Monday, April 21, 2014

FAQs of Alaska

What was your favorite part of the job/trip/experience?

Seeing and learning so many new things! Alaska, despite its hardships, lack of civilization, and general cold-shoulder to newcomers … or maybe because of these things, is truthfully, pretty amazing! Everything is big, unforgiving, and wild. The islands are picturesque snow covered volcano-tops sticking out of the sea, sometimes you can even see them smoking! The wildlife is beautiful, and untamed. And the marine life is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before; for example: wild orcas, albatross, salmon galore,  50+ lb halibut, more Pollock than you can imagine (… no really, Pollock for days), and countless new species to see! I’ve had the privilege of learning an entire new ecosystem and seeing landscapes that most people will never get the opportunity to. I feel pretty lucky to experience this for a living.

What was the most difficult part?

The lifestyle change required of the job was, by far, the most difficult adaptation for me to make. You have to be flexible with pretty much everything including, but not limited to, your living situation, the food you eat, your workout routine, and your assignment location and duration. Staying healthy and content in adverse or difficult circumstances can be a challenge but I am very glad that I made the effort to stay positive and workout when I could or I would have gone crazy!
By the end of a contract we pretty much all look like Mr. Coffee Owl here.
  

Is Sarah Palin correct in that you can actually see Russia from Alaska?

With visibility the way it is here most days, I’m lucky if I can see across the bay. It’s true that the air is SO MUCH cleaner than in LA, but snow, rain and heavy fog (let alone the curvature of the earth!)  make it pretty much impossible to see across the sea. … But some boats in US waters do fish so far west that they are technically east according to their longitude!

Hate to dash your hopes and dreams, but sometimes Sarah Palin doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Insert SNL Sarah Palin skit video here ((((Here you go http://www.hulu.com/watch/34465)))))

Hot fishermen?

Unfortunately not, but, as any observer here will tell you, some of the helicopter pilots are pretty easy on the eyes. This actually came up over breakfast with my lead the other day when we found out our plant is closing down pretty soon. I said that I would dream that “night” (when I sleep, which is technically day, yay night shift!) about being woken up in the middle of the night to leave Akutan and go home! And he replied. “Yeah I can see it now: ‘ALI WAKE UP! You’ve got to pack before the helicopter pilot flies us out to Dutch to catch a plane to Seattle! And he’s going to do it all without his shirt on!!’”


I know this is a picture of Prince Harry, but its close enough.
 

Would you it again?

Sure! The benefits outweigh the costs for now. Actually, I told my company I would come back this fall sometime. I’m hoping to catch the end of whale season! I’ve heard there’s so many humpbacks in Whale Pass during the summer you can see them on all sides of the boat. Plus that’s when the puffins come to town, and who DOESN’T want to see adorable puffins in real life?

Pretty sure this is an Atlantic Puffin, but he's adorable so I'll let it slide.



When are you coming home?

 Good question! When I finish here in Akutan hopefully they’ll send me to Dutch Harbor, where I’ll wait for a plane to Anchorage and then to Seattle (like everyone else working in the Aleutian islands at the end of fishing season!). This could take days. After I’m in Seattle I have some science work to do, and I will wait for a debriefing appointment with NMFS (my program, the National Marine Fisheries Survey) which could take 1-2 weeks. After that I’m driving home to CALIFORNIA!!!!
My office whiteboard hommage to California.
The succinct answer is sometime in May.



Huntington Beach California - Home, Sweet, Home




1 comment:

What'd you think?