Cooper Island, Alaska, July 8, 2009 — Henry David Thoreau wrote that “Ice is a fit subject for contemplation” as he monitored the formation and melt of ice on Walden Pond in the mid 19th century. He had no idea how important monitoring, studying and contemplating Arctic sea ice would become in the late 20th and early 21st century, as the increasing annual retreat of the ice became one of the more dramatic and disturbing signs of changes in global climate. When I first began my work on Cooper Island in the mid-1970s the near shore waters north of the...

Cooper Island, Alaska, July 7, 2009 — I arrived at my field camp on June 15 having chartered a helicopter from Barrow, Alaska, 25 miles west of Cooper Island. The days just before the field season started were full of the typical mixture of excitement for the opportunity to return to this remote Arctic island coupled with the apprehension that comes from knowing that if some critical piece of equipment is left behind one would have to get by for weeks before resupply is possible. This year a critical piece of communications equipment needed to be repaired, which is the...

Cooper Island, Alaska, July 25, 2009 — People frequently mention to me that summer in the Arctic must be really exhilarating because of the “24 hours of daylight”. While this is true, less well known is that the “24 hours of wind” can make living at this latitude somewhat of a chore, no matter how much daylight one experiences. On Alaska’s arctic coast a rather constant wind blows from the northeast during almost all months, maintained by a high pressure system sitting over the Beaufort Sea. This summer has seen winds of strength and duration that are surprising even to...

Cooper Island, Alaska, July 12, 2009 — Many bird species are thought to be “Arctic birds” because they migrate to the Arctic every spring, utilize the region’s resources for breeding, and then depart for more southern wintering areas in late summer and early fall, spending the majority of the year well south of the Arctic Circle. These species have a “summer romance” with the Arctic, enjoying the benefits of constant daylight and the abundant food resources provided by the region’s insect and fish populations. A much smaller number of bird species are truly “married” to the Arctic, remaining after breeding...

Seattle, Wash., June 10, 2009 — After over three decades of conducting summer fieldwork on seabirds in Arctic Alaska one would think that pre-field preparations would be a matter of habit and that that the level of anticipation and anxiety associated with heading off to a remote island would be minimal. But as I prepare to spend three months living at the edge of the continent and pack ice studying black guillemots on Cooper Island, I am reminded of the philosophical observation that no man can step in the same river twice. Anyone who has spent time in the Arctic...

Seattle, Wash., June 1, 2009 — In 2008 fledging success of black guillemots was again low. Unlike past years, when chicks died as a result of prospecting horned puffins occupying nest sites and a lack of Arctic cod, in 2008 chicks had to deal with snow storms blocking nest entrances and stranded polar bears flipping over nests as they scavenged the beaches for food. The 2009 field season promises to be another interesting one as the melt season begins with the Arctic Basin having a large percentage of of thin first-year ice, according to the National Snow and Ice Data...