|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For information on the Harriman Retraced Expedition e-mail: harriman2001@science.smith.edu |
|
|
In the spring of 2000, I was
chosen to be a part of the Harriman Expedition Retraced.
Beginning in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and ending in
Nome, Alaska, I would be on the second half of the trip
starting in Homer, Alaska. As soon as I heard that the we
Alaskan students participating in the retracing of the
Harriman Expedition were to conduct a project with the help
of an on-board scholar during our time spent on the Clipper
Odyssey, I knew that it would be a great opportunity to
learn more about marine mammals and best of all, learn from
an expert. For as long as I can remember, I
have had an extreme fascination and love for marine mammals.
I don't know quite how it started, but I can't help
wondering if it doesn't link back to an awesome Alaskan
poster of four killer whales that hung over my family's
couch when I was three years old. If this is true, it would
explain why my favorite marine mammal has always been the
orca. Even before I was able to read, I had started
collecting books and pictures of marine mammals, jumping at
the chance to discover more exciting facts about them. I
remember cutting up the marine mammal calendars I would get
every year for Christmas and hanging the pictures up around
my room until my walls were covered with humpbacks, seals,
belugas, orcas, and any other photos of that genre I could
get my hands on. I filled my sketchbooks with undersea
drawings that always contained at least one whales, usually
a killer whale. I would pore over my books at night, copying
down pages of facts on marine mammals. I loved learning about how a
cave full of wax, big enough for a family car, in a sperm
whale's head helps it dive to depths of over two miles,
remaining underwater for two hours or more to catch 66-foot
long giant squid using echolocation. And how one male killer
whale was found to have 13 porpoises and 14 seals in its
stomach. The keen interest I had in
marine mammals growing up helped motivate my choice of
Harriman scholars for an on-board mentor. After reviewing
the list of participating scholars and their biographies, I
decided that Kathy Frost sounded like the ideal mentor for
me. Kathy has studied numerous marine mammals, tagging and
tracking some with satellite transmitters through working
for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the
University of Alaska. She is also a champion sprint dog
racer. Hearing from a family friend what a cool lady and
great marine biologist she was helped me decide to contact
her. After a few e-mails back and
forth, I had developed a plan with help from Kathy to take
digital photographs of all the orcas we saw while on the
expedition. By getting a good shot of a killer whale's
dorsal fin and saddle patch, scientists can identify nearly
every individual killer whale in Alaska. Our plan was to
e-mail our digital photos to scientists and find out where
the killer whales we saw had been seen before, therefore
learning about the orca's range. I boarded the Harriman
vessel in Homer, Alaska on August 4th and finally got to
meet Kathy in person. I was immediately drawn to her, as
everyone else seemed to be. It was very obvious that
everyone liked her and felt comfortable with her casual
demeanor. The Frontier Flying baseball cap and After discussing the killer
whale photo-identification project with Kathy, she informed
me of a different project she was working on and would
rather have me help with. She, along with other biologists
and local hunters, had attached satellite transmitters to
eight beluga whales off of Point Lay, Alaska in early July.
My job was to plot the data she was receiving from the
transmitters on a map to enable us to see when and where the
belugas were traveling. A few obstacles complicated things
along the way. Sometimes we would receive 20 different
points a day for only one whale. When this happened I looked
at the signal strength for each point. I would plot the
point with the greatest strength, the strongest possible
signal being ranked a 'three.' Later on the same whale may
have traveled for four or five days without sending us a
single signal. This variance was due to the conditions in
which the belugas were traveling. Belugas transmitting very
infrequent signals were thought to be swimming under ice for
a majority of the time, or trying to cover distances.
whereas belugas transmitting often were probably resting,
therefore spending much time near the surface. The
transmitters on the whales were equipped with a conductivity
switch, allowing transmission only when the transmitter was
out of the water. Since the transmitters were attached to
the whale's dorsal ridge, it may not have surfaced every
time the whale's blowhole did in order for the animal to
breathe. Then there was the actual
plotting; Kathy first had to teach me how. Fortunately I had
retained a little of what I'd learned about the coordinate
system from middle school geography. She taught me how to
read degrees and minutes and how to find exact locations on
the map using a ruler and wing dividers she had repaired
with Q-tips and scotch tape. First I multiplied to convert
the coordinates from degrees to minutes. Then, using either
the ruler or wing dividers, I measured the distances from
the nearest marked degrees of latitude and longitude on my
map and marked with my pencil where the coordinates should
be. Then it was just match up the pencil lines and X marks
the spot. Once I got a good method down
for selecting and plotting the points, the only trouble was
finding enough time on-board the ship to do this. Trying to
fit my project in amongst all the other activities was a
huge challenge. It didn't make it any easier that once I got
started plotting I never wanted to stop. It was so exciting
for me to be a part of a marine mammalogist's research and
to help find out information that scientists possibly didn't
already know, especially when I was so interested in what I
was learning about. I remember running into the other room
when I'd find something exciting and being able to get
Kathy, the expert, excited also about, for example, one of
the belugas covering nearly 90 miles in one day or a
juvenile female traveling all the way to 74บบ north. Before
this project Kathy thought that young belugas stayed south
of 72บบ north. Working with Kathy enabled me to
get a taste of some of the work that goes along with being a
marine mammalogist -- a career I've thought about pursuing
since before elementary school. I learned more from working
with her for two weeks than I've learned from my entire
marine mammal book collection in years. I'm very grateful to
Kathy for sharing not only her knowledge and expertise, but
also her friendship and love for life. She is truly one of
the most incredible people I've ever met.
For information on the Harriman Retraced Expedition e-mail: harriman2001@science.smith.edu
Introduction
A Love for Killer
Whales (Orcas)
Kathy Frost, Harriman
Scholar and Mentor
jacket with a dog food patch she often sported showed that
she was totally comfortable with herself amidst the designer
rain gear worn by the majority of the passengers. When a few
of us were talking about the price of laundry aboard the
ship, Kathy spoke up and said, "Wash 'em in the tub! A pair
of jeans takes 36 hours to hang-dry." When Kathy's zodiac
was having trouble while grizzly viewing in Katmai National
Park, she simply hopped overboard, no hesitation, clothes
and all into waist-deep water and repositioned the
boat.Plotting Signals from
Radio Transmitters
Conclusion
Home | 2001 Expedition | 1899 Expedition | Maps | Log | Educators and Students | Film | Century of Change | After Expedition | About This Site