And just like that, the 2024 Alaska GNSS-A Deployment draws to a close. Our last day on the Sikuliaq was one for the books, as we detoured into Nuka Bay on the southwest coast of the Kenai Peninsula for our final hurrah. The sunshine that was so elusive the week prior poured onto the deck in seemingly endless streams, leaving the crew sun-kissed and high-spirited. The choppy and turbulent waters of the North Pacific Ocean that we had grown so accustomed to gave way to calm, glassy blue waters. Where the sky once met the ocean on the horizon now jutted rugged snow-capped mountains in every direction. All of these changes were welcomed but bittersweet, as they marked the approach to homeport and the end of our expedition.
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| Ship's crew and science party members enjoying each other's company, and the gorgeous scenery of Nuka Bay, on the aftdeck. [PC: Yinchu Li]. |
Much to everyone's excitement, the crew prepared the R/V Sikuliaq's 22-foot work boat, Sikuliaq 1, for 'recreational reconnaissance' of Surprise Bay (in the Western Arm of Nuka Bay), as the crew debarked the ship for the first time since boarding and getting underway on June 20.
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| The R/V Sikuliaq's work boat, Sikuliaq 1, being lowered in preparation for a visit to Surprise Bay. [PC: Behnaz Hosseini]. |
On our closest approach to land in weeks, we scouted the shoreline for familiar sights--wildlife and birds, rocks, vegetation--and were lucky enough to spot an adolescent black bear playing along the shore.
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| Marine Technician Sarah Gisler scouting the shoreline of Surprise Bay. [PC: Behnaz Hosseini]. |
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| Science party members, PIs Dr. Spahr Webb and Dr. Surui Xie, post-doc Dr. Alex Skrubej, and graduate student Hugo Reveneau, enjoy a short trip on the work boat Sikuliaq 1 in Surprise Bay. [PC: A member of the ship's crew]. |
On returning to the Sikuliaq, the ship's crew and the science party fished off the starboardside of the ship, catching large halibut, rockfish, and arrowtooth flounders from >100 m depth. The skilled crew members, Ian and Dan, filleted all of the halibut on the deck, as we all looked on in admiration of the fruits of our combined labor.
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| Ship's screw and science party members fishing off the starboardside of the Sikuliaq in Nuka Bay. [PC: Behnaz Hosseini]. |
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| PI Dr. Andy Newman with his hard-earned catch--a yelloweye rockfish. [PC: Behnaz Hosseini]. |
By the time we awoke the next morning, the familiar rocking motion of the ship had ceased, signaling our arrival at the Sikuliaq's homeport in Seward. After packing our belongings and cleaning our staterooms, the science party graduate students raced to the foot of Mount Marathon to squeeze in this iconic and grueling hike in our final hours in Seward, while the ever-hard-working ship's crew began their inspections and maintenance of the Sikuliaq for her next leg down to Southeast Alaska.
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Science party graduates en route to the summit of Mount Marathon after disembarking from the R/V Sikuliaq. [PC: A friendly hiker].
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| Science party members, Yinchu Li, Dr. Alex Skrubej, Joaquin Julve, Stefan Kildal-Brandt, and Guoli Li, at the top of Mount Marathon in Seward. [PC: Guoli Li]. |
The science party rallied at the Yukon Bar for some pool and celebratory drinks, where we signed a dollar bill commemorating our successful mission and pinned it to a decommissioned R/V Sikuliaq life ring buoy (how fitting!).
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| A dollar bill commemorating the successful 2024 Alaska GNSS-A Deployment Campaign, which was pinned to a life ring buoy in the Yukon Bar. [PC: Behnaz Hosseini]. |
After a few fun-filled hours in Seward, we returned to the ship for our final meal in the Mess Hall before purchasing some R/V Sikuliaq swag, saying our goodbyes to the crew, and making our way to catch our charter bus back to Anchorage.
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| Some cool R/V Sikuliaq swag. [PC: Behnaz Hosseini]. |
As the ship's crew and science party all parted ways, some bound for their homes in France, Chile, and Guatemala, others preparing to embark on the next R/V Sikuliaq mission, we reflected on the last two weeks at sea. Thirty-seven people each brought their unique skills, talents, and experiences, as well as their dedication and innovation, to this formidable voyage. The end result was greater than the sum of its parts, with 7 seafloor sites instrumented and primed to teach us about the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone and the mechanisms behind some of the largest earthquakes and tsunamis ever recorded. While the 2024 Alaska GNSS-A Deployment Campaign has officially ended, the tide of scientific discovery from this mission is yet to rise.
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| Science party members on the aftdeck of the R/V Sikuliaq. [PC: A member of the ship's crew]. |
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