Arctic cotton and the Doris mesa

New Zooplankton sampling method


Demise of the DFO Zooplankton Net

Hello again blog-readers. So, I haven't been updating as often as I should be.....sorry sorry sorry!

Guess what? Maril has arrived!! Yay! After Claire and I finished water sampling, I worked on my own for a few days catching bugs and dodging well-meaning safety dudes. Maril arrived at 830 am on Sunday. I threw her brand spanking new super-suit at her and we were in the helichopper by 9.

So, first things first. All of my zooplankton samples that were collected last year met their demise in the Golder warehouse. Tragic. This necessitated repeat sampling this year. Sooo..Mem and I head to Doris to sample zooplankton. We are talking one hundred miles a minute, catching up on each other's news while Maril pulls zooplankton hauls. The hauls aren't great, they are full of messy phytoplankton that somehow mysteriously vortexes itself once in the bottle and leaves you with zooplankton (see picture). And then, the tundra trolls strike.

Maril: "So, Heidi.....(pause, eyes grow larger and larger as she stares at the rope in her hand)......oh ****. Heidi, we have a problem." We both stare into the murky depths as the truth dawns on us. The zooplankton net has sunk.

Now, let's take stock. We are in the Arctic. Zooplankton nets do not exactly grow on willows, and we desperately need one. First things first. I call Mike (Golder).

Heidi: "Hi Mike.....this is Heidi....yeah, I may or may not have a small problem. ummmm....do we have any zooplankton nets kicking around the warehouse? If so, do you think you could send one up by, like, something really fast? Dragons. Can you send it up by dragons?"

Mike: "Zooplankton net. Shipped on something with wings and fire. Got it."

In the meantime, Maril and I explore our options. We don't have time to come back to this lake, even if the dragons somehow do miraculously get us the net. In the meantime, we mark the spot with a buoy so that we can drop the underwater camera down the next day, look for it, and hopefully dredge it up.

(I did consider caribou antlers (see previous entry), but zooplankton nets are hopelessly un-hooky).

Heidi: "We need something with fine mesh....fine mesh....what if we take a pair of silk long johns and cable tie two nalgenes to each leg? Hmm. The long johns will stretch. What if we drag the aquarium net through the water a couple of feet down? Horizontal tow-ish?

Maril looks at Heidi with that look that says, "I think you are on crack, but I can't really say that because this is your project." Then she says, "What if we brace the aquarium net with the kick net and THEN drag it through the water?"

Trolls defeated. Our ridiculous method catches SO many zooplankton, it's not even funny. And the sample is clean as a whistle.

PS. The dragons delivered yesterday. Our method still works better.
PPS. After we radioed to ask the other crew about the whereabouts of the underwater camera, they promptly sliced if off with the motor. Retrieval plan has been aborted.