“Angular” and “transforming.” Amy Richman (a CU Boulder videography graduate student aboard) asked me today to describe the Arctic. Angular >>> so many facets of ice, surfaces, rays of light. Transforming because it is always evolving…. Melting, freezing, drifting, breaking, changing color. It is never the same, never static. Finding my way to a better mood today as well, but also feeling oddly lonely in spite of the many people crammed together in close proximity. The gym was mood-enhancing. A small space, but functional. The seas remain mellow as we cruise through the open Arctic Ocean. We cut through a little stretch of international waters today, and saw some fishing boats but now we are headed through Russian exclusive economic zone waters on our way to the Kara and then Laptev Seas in a straight line. Lots of discussion about the “science of our installation point” today, and the balance between science desires (we want to observe thin ice), and stability (thick ice, please!).
