The end of it all

We docked at a little after 1400 yesterday.  The end of a cruise is always sad but at the same time welcome.  Cruises are exhausting, so much energy is expended taking advantage of every available opportunity and sample.  Now we must re-enter the real world.  There will be too many people, I already know that.  Airports are particularly difficult.  Driving a car is going to be different.  And the excitement of bringing up a sample to see what we caught, well, we will miss that too.

This has been a very successful cruise, despite the weather in the Bering Sea.  The work in the Chukchi Sea was particularly notable.  We reached and worked at every planned station north of the Bering Strait.  This despite challenges imposed by the extreme cold.  Everyone pitched in to come up with solutions to mitigate those challenges so that we could use our instruments and collect our samples.  The work in the Bering Sea was hampered by the sheer intensity and frequency of winter storms that raged through that Sea.  When we could work there, we did so very well.  We have collected new and exciting data, in regions where no one has been able to work before.  Ahead of us lies a period of analysis and synthesis to put together the story.  This has been a fantastic opportunity, an opportunity of a lifetime for me.

Part of what made this cruise so successful is the wonderful cooperation and collaboration of the science party and of the Healy crew.  Many thanks to all for a great job.

Me (Chief Scientist) with CMDR Laura King, the first female EO (Engineering Officer or Chief Engineer) of Healy and CAPT Beverly Havlik, the first female Captain of Healy.

The top drawer of the Chief Scientist’s desk on Healy, with the cards of Chief Scientists who have come before me.  Just to put it all into perspective.

All of us on the helicopter deck.  It was very cold that day.