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Breaking Ice for Answers

October 16, 2014

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy pushes through sea ice in the Chukchi Sea during the Arctic Spring Cruise in May of 2014. Polar icebreakers are an important component to Arctic research. Healy is designed to break thorough more than four feet of ice continuously at three knots and can function even at a temperature of -50 degrees. On this cruise, the Healy took scientists deep into ice before the spring thaw, a phenomenon few people ever get a chance to witness. Once there, scientists like WHOI’s Bob Pickart studied how plankton can bloom, even with the limited light penetrating thick ice. (Photo by Amanda Kowalski, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)