Alaska | Ocean Doctor | Ocean Conservation in Action

The Heart of the Bering Sea Beats with Discovery

April 28, 2008 By Ocean Doctor

Kenneth Lowyck in DeepWorker

It’s hard to get a big smile out of Ken Lowyck, Greenpeace’s capable Action Unit Coordinator (and sub pilot) based in Toronto. I snapped the photo to the right and captured Ken’s pre-dive excitement last summer on August 1, just minutes before he was launched on the dive to 700 feet in Pribilof Canyon in the Bering Sea that resulted in one of the expedition’s most important discoveries. I imagine the modest smile that appeared on his face has returned today as Greenpeace has announced that the tiny, unassuming white sponge he retrieved on that dive was never before documented by Homo sapiens, and may well herald future announcements of other new species from the expedition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Bering Sea, Alaska, Conservation, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections Tagged With: alaska, aleut word, bering sea, canyons, discoveries, Discovery, greenpeace, Ken Lowyck, natives, Pribilof, sponge, toronto

Blogus interruptus

December 29, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Guanahacabibes, Cuba Read any authority’s advice about blogs and you’ll see at the top of the list: “Blog regularly.” Even for someone who enjoys writing as much as I do, I don’t believe in writing for writing’s sake — I like to share original experiences and ideas, not just rehash stale news. Still, I’ve experienced quite a few blog-worthy adventures in the four months since my last post shortly after the Bering Sea Expedition, but haven’t written a single word. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conservation, Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Flotsam, Ocean Doctor's Reflections Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, blogs, Cuba, Guanahacabibes, sea expedition

Bering Sea Expedition Continues on Dry Land

September 8, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

The brilliant pink coral, Swiftia pacifica, found at 1,300 feet in Pribilof Canyon, Bering Sea, Alaska (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

BERING SEA, Alaska — This past summer, the Greenpeace ship M/V Esperanza carried two manned submersibles, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and an international research team to the Bering Sea for a three week survey of Zhemchug and Pribilof Canyons,to map and document deepwater corals living at depths of more than 1,000 feet. The expedition was conceived of and was led by Greenpeace. 1planet1ocean president David E. Guggenheim participated as a sub pilot and scientific consultant. Pribilof and Zhemchug Canyons revealed diverse and complex ecosystems, rich with corals, sponges, fish and other marine life. They also revealed striking human impacts from trawlers, damage that was documented during the expedition. More than a terabyte of video data and numerous biological specimens are now being analyzed and results are being shared with a range of decisionmakers and decisionmaking bodies, including the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Bering Sea, Alaska Tagged With: alaska, BERING, bering sea, Bering Sea Expedition, canyons, David E. Guggenheim, ecosystem, fish, greenpeace, guggenheim, Marine, north pacific fisheries, sea expedition, Swiftia, Zhemchug

A Sea Turtle is Born in Alaska

August 24, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Esperanza Returns to a Tranquil Unalaska I awakened at 4am in my bunk to something strange. The ship was still. After enduring two days of pounding seas and gale-force winds, we had at last arrived at the island of Unalaska and were nearing the port of Dutch Harbor. A few hours later, juggling my cameras, I tried in vain to capture the profound tranquility of that early Alaskan morning as dawn’s gentle glow painted small swaths of green across the surrounding mountains atop a canvas of deep blues and grays. An incredible journey was nearing its end, and I was reluctant to let go. So was the wildlife. In a moment, the morning silence was replaced by shrieks from the deck below. They were shrieks of joy as once again we were surrounded by whales as a pod of humpbacks divided itself evenly and passed closely along both sides of us, filling the morning air with their spouts and flukes. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Bering Sea, Alaska, Conservation, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections Tagged With: alaska, dutch harbor, gale force winds, incredible journey, OceanDoctor, sea turtle, tranquility, Turtle, Unalaska, whales

Expedition to the Bering Sea Concludes Successfully with New Insights, New Questions

August 17, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

A bald eagle sits atop Unalaska’s Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ascension with Esperanza at anchor in background.
(Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

With a Terabyte (1,000 Gigabytes) of high-definition video, photographs and other data, along with numerous biological samples, now making their way around the world to scientists, policymakers and public forums, new insights and perspectives are emerging as the hard work of reviewing this vast volume of new data moves forward. The science team and sub pilots have departed Esperanza, which is continuing west along the Aleutian Island chain, continuing important outreach to local communities. The ship will eventually continue west to Japan.

Before departing Dutch Harbor, the science team/sub pilots made the first public presentation of its findings, including imagery and videos, to the community of Unalaska. The following day, members of the community were invited aboard Esperanza during an Open House to meet with the crew and see the ship up close. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Bering Sea, Alaska, Featured, News & Announcements Tagged With: alaska, Aleutian Island, aleutian island chain, BERING, bering sea, canyons, David Guggenheim, dutch harbor, ecosystem, ecosystems, esperanza, fish, greenpeace, guggenheim, OceanDoctor, pinnacles, public forums, rov, science team, sea turtle, Zhemchug

Whales Everywhere!

July 28, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Humpback Whale Sounding on the Way to Pribolof Canyon

We departed Dutch Harbor at 4pm Alaska Time today. It’s after 11pm now, still plenty of daylight, as we head north to Pribolof Canyon for our first dive in the morning. I’ll be one of the pilots, so I hope to get some sleep soon. As we headed north away from the Aleutians, there was a steady stream of announcements from the bridge over the intercom: “Whales, port side. Whales, starboard side. Whales, off the bow.” Humpback whales in groups of ten. We also saw fin whales. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea, Alaska, Conservation, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, Places Tagged With: alaska, alaska time, aleutians, Canyon, dutch harbor, fin whales, Humpback, humpback whales, OceanDoctor, sea, whales

Esperanza Sets Sail from Dutch Harbor: Bering Sea Expedition Under Way

July 27, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

DeepWorker submarines aboard Esperanza as the ship heads north into the Bering Sea, leaving the Aleutians behind. (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

The Expedition to the Bering Sea officially got under way as the M/V Esperanza departed Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Friday, July 27 at 4pm Alaska Daylight Time. The Esperanza will steam through the night — for roughly 15 hours — to its first destination, Pribolof Canyon near the Pribolof Islands in the Bering Sea. The first DeepWorker dives are scheduled for Saturday morning.

In June, an international team of researchers and conservation specialists recently completed a week of intensive training and preparations for this Greenpeace-led expedition to Alaska’s Bering sea. The Esperanza is carrying two manned submersibles, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and the research team to the Bering Sea for a three week survey of Zhemchug and Pribilof Canyons, specifically to map and document deepwater corals living at depths of more than 1,000 feet. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Featured, News & Announcements, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, Projects & Expeditions Tagged With: alaska, BERING, bering sea, Bering Sea Expedition, Canyon, canyons, Conservation, coral, coral communities, corals, David E. Guggenheim, deepwater, deepworker, dutch harbor, dutch harbor alaska, ecosystem, esperanza, fish, fishing, greenpeace, guggenheim, islands in the bering sea, Marine, mini subs, nova southeastern, pribilof canyon, pribolof islands, rov, sea expedition, seamounts, st george island, submarine, Underwater, underwater mountains, Zhemchug

The Journey West, North, West, North…

July 27, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Esperanza at Dutch Harbor

At 5:15 am, the rear suspension of the taxi to Washington, DC’s National Airport groaned alarmingly under the weight of my five heavy pieces of luggage: A duffel of dive gear, a pelican case with an underwater video housing, a duffel of warm clothing, a backpack of video and camera gear, and a roll-aboard full of hard disks, cables and other geeky accessories. Alaska Airlines Flight #1 took me west across the country to Seattle, then north to Anchorage. As we pierced the clouds on our descent, the youngster seated behind me shrieked to his parents, “It looks like a big park!” Alaska was as I had remembered it: Big, wild, and beyond beautiful. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea, Alaska, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, Places, Washington, DC Tagged With: alaska, alaska airlines, alaska airlines flight, anchorage, DC, dive gear, OceanDoctor, sea, Seattle, Washington

When Everything Goes Wrong….and It’s a Good Thing

July 22, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Divers at Millbrook Quarry (Haymarket, Virginia)

As a young teenager, I finally got my wish: Scuba lessons for my 15th birthday! My lessons were in a moldy YMCA pool in suburban Philadelphia, and my first open water dive — my checkout dive — was in a quarry in Reading, Pennsylvania in the balmy month of December. Air temperature 36 degrees F, water temperature 40 degrees. My wetsuit was too big, was full of holes, and to this day I don’t think I’ve ever been so cold. In those primitive days of the early 70s, we didn’t use buoyancy compensators (BCs), vests that you can fill with air from your tank to keep you afloat at the surface or keep you neutrally buoyant at depth. Rather, we used “horse collar” safety vests — virtually identical to what the flight attendant demonstrates the use of for the “unlikely event of a water landing.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea, Alaska, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, Places, Washington, DC Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, buoyancy compensators, checkout, horse collar, OceanDoctor, open water dive, quarry, reading pennsylvania, suburban philadelphia, wetsuit

Ginormous is a Word, and Just in Time

July 16, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Alaska: The Ginormous State Last week, Mirriam-Webster’ announced that it was adding the word, “ginormous” to its 2007 update of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. This is great news and comes as a great relief, just in time for next week’s kickoff of the Bering Sea Expedition. For ever since I first visited Alaska, I have found an utter deficit of adjectives to adequately convey the state’s enormity — er, ginormity. [Read more...]