N-Atlantic < Earthquakes - all regions < Seismicity < Icelandic Meteorological office Go to site map. Eruption in Iceland - frequently asked questions N-Atlantic - earthquakes during the last 48 hours (Preliminary results)

Earthquake location   29 Jun 09:00 GMT

Time and magnitude of earthquake   29 Jun 09:00 GMT

 

table version 

ate	Time	Latitude	Longitude	Depth	Magnitude	Quality	Location
Tuesday 29.06.2010	06:58:59	66.499	-17.529	8.7 km	1.5	90.01	21.8 km ESE of Grímsey
Tuesday 29.06.2010	06:51:13	64.495	-17.499	1.1 km	1.5	90.01	14.8 km NW of Grímsfjall
Tuesday 29.06.2010	06:04:47	64.048	-21.245	3.8 km	0.2	68.8	4.0 km SSW of Hrómundartindi
Tuesday 29.06.2010	06:03:38	64.053	-21.204	4.5 km	0.2	52.58	2.8 km S of Hrómundartindi
Tuesday 29.06.2010	05:38:00	64.060	-21.178	6.0 km	0.3	51.7	2.3 km SSE of Hrómundartindi
Tuesday 29.06.2010	01:22:20	66.518	-17.544	14.4 km	1.3	34.92	20.8 km E of Grímsey
Tuesday 29.06.2010	00:39:02	65.865	-16.979	4.7 km	0.3	46.33	1.5 km SW of Þeistareykir
Monday 28.06.2010	20:30:03	66.364	-17.503	11.4 km	0.9	44.63	26.7 km NE of Flatey
Monday 28.06.2010	18:35:17	66.238	-16.648	6.1 km	1.3	54.53	11.3 km SW of Kópasker
Monday 28.06.2010	17:38:32	64.679	-17.307	12.4 km	1.2	99.0	11.3 km ENE of Bárðarbunga
Monday 28.06.2010	17:14:43	63.948	-21.074	4.8 km	0.4	99.0	3.6 km WNW of Selfoss
Monday 28.06.2010	17:13:45	63.946	-21.065	6.0 km	0.7	99.0	3.0 km WNW of Selfoss
Monday 28.06.2010	15:32:52	64.040	-22.595	1.8 km	1.3	99.0	2.5 km NW of Helguvík
Monday 28.06.2010	15:26:57	64.686	-17.326	8.9 km	0.8	99.0	10.9 km ENE of Bárðarbunga
Monday 28.06.2010	14:09:10	64.707	-17.356	0.1 km	1.9	99.0	10.8 km SW of Kistufell
Monday 28.06.2010	13:29:01	66.530	-17.769	2.2 km	1.2	99.0	10.7 km E of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	13:16:44	65.086	-16.243	7.0 km	0.4	99.0	5.0 km N of Upptyppingar
Monday 28.06.2010	12:34:26	66.310	-16.649	7.2 km	0.6	99.0	8.9 km W of Kópasker
Monday 28.06.2010	11:35:05	66.506	-17.534	18.5 km	1.1	99.0	21.4 km E of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	10:16:57	66.488	-17.530	6.3 km	1.4	99.0	22.0 km ESE of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	10:03:33	65.869	-16.989	5.2 km	0.1	99.0	1.7 km WSW of Þeistareykir
Monday 28.06.2010	10:01:14	63.915	-21.165	4.8 km	-0.1	99.0	8.3 km WSW of Selfoss
Monday 28.06.2010	09:39:56	66.518	-17.521	12.5 km	0.9	99.0	21.8 km E of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	08:42:58	65.128	-16.314	10.0 km	0.1	99.0	5.4 km SSE of Herðubreið
Monday 28.06.2010	08:40:20	63.930	-21.329	6.9 km	0.2	99.0	3.5 km ESE of Raufarhólshellir
Monday 28.06.2010	08:09:27	65.119	-16.311	6.5 km	0.5	99.0	5.0 km NE of Herðubreiðartögl
Monday 28.06.2010	06:13:39	66.500	-17.511	21.3 km	1.2	99.0	22.5 km ESE of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	05:53:07	66.435	-17.267	14.0 km	1.1	99.0	35.0 km ESE of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:31:59	66.505	-17.541	13.1 km	1.2	99.0	21.1 km E of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:19:28	66.423	-17.380	1.1 km	1.5	56.21	30.9 km ESE of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:19:27	66.510	-17.543	14.4 km	1.2	99.0	20.9 km E of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:18:11	66.510	-17.546	14.4 km	1.7	99.0	20.8 km E of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:16:55	66.504	-17.564	15.5 km	1.9	99.0	20.1 km ESE of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:16:55	66.476	-17.549	0.0 km	1.8	99.0	21.7 km ESE of Grímsey
Monday 28.06.2010	03:12:11	65.124	-16.350	5.7 km	0.8	99.0	4.4 km NNE of Herðubreiðartögl
Monday 28.06.2010	02:34:41	64.685	-17.347	19.1 km	0.8	99.0	10.0 km ENE of Bárðarbunga
Monday 28.06.2010	02:23:07	64.700	-17.364	8.0 km	2.7	99.0	10.2 km NE of Bárðarbunga
Monday 28.06.2010	02:19:06	65.094	-16.236	6.3 km	0.1	99.0	5.9 km N of Upptyppingar
Monday 28.06.2010	00:17:34	63.950	-21.301	5.8 km	0.6	99.0	4.8 km ENE of Raufarhólshellir
Monday 28.06.2010	00:06:23	64.702	-17.334	13.2 km	1.2	99.0	10.6 km SW of Kistufell
Sunday 27.06.2010	23:58:40	64.693	-17.323	2.2 km	2.4	90.07	11.2 km SSW of Kistufell
Sunday 27.06.2010	21:41:01	66.541	-17.990	6.6 km	1.2	69.77	0.9 km E of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	21:21:03	64.056	-21.241	6.6 km	-0.1	41.9	3.2 km SW of Hrómundartindi
Sunday 27.06.2010	20:42:08	65.154	-16.359	5.8 km	0.8	73.17	2.3 km SSW of Herðubreið
Sunday 27.06.2010	20:08:32	66.431	-17.284	3.5 km	0.4	85.73	34.4 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:37:34	66.447	-17.251	7.4 km	1.2	68.82	35.2 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:31:18	66.460	-17.322	9.1 km	2.5	90.02	31.8 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:29:55	66.173	-16.908	1.1 km	1.6	90.01	24.3 km NE of Húsavík
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:29:55	66.219	-16.984	6.1 km	1.7	39.37	25.4 km NE of Húsavík
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:29:54	65.940	-17.814	1.1 km	1.5	54.52	16.6 km E of Grenivík
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:29:51	66.422	-17.313	5.3 km	1.8	53.07	33.6 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:29:07	66.436	-17.271	4.6 km	1.4	49.28	34.8 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:29:06	66.471	-17.303	10.1 km	1.8	90.01	32.3 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:24:30	65.988	-16.949	7.2 km	1.3	90.01	12.6 km N of Þeistareykir
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:24:26	66.167	-17.154	1.1 km	2.0	37.01	16.3 km NNE of Húsavík
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:24:22	66.444	-17.267	15.6 km	2.6	99.0	34.6 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	19:24:17	66.755	-16.902	1.1 km	2.2	90.02	54.2 km NNW of Kópasker
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:43:06	64.502	-17.696	11.3 km	1.0	99.0	5.7 km ENE of Hamarinn
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:41:31	66.447	-17.277	19.0 km	1.4	99.0	34.1 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:40:10	66.441	-17.278	18.4 km	2.1	99.0	34.3 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:32:21	66.434	-17.280	9.6 km	1.1	99.0	34.5 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:29:22	66.429	-17.304	2.1 km	0.7	99.0	33.7 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:28:57	66.431	-17.284	4.3 km	0.9	99.0	34.4 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	18:24:20	66.436	-17.285	7.2 km	1.2	99.0	34.2 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	17:45:13	66.447	-17.262	19.0 km	1.2	99.0	34.8 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	17:03:07	66.440	-17.282	13.4 km	2.2	99.0	34.2 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:51:18	63.667	-19.509	0.1 km	0.9	99.0	1.8 km SW of Básar
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:31:11	66.443	-17.280	18.4 km	1.4	99.0	34.1 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:30:55	66.213	-16.940	15.9 km	1.0	48.86	24.0 km WSW of Kópasker
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:30:51	66.434	-17.290	21.7 km	1.2	99.0	34.1 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:30:51	65.986	-18.082	1.1 km	1.6	30.47	6.1 km NE of Grenivík
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:22:16	63.964	-20.703	6.0 km	-0.2	99.0	4.4 km NW of Þjórsárbrú
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:20:56	66.021	-17.017	9.8 km	1.1	44.39	14.8 km E of Húsavík
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:20:49	66.438	-17.280	20.3 km	1.6	99.0	34.3 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:11:52	66.438	-17.276	5.9 km	0.9	99.0	34.5 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:09:06	66.439	-17.285	10.3 km	2.3	99.0	34.1 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:07:58	66.050	-16.966	7.3 km	2.5	55.6	16.9 km E of Húsavík
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:07:51	66.451	-17.294	12.6 km	3.2	99.0	33.3 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:07:46	66.450	-17.268	20.3 km	2.3	99.0	34.4 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:07:45	66.514	-17.268	7.0 km	2.1	90.02	33.0 km E of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	16:07:40	66.721	-17.721	1.1 km	3.7	90.01	23.7 km NNE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	15:56:33	66.459	-17.271	20.9 km	1.7	99.0	34.0 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	15:54:08	66.443	-17.273	15.1 km	1.3	99.0	34.4 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	15:54:08	66.250	-17.994	27.7 km	0.9	34.56	11.6 km NW of Flatey
Sunday 27.06.2010	15:52:44	66.435	-17.274	6.0 km	1.4	99.0	34.7 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	14:30:52	65.187	-16.312	6.7 km	0.4	99.0	2.2 km NE of Herðubreið
Sunday 27.06.2010	14:12:45	66.849	-18.308	16.1 km	2.1	99.0	36.6 km NNW of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	14:12:45	66.823	-18.414	9.6 km	2.0	90.01	36.0 km NNW of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	13:32:07	64.659	-17.415	23.8 km	0.9	99.0	5.7 km ENE of Bárðarbunga
Sunday 27.06.2010	12:58:16	66.856	-18.278	10.8 km	1.6	99.0	36.8 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	12:16:13	66.841	-18.356	18.1 km	1.9	99.0	36.6 km NNW of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	12:05:29	66.858	-18.372	13.5 km	2.4	99.0	34.8 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:53:00	66.849	-18.299	13.7 km	1.3	99.0	36.4 km NNW of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:13:35	66.851	-18.326	12.9 km	1.8	99.0	36.4 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:09:20	66.414	-17.414	22.5 km	1.1	99.0	30.0 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:09:08	66.867	-18.092	10.0 km	2.1	99.0	36.3 km N of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:04:51	66.853	-18.379	13.0 km	1.9	99.0	35.3 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:01:59	66.856	-18.364	18.2 km	2.5	99.0	35.3 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:00:28	66.854	-18.338	9.0 km	1.9	99.0	35.8 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	11:00:04	66.845	-18.299	13.1 km	1.9	99.0	36.1 km NNW of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	10:33:06	66.853	-18.320	16.8 km	1.7	99.0	36.3 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:37:29	63.951	-21.065	6.2 km	1.6	99.0	3.3 km WNW of Selfoss
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:33:33	66.853	-18.318	13.0 km	2.0	99.0	36.3 km SSE of Kolbeinsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:31:04	66.439	-17.271	12.7 km	1.4	99.0	34.6 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:25:31	66.442	-17.252	5.2 km	0.8	99.0	35.4 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:20:11	64.666	-17.457	15.7 km	1.0	99.0	4.4 km NE of Bárðarbunga
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:15:24	66.852	-18.289	13.9 km	1.4	99.0	36.6 km NNW of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:08:28	66.444	-17.261	12.1 km	1.1	99.0	34.9 km ESE of Grímsey
Sunday 27.06.2010	09:08:28	66.470	-17.207	5.0 km	1.5	90.01	36.4 km ESE of Grímsey
Samtals skjálftar: 109

NASA warns catastrophic sun storm possible by 2012

According to NASA's latest report which is carried out by the US National Academy of Sciences, governments would be powerless to curb the loss of crucial infrastructure including power grids, potable water and sewage disposal, potentially crippling our way of life for months. While a severe storm is a low-frequency-of-occurrence event, it has the potential for long-duration catastrophic impacts to the power grid and its users. The danger lies in the sun emitting solar flares so intense that they produce magnetic pulses with the force to destroy power grids by melting transformers.

"Emergency services would be strained, and command and control might be lost."

The sun operates on an 11-year cycle, with the next "active" phase due in 2012 likely to present the nearest danger.

But one thing,2012 sun storm not makes world ends.
"our observation result that 2012 sun storm will not directly make this world ends,but direct impact will happens in high technology sector such as sattelite and radio communication" said head of application of geomagnet and outer space magnetic LAPAN,indonesia, Clara Yono Yatini, At university of udayana, Bali

sun storm issue has became on topic of "International Symposium on South East Asia Pacific Environment Problem and Satelite Remote Sensing" at postgraduate campus of univertisy of udayana

NASA has predict taht sun storm will happen between 2012 to 2015. the peak activity will occure on 2012.
but it seem the disaster that may happens in 2012 is unpredicted and uncountable.
rising activity of sun may change some earth wearther activity such as temperature rissing and hard rain in different earht place.
from many of article ,sun storm may cause long impact on weather and climate. if temperature rise thaht make global warming worst.that makes the polar ice caps melt faster than human predict.that makes climtae change impact will come faster than we tough.

beside,many poeple worried about sea current begin unstable.in 2006 Nasa has realeas Article that said "We have something similar here on Earth—the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, popularized in the sci-fi movie The Day After Tomorrow. It is a network of currents that carry water and heat from ocean to ocean--see the diagram below. In the movie, the Conveyor Belt stopped and threw the world's weather into chaos"March 10, 2006.

this could happen if see current unstable,the worst is ice age may comeback and europe is the victim sci-fi movie THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW tell us one scenario of climate change.
back link of ice age article : http://theclimateweatherblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/big-freeze-plunged-europe-into-ice-age.html

link for nasa article: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/10mar_stormwarning/

Chicago Tornado Warning Issued

The now-familiar sight of isolated flooding, downed trees and dangling power lines was left in the wake Wednesday of a powerful cluster of storms that brought the unfamiliar sound of tornado sirens to Chicago's downtown area.

Several tornado warnings that had been issued for counties in northern Illinios and Northwest Indiana have since expired, but flash flood warnings remain throughout the area.

The storms packed high winds and brought hail the size of golf balls and frequent cloud-to-ground lightning.  Power to at least 175,000 Commonwealth Edison customers was knocked out.

PHOTOS: Storm Damage, Ominous Clouds

Chicago Tornado

And trying to get anywhere was a hassle:  Metra trains were stopped in their tracks, air traffic at both airports was halted for about an hour and portions of the Stevenson and Eisenhower expressways were blocked by floodwaters.

The Office of Emergency Management & Communications activated its tornado sirens citywide at 6:15 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. for a period of three minutes due to a report of a funnel cloud in the south suburbs, spokesman Will Knight said.

The National Weather Service is investigating several reports of funnel clouds and a possible tornado touch down in Downers Grove.  Winds in excess of 80 mph were recorded, the weather service said.  As of 10 p.m., there has been no confirmation of a tornado touchdown.

Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation said 450 new "tree emergencies" were recorded Wednesday, bringing the total number of incidents to 5,812 since last Friday.  The area has been battled by several storms over the last week.

At times Wednesday, the sky was dark as night.  At other times, it was an eerie green.  But as the storms continued eastward, a beautiful sunset was visible in the west .  Rainbows appeared.

Thursday promises to be peaceful. 

Big Freeze Plunged Europe Into Ice Age in Months

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2009) — In the film The Day After Tomorrow, the world enters the icy grip of a new glacial period within the space of just a few weeks. Now new research shows that this scenario may not be so far from the truth after all.


William Patterson, from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, and his colleagues have shown that switching off the North Atlantic circulation can force the Northern hemisphere into a mini 'ice age' in a matter of months. Previous work has indicated that this process would take tens of years.
Around 12,800 years ago the northern hemisphere was hit by a mini ice-age, known by scientists as the Younger Dryas, and nicknamed the 'Big Freeze', which lasted around 1300 years. Geological evidence shows that the Big Freeze was brought about by a sudden influx of freshwater, when the glacial Lake Agassiz in North America burst its banks and poured into the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. This vast pulse, a greater volume than all of North America's Great Lakes combined, diluted the North Atlantic conveyor belt and brought it to a halt.
Without the warming influence of this ocean circulation temperatures across the Northern hemisphere plummeted, ice sheets grew and human civilisation fell apart.
Previous evidence from Greenland ice cores has indicated that this sudden change in climate occurred over the space of a decade or so. Now new data shows that the change was amazingly abrupt, taking place over the course of a few months, or a year or two at most.

 New research shows that switching off the North Atlantic circulation can force the Northern hemisphere into a mini 'ice age' in a matter of months. Previous work has indicated that this process would take tens of years.

Patterson and his colleagues have created the highest resolution record of the 'Big Freeze' event to date, from a mud core taken from an ancient lake, Lough Monreach, in Ireland. Using a scalpel layers were sliced from the core, just 0.5mm thick, representing a time period of one to three months.
Carbon isotopes in each slice reveal how productive the lake was, while oxygen isotopes give a picture of temperature and rainfall. At the start of the 'Big Freeze' their new record shows that temperatures plummeted and lake productivity stopped over the course of just a few years. "It would be like taking Ireland today and moving it up to Svalbard, creating icy conditions in a very short period of time," says Patterson, who presented the findings at the European Science Foundation BOREAS conference on humans in the Arctic, in Rovaniemi, Finland.
Meanwhile, their isotope record from the end of the Big Freeze shows that it took around two centuries for the lake and climate to recover, rather than the abrupt decade or so that ice cores indicate. "This makes sense because it would take time for the ocean and atmospheric circulation to turn on again," says Patterson.
Looking ahead to the future Patterson says there is no reason why a 'Big Freeze' shouldn't happen again. "If the Greenland ice sheet melted suddenly it would be catastrophic," he says.
This study was part of a broad network of 38 individual research teams from Europe, Russia, Canada and the USA forming the European Science Foundation EUROCORES programme 'Histories from the North -- environments, movements, narratives' (BOREAS). This highly interdisciplinary initiative brought together scientists from a wide range of disciplines including humanities, social, medical, environmental and climate sciences.

Ozone Hole Healing Could Cause Further Climate Warming

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2010) — The hole in the ozone layer is now steadily closing, but its repair could actually increase warming in the southern hemisphere, according to scientists at the University of Leeds.

The Antarctic ozone hole was once regarded as one of the biggest environmental threats, but the discovery of a previously undiscovered feedback shows that it has instead helped to shield this region from carbon-induced warming over the past two decades.
High-speed winds in the area beneath the hole have led to the formation of brighter summertime clouds, which reflect more of the sun's powerful rays.
"These clouds have acted like a mirror to the sun's rays, reflecting the sun's heat away from the surface to the extent that warming from rising carbon emissions has effectively been cancelled out in this region during the summertime," said Professor Ken Carslaw of the University of Leeds who co-authored the research.
"If, as seems likely, these winds die down, rising CO₂ emissions could then cause the warming of the southern hemisphere to accelerate, which would have an impact on future climate predictions," he added.
The key to this newly-discovered feedback is aerosol -- tiny reflective particles suspended within the air that are known by experts to have a huge impact on climate.
Greenhouses gases absorb infrared radiation from the Earth and release it back into the atmosphere as heat, causing the planet to warm up over time. Aerosol works against this by reflecting heat from the sun back into space, cooling the planet as it does so.

Beneath the Antarctic ozone hole, high-speed winds whip up large amounts of sea spray, which contains millions of tiny salt particles. This spray then forms droplets and eventually clouds, and the increased spray over the last two decades has made these clouds brighter and more reflective.
As the ozone layer recovers it is believed that this feedback mechanism could decline in effectiveness, or even be reversed, leading to accelerated warming in the southern hemisphere.
"Our research highlights the value of today's state-of- the-art models and long-term datasets that enable such unexpected and complex climate feedbacks to be detected and accounted for in our future predictions," added Professor Carslaw.
The Leeds team made their prediction using a state-of-the-art global model of aerosols and two decades of meteorological data. The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council's Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (UK SOLAS) and the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence Programme.


source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

Arctic Circle Crossing

from: Haley Smith Kingsland, Stanford University

66° 33’ N, 179° 85’ W, June 18 — Friday night, the following pipe reverberated throughout the Healy: “Now attention all hands. The cutter Healy has crossed into the Arctic Circle — the cold, icy waters of King Neptune. Welcome home, Polar Bears. All Blue Noses beware! That is all.”

"Polar Bears" are those who have already crossed the Arctic Circle and gone through initiation. "Blue Noses," on the other hand, have some surprises waiting for them. Everyone’s wondering what the secret initiation will be, including Blue Nose chief scientist Kevin Arrigo.

Immediately after the announcement, a crowd of scientists and Coasties gathered at the bow as the Healy passed through a belt of sea ice and herds of walruses. For many, it was the first sighting of both — a truly surreal night to remember.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for!” said Cedric Fichot, a graduate student at the University of South Carolina. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)

The walrus’ scientific name, Odobenus rosmarus, means “tooth-walking sea horse” in Latin. Walrus tusks are really extended upper canine teeth that lengthen with age— up to three feet during a walrus’ lifetime. Walruses live on the sea ice edge over shallow continental shelves, and use their tusks to hoist themselves onto the ice and bore holes in it. Males also employ their tusks to threaten rivals. Walrus’ whiskers, or vibrissae, help them nuzzle and forage for shellfish on the shallow sea floor. How will climate change affect these gargantuan creatures? As Arctic sea ice melts and retreats from shallow continental shelves, walruses lose their habitat to water that’s too deep for them to dive for less abundant food. So instead they “haul out” to rest on coastal lands, and over-congregation leads to stampedes and trampling of young calves as well as stiff competition for limited resources. (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)

United States Geological Survey scientists have been tracking walruses with satellite radio-tags in order to trace their movements in the changing sea ice habitat. You can follow animations of the walrus’ paths in both the Chukchi and Bering Seas at . (Photo by Haley Smith Kingsland)