7 May 2007 Bering Sea Station # 192

The ship hunted for ice today. That’s right. The scientists wanted to get out and do at least one more ice operations before we got too far south past the ice edge. So the Captain and several others found a nice piece and eased the ship ever so gently until we were just rubbing against it. The scientists were once again working on oxygen levels and getting samples of the ice and algae growing under where they walked on the ice.

Several scientists work on an ice area getting a core as the Coast Guard safety swimmer watches nearby.

On this side of the ice, scientists set-up the optode to measure oxygen levels and also get water samples from under the ice.

There was also helicopter survey out with Bill Springer maneuvering over the ice as his passengers counted seals. I went searching for the man that organizes all the flights off the Healy, Dave Doucet. Dave is the Helicopter Manager on board and he works for the Bureau of Land Management, which is a division of the Department of the Interior. Dave provides the service of a liaison between the scientists, Maritime employees, and the Coast Guard to arrange the flights, keep records, and provide safety instruction.

Dave Doucet leans back to show one of his many forms from his computer that he uses to maintain all his records.*

He manages the load on the helicopter by calculating weights of everything on it from the people, cargo, and even the fuel. When he’s not working on records and putting together flights he’s watching hockey and enjoys the occasional cigar. Our conversation ended shortly after that because an interesting announcement came over the pipes stating there would be a photo-op on the ice for cigar smokers. We went down onto the flight deck to see if they were serious and were told if you got a cigar, put on a MS900 and grab a light. So that’s exactly what Dave and two others did.

Dave Doucet gets ready for his trip on the ice by putting on the MS900.

The cigar group go down onto the ice and bring some coffee down for the hard working scientists as they head down for their cigar break.

Cigars and ice. The XO was right about it being a great photo opportunity for a few of the cigar lovers on the ship. (Photo Courtesy of Dave Doucet)