Stealth Journeys with the Steam Mapper

Chapter 23: Stef's Alaskan Vacation

For StLF, a favorite adventure story to share was a trip with Mom and Dad in the early fall to Katmai National Park in Alaska, back in 2004.  The rugged coast and tidal flats provided an environment that required foraging meager food sources to prepare for a harsh winter.  Watching a lone coastal brown bear walk along the rocky shoreline, reminded Stef that populations were in decline for many species in Alaska.  The whole food chain was impacted. Then, a ranger in Hallo Bay commented, "If only you'd been here in early summer, you would have been amazed at the number of bears that gather in this area.  It's the best viewing spot!"

After the visit to Hallo Bay, Stef's parents traveled out to the Aleutian Islands to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, a nearly five million acre region that went westward from the mainland seacoast (which was actually the Southeast part of Alaska), through the Aleutian Islands and extended all the way north to the arctic circle.

They came as guests of the team of UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, who were doing research aboard the "Ocean Explorer".  They were interested in seeing Amchitka Island, a site of environmental concern.  At this location, between 1965 and 1971, the United States conducted three underground nuclear tests.  They were all enormous tests, but of the three, Milrow, Long Shot, and Cannikin, Cannikin was the largest.   It exploded with a destructive power 400 times greater than used on Hiroshima.   The underground testing program was part of the time period known as the Cold War.

Today, the three underground shafts used for the testing are filled in with concrete and not easily found among the native grasses, with only a small plaque as a reminder of the November 6, 1971 nuclear explosion, the largest in U.S. history.

The UAF team was doing research when Stef's family arrived.   The U.S. Department of Energy funded the three million dollar study and many organizations were taking part.   They hoped to learn if the marine waters had been contaminated by the nuclear tests.   The concerns of Aleut Natives, and scientists, and especially environmentalists, was whether or not any leaking of deadly radiation was taking place.  This would have grave impact on any attempts of resettlement of the region.

Also, the fishermen had great concerns over nuclear contamination of the Bering Sea waters which had massive populations of fish and crabs, not to mention huge populations of sea birds and marine mammals.   Some environmentalists sought help for the recovery of certain species such as the Canada goose.   Everyone who knew of this hidden danger wanted answers.

On this trip, Stef's family accompanied a dive team and they were dazzled by the clarity of the water one hundred feet deep, (virtually no sediment) and the amazing diversity of species of both animal of plant life.   The teams gathered many specimens, including an endangered Steller sea lion harvested by the Aleut Natives who kept the meat for food, but gave the organs and tissue to the scientists for future study.

With the cooperation of the UAF and the U.S. Navy oceanographers, and the use of sensitive equipment, the scientists searched the sea floor for fissures releasing freshwater.   The 2005 announcement of no evidence of radioactivity (beyond the usual levels found all over the planet) was "really wonderful news".   The scientists all agreed that more research and monitoring must go on continually, as the region is in area of seismic activity including eruptions of active volcanoes and earthquakes.