Icebreaker Healy back in the Arctic

Petty Officer 2nd Class Patrick Edge stood bear watch from the bridge wing, a critical safety component for working at high latitudes. Photo courtesy Healy crew.

Let's go to the Arctic and check back in with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy!

The Healy crew and scientists have been working hard over the past few weeks. They have been conducting some interesting science missions in the Beaufort Sea.

Working in cooperation with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) they offloaded a diverse collection of equipment on to an ice floe carefully selected for its size and composition of multi-year ice. 

The ONR Arctic Mobile Observing System program focuses on developing technologies for making continuous, long-term scientific observations of the Arctic marine environment. 

The blue and white ice is a function of multi-year ice

The sea ice covers in the Arctic Ocean is a critical environmental parameter that impacts maritime operations, and more direct observations of Arctic sea ice are needed to enable a better understanding of the changes going on in the Arctic.

A bear showed up the day after the crew finished on the ice

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy is homeported in Puget Sound.

All photos courtesy Healy crewmembers. Find more photos of the Healy and the science teams right here