Polar bear dates and Willie

We had placed bets on when we will see our first polar bear. Yesterday, June 28th, was Amanda's date. It came and went, and...no bears. In fact, besides seals, we haven't encountered much of the larger wildlife at all these past days. Erinn thought she spied an arctic fox, but was only able to catch glimpses of it running behind the bluff. Da Bunny hasn't made an appearance since that first week. Others have been bragging about caribou sightings (up to a group of seven caribou on the tundra!) but we have been unlucky thus far.

We have, however, been able to get a nice long look at one of the littler guys...a cyclopoid copepod whom we have named Willie:
Found on a caterpillar, which had been caught in a pitfall trap set by Jay (a godwit researcher on the other side of our lab bench), Willie provided upwards of an hour of microscopic amusement.

We are not accustomed to seeing live zooplankton. We observed Willie locomoting around our counting tray (what speed and agility!). We showed him off to anyone who seemed the least bit interested ("cool" and "cute" were popular descriptors).

We pondered his existence...particularly his existence on a caterpillar (could invertebrate larva be another important dispersal vector?)




Lastly, the next morning, we set Willie free. Because Planktoneers Do Not Kill Plankton Unnecessarily.





Nor do we kill large, white furry mammals unnecessarily...so we will continue to keep a vigilant watch and try to avoid dangerous encounters. The next polar bear bet dates are approaching!
(July 1st - mine, and July 12th - Erinn's)