be going on my LinkedIn accomplishments. Another highlight was the second “science talk” of the voyage, featuring a member of the Finnish Border Guard. The previous talk was from our other international guest from the French Navy. They were both a joy to listen to, and it was fascinating hearing about marine operations in other parts of the world.
The morning we were set to arrive in Kodiak, Tyler and I woke up early to meet Maya and Micah to turn off the science systems (and hopefully to start aligning our sleep schedules a little more). Our first step was shutting off the water walls, and simply enough involved closing off the main flow valves, running a freshwater flush, and powering down the system. Of course, overachievers that we are, we also decided to take off and wash each instrument one by one so they would be squeaky clean for the next cruise. Next, we headed back to the computer lab to shut off the sonars with a simple click of a few buttons. The science data logging was officially complete!
Data collection wrapped, Micah and I quickly pivoted to more artistic endeavors. Within the next two days, we had wound up with some 3D prints, an unofficial logo for STARC in the spirit of a Coast Guard request, and a sticker design featuring an adorably wonderful sketch that Micah drew and I digitized. I feel really lucky that I was paired with such an artistic and incredibly fun buddy for this trip, and will forever treasure Micah’s daily motivational drawings of Bing Bong the cat (and my favorite, his snarky antagonist, Ding Dong), our scrappy but ever-growing intern baton, and the polar bear journal she painted me! Good luck on the next voyages, Micah, I’ll be keeping posted!
While mindlessly staring out the window as one does, unaware there was anything other than the typical expanse of ocean to see, an IT guy informed me that I was looking in the wrong direction to see Kodiak. Land ho! Having just finished reading Endurance, a novel about Shackleton’s famous Antarctic escape, I had a special appreciation for the awe of seeing land and a new cast of characters for the first time. While not so dramatic after our monthlong, penguin-meat-free voyage, imagining the wonder in their return narratives really makes you appreciate the little things, like trees and a store that sells cashews. Unfortunately, I ate all of mine in the first three days of the trip.
We were carefully bumped into the dock by two tug boats, which was a perk of being on such a huge ship and a new experience for me. And what better sight to greet us in port than a NOAA logo! Oscar Dyson was docked nearby. Time for liberty! We spent our time in Kodiak exploring town, getting fro-yo every day, visiting Walmart (I did secure cashews), hiking around the beaches, eating delicious and wildly affordable sushi, watching zombie salmon, and looking for bears. Before we knew it, we were saying our goodbyes and headed home from our Arctic adventure.
Some big thank yous are due to everyone who supported me along the way! Thank you to Micah for the excellent camaraderie and constant supply of intriguing tidbits. Thank you to Tyler and Maya, our mentors, who not only taught us so much about the work of marine techs, but also kept things fun, light, and full of shenanigans. Thank you to Christina, Brendon, Emily, and the rest of the STARC team for giving us this opportunity in the first place and for keeping Kodiak exciting. Thank you to the Coast Guard for having us and giving us shiny certificates, and to AMOS for indulging my impromptu TED Talk requests. And, finally, thank you to all of you for reading this blog! I’ve truly grown an unexpected level of fondness for writing it, and I’m so happy it’s been a source of science and silliness for many of you.
Polar bear count: 2!*
*Folks, it came down to the wire, but I’m ecstatic to report that we finally have two real bears to report this week! Shoutout to Brendon for surrendering our dinner table to let us go check out these two adorable Kodiak bears, who were playing, fishing, standing, and generally enamoring us. Kodiak bears are a type of brown bear that only live in this area of Alaska, and are bigger than grizzlies but smaller than polar bears. It counts!
