*Editor’s note: To schedule media interviews, contact Healy's Public Affairs Officer via email, Brian.P.Hagerty@uscg.mil, prior to Wednesday, Aug. 10*
Seward, Alaska — Seattle-based icebreaker Coast Guard Cutter Healy will embark researchers for its second Arctic mission Wednesday from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, U.C. San Diego and the Office of Naval Research during its port call in Seward, Alaska
The UC-San Diego researchers will take the place of the departing 46-member University of Alaska-Anchorage and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration science teams from the first mission.
Outfitted for oceanographic research, Cutter Healy’s first of three missions studied the Arctic Chukchi Sea ecosystem for 39 days that resulted in the following findings:
- Discovery of multiple new species of jellyfish in the Chukchi Borderlands
- Discovery of an entirely new genetic order of benthic ctenophore and documenting a new reproductive behavior of comb jellyfish
- Cutter Healy’s crew worked with the science party to deploy the Global Explorer ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to successfully collect hundreds of living specimens for laboratory study
- Other sampling gear enabled the scientists to assess the biological diversity of the entire ecosystem, from creatures living beneath the sea floor to microbial communities in sea ice. The new technology identified and documented the findings to help improve knowledge and understanding of rapidly changing region
Cutter Healy is scheduled to depart for its second Arctic mission Tuesday, Aug. 16. The Coast Guard crew will help the UC-San Diego researchers deploy an array of acoustic bottom moorings to collect data on how climate change and decreased ice coverage is affecting the Arctic Ocean.
The third and final mission scheduled for mid-September is funded by NOAA in support of the State Department and the White House Office of Science and Technology. Researchers from the University of New Hampshire will use multi-beam sonar mapping and bottom dredging in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean to further support the demarcation of the Extended Continental Shelf to support the United States’ territorial claims in the Arctic.
Capt. Jason Hamilton is the commanding officer of the Seattle-based Cutter Healy which is the nation’s premiere high-latitude research vessel. The cutter is a 420-foot long icebreaker with extensive scientific capabilities and has a permanent crew of 87. Its primary mission is scientific support and is capable of other missions such as search and rescue, ship escort, environmental protection, and the enforcement of laws and treaties in the Polar Regions.
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MEDIA KIT
CGC Healy on the web: https://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgchealy/Coast Guard icebreakers and scientific research: http://icefloe.net/ NOAA Ocean Explorer: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/explorations.html POLARTrec: https://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/chukchi-sea-borderland GEOTRACES 2015: http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2015/08/geotraces-2015-roaring-north-with-...