18 Jan 2008

Much of today was about preparing the research plane.  We installed telemetry equipment in the plane - wing-mounted antennas, control box, and cables wrapped around the struts connecting the control box and antennas.  We organized and inventoried survival gear and installed it in the plane.  We also spend much of the day trouble-shooting various pieces of unexpectedly nonfunctional equipment - telephones, radios, hitches connecting the snowmobiles to trailers (for hauling water to the bunkhouse), . . .  

    While we were becoming operational, Alex Egan (park service volunteer) began to manifest our primary purpose - the collection of data.  He set out on snowshoes heading northeast up Washington Creek with a mission to find and follow moose tracks for the purpose of collecting yellow snow and pellets.  These urine and fecal samples tell us about the nutritional condition of the moose.  From the pellets, we also get DNA for the purpose of determining the moose’s sex.  If we collect samples from a female, we determine whether she is pregnant.  These tests are all conducted months from now.  For now, we just collect, labeled, inventory, and store the samples - like a miser collects and counts his gold.  

    There aren’t so many moose on Isle Royale these days.  Looking for a moose takes some effort.  After an entire day, Alex found one moose trail and later collected a urine and pellet sample.

 

19 Jan 2008

It turned cold and windy.  A northwest wind blew 25 mph for much of the day.  The air was sharp and never got warmer than -2F.  The cold wind created passing squalls of lake effect snow that precluded any flying.  We hoped, all day, that the wind and snow would dissipate.  We wanted to fly - to see the island for the first time this season, to see what the wolves were doing.  Each hour we’d try to justify our hope by studying the tree tops and ridge lines to see if the sky was calmer or clearer.  By 4pm we knew our hopes were in vain.  

    Nevertheless, we spent our time wisely.  Rolf baked bread.  Don and I prepared the sauna room - cleaned it up, filled the buckets with water; and Alex lit a fire.  Tonight we’ll eat fresh warm bread, and later take a sauna.  Tomorrow, we’ll fly - we hope.