Walrus Haul Out: Day 3 Part 2

6/19/2012 Tuesday: 

Map made by "The Teachers".  

We headed toward the northwest coast of the large island of Nordaustland (Northeast Land).  Arriving at the small island of Lagoya just off of Nordaustland's coast, we reached our highest point north, the closest I will ever be to Santa Claus and the North Pole.  Katie, Harmony and I periodically go to the ship’s bridge to record our current longitude and latitude and then mark it (geolocate) on a map by the chart room for everyone on board to follow.  Our highest recorded point is 80° 22’ N.  This put us at approximately 664 miles from the North Pole (60 minutes in a degree=588 minutes x ~1.15 miles/minute=664 miles).  The longitude is 18° 20’ minutes E.  To put this in perspective, my location at home in Minot is 48° 14’ N, 101° 20’W.  So, at Lagoya, I was approximately 32° north of home, which comes out to about 2,208 miles (32 degrees x ~69miles/degree).  I had never thought about how far we in Minot, NORTH Dakota are from the North Pole, but it is about 2,898 miles (90°-48°=42°; 42° x 69mi/degree).  Okay, enough of that.

Walrus Haul Out

I had the privilege of going on a 2^nd excursion today, a zodiac “cruise” (boat only; no setting foot on land) to see walrus “hauled out” (on land) on Lagoya island.  They are massive animals as they are the second largest pinniped (fin-footed mammals).  The walrus were all in one heap and, as we moved towards them, I thought they looked like a pile of baked potatoes.  This is where males go to molt and piling together causes them to get very, very hot. This helps them shed their winter hair.  During a haul out, their vessels get larger (vasodilation) on their skin and they become pink in color.  Upon re-entering the water, those vessels constrict and they lose the pink tinge.  Their whiskers are called vibrissae and are crucial for helping them find clams, mussels and other food on the murky bottom.  We cruised near the walrus haul out in the zodiac, but it was windy, choppy, cold and it was hard to take pictures or video.  This was the coldest outing we have had.  One walrus was in the water swimming and I tried to get a picture but it was really tough with the conditions and my picture is blurry.  Thanks to Katie, I have a video clip of the walrus haul out.  If you watch it, it will be obvious how choppy the water was while we were in the zodiac.

Red Phalarope under ice ledge.

I also saw a red phalarope, which are birds more closely related to sandbirds, but have partially webbed feet so they can move around a bit like a duck.  Their unique behavior is that they move their feet under water to create a mini-vortex that funnels algae towards them so that they can pick out their food with their tweezer-like beak.


The Ship is a Rockin’

The weather toughened up and, at dinnertime, was really rocking in some pretty big waves.  I started to feel sick so I took some anti-nausea medicine.  I went back to my table where I was sitting with Karen, one of the naturalists, and Katie and Harmony, the other two teachers.  I ate my appetizer (Minestrone soup), and hoped I would feel better before my entrée arrived.  But, finally gave up and went to my room, lying down without bothering to change clothes or anything.  I slept until morning and felt great.  I found out that after I left, Katie and Harmony did too.  One at a time, the teachers gave it up and left before eating and Karen had to eat by herself.

End of Day three.