Something startling is happening up north of Alaska in the Chukchi Sea. In 2011 a team of scientists aboard the USCGC Healy discovered a massive springtime plankton bloom, in fact, one of the largest ever observed in the Arctic. That alone was not so surprising—these are among the biologically richest waters in the world. The startling fact was that this plankton bloom had happened beneath the sea ice. In 2014, scientists returned to the region to study the phenomenon more closely and to better understand how rapidly changing conditions in the region might affect the delicately balanced ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean. This short video highlights some of the things the team saw and did during the cruise.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 20:41:44 +0000