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Braving Icy Waters

October 9, 2018

Someone looking out from the shore of Nanavut, Canada, this summer would have seen this unusual craft making its way through the waters of Cambridge Bay. As its name suggests, the ChemYak is a kayak that has been equipped to measure the water’s chemical characteristics. WHOI scientist and engineer Anna Michel used it to measure the amount of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—released when sea ice thaws and breaks up in warm weather. The project was a collaboration between Michel, WHOI marine chemist David Nicholson, and Phillipe Tortell and his postdoctoral fellow Cara Manning at the University of British Columbia. Manning, WHOI research engineer Kevin Manganini, and MIT-WHOI Joint Program student Victoria Preston carried out the field work. (Photo by Victoria Preston, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)