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Entry #14 – Out on the Ice
Today we headed out to the end of the airfield to go explore the glaciers out on the sea ice. In the winter, the Lincoln Sea is frozen in time with glaciers standing watch over the icy tundra. The Lincoln Sea stretches from Cape Columbia (further northwest of Alert) to the northern tip of Greenland…
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Entry #13 – Ice Caves
The definition of an ice cave is a little bit more defined than just a cave with ice in it. Ice caves must contain a significant amount of year-round ice, and some portion of the cave must have a temperature that stays below 0 degrees all year round. There are a few in the vicinity…
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Entry #12 – Sunrise Ceremony
I don’t think I missed the Sun, but I definitely missed being able to see things. About a week ago, we celebrated the Polar Sunrise and welcomed the onset of the Midnight Sun. Our brief period of day will become longer and longer until it will stay in the sky 24/7 for the next 6…
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Entry #11 – Bears
I was wondering when we would get our first polar bear on station. I was actually feeling a little disappointed there would be a chance one wouldn’t be seen until after I had left in April as the sea ice begins to melt. You can imagine my surprise when it was announced over the PA…
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Entry #10 – Birthday
One unit of measurement I haven’t expected to use as often as I do is Julian Day. Many dates utilize the Julian day alongside the Zulu (or Universal Time Standard) time to avoid the confusion of time zones and DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY debate. Today’s Julian Day is 54 (the 54th day of the year), and…
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Entry #9 – Windstorms
From my perch on the old lab tower, I could see the winds stampede over the mountain ridges, billowing snow carving its way over the tundra. The wind was screaming in my ears. I watched it kick up whorls of snow that flew up the walls and through the slats of the wooden stairs. The…
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Entry #8 – Vehicle Maintenance
“Oh yeah, you’ll need to wear coveralls,” Hannah added. I was already one boot on. Begrudgingly, I untied my laces and stared at the bright orange coveralls. Apparently, this was the size Hannah usually wears, though she had said it is big on her. Monstrous on me then. One thing about working up here is…
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Entry #7 – One Month
About two months before leaving Ontario for the High Arctic, I had a dream. I was sitting in the back of a truck at night with two people who I couldn’t identify sitting in the front, having a conversation about something that I knew nothing about. Looking to my left out the window, I could…
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Entry #6 – Fake News
Dear Marty, I know Google is an amazing tool that can tell us a lot of things about the world around us and I hate to be the one to break it to you but…people lie on the internet. There is no Terrys Tacos, Subway Subs, or even a Tim Hortons up here at the…
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Entry #5 – Polar Night
Polar night is when the night lasts for over 24 hours in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. There are a few different types of ‘polar nights’ and all of them correspond to an increasing level of darkness as the sun lowers further below the horizon the higher north (or lower south) you travel.…
