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Sunrise, Sunset, or Noon?

March 21, 2012

“High” noon in the Arctic in winter looks a lot like sunset or sunrise. In November 2011, WHOI biologist Carin Ashjian led colleagues on the first-ever winter research cruise to the Bering and Chukchi Seas, funded by the National Science Foundation. On this day, with the noon sun on the horizon, a rosy glow was all the daylight that crewmembers saw. The group worked through storms, high seas, and freezingcold to investigate the Arctic ocean ecosystem in the dark season. The researchers found, surprisingly, that despite the season plant and animal life persisted and was active.

(Photo courtesy of Carin Ashjian, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)