Well we've had a few days to get over the shock of Ingrid no longer being with us here in Churchill, but we definitely miss her tons! Her departure was delayed a few hours (ok almost a whole day) by fog that has continued to plague us off and on, however the good news is da bear on da bluff that was interfering with da science seems to have moved on since our last encounter. Friday afternoon myself and Erinn brought two friends out to the bluff to sample a few pools. We were manipulating a particularly large pool when all of a sudden Erinn's sharp eyes spotted a wave with a big black nose. Yep you guessed it, a bear! This one almost seemed to come out of nowhere and swam right up a beach connected to our bluff. He stood up, got our scent and continued to prowl around the beach. He was definitely too close for comfort and we packed up and made a hasty retreat back to the car. It sure gives you a reminder of how vigilant and careful you have to be while doing northern research! Below is an aerial photo of our bluff (Airshots Aerial Photography, 2009) that we have posted before with a few modifications. The red circle shows our approximate location during this last encounter with the bear and our get away car also shown.
So our work on the bluff over the last little while was been hit and miss when it comes to bears and fog but over the last 2 days we have had success despite the rainy weather and have been able to get caught up on our sampling. We continue to have other adventures as well and we will highlight those soon. We only have about 2 weeks left here so we will be working hard to get the remaining of our work done.
I've had some requests for some pictures of inside the research centre here at the CNSC. So here are some shots:
The main lab.
Our lab bench at any given time (you can also see our Bay Dip trophies prominently displayed).
The Arctic Hallway- this connects the lab and kitchen to the dorm area.
Quiet lounge in the dorm area.
These are just a few of the spaces we frequent but perhaps it will give you a little taste of our home up here!
We've had a lot of pictures of our bluff and similar bluffs on the blog but we have also had the chance to visit some drastically different study sites. Here is a picture of me hanging out on some scaffolding at the fen (I'm the mysteriously shrouded figure in the dusk).
The main lab.
Our lab bench at any given time (you can also see our Bay Dip trophies prominently displayed).
The Arctic Hallway- this connects the lab and kitchen to the dorm area.
Quiet lounge in the dorm area.
Ohmigosh, what a close bear!! I'm glad you were able to get to the truck safely...good thing we've been running those "drills", eh? :P
ReplyDeleteI mailed the zoo to Tamara yesterday...they were still alive when i packed them, and should arrive today. In one of the vials, I noticed a little plant growing out of the little bit of sediment...neat!
So how are the bugs now? Did Kristin figure out her thing? Did Christy get out on the boat? Erinn, how many bears did you see on the Tundra Buggy? Lots, i hope!
I miss you too!!
haha keep us posted on the zoo's progress! The bugs aren't too bad at the bluff though they can be bad other places. I went out the other evening to the bluff and they were atrocious. The fog continues to roll in, I kind of feel like we are chipping away at a large rock- we go out, sample as many pools as possible before the fog rolls in then we wait for it to clear to go again. But we are making progress! Christy did get on the boat and they have been dredging up some cool things. Erinn saw one bear on the buggy...we actually saw more sampling that day...
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