Teacher Is Credited With Arctic Discovery
John Ewald and Fred Gorell
NOAA Communications and External Affairs
October 27, 2009 — An important discovery was made during this year’s Arctic continental shelf survey, and it involved an unlikely shipmate.
Carmel Middle School (Carmel, Ind.) teacher Christine Hedge, NOAA’s Teacher at Sea aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, recently discovered a new seamount (underwater mountain) in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of North America.
NOAA Teacher at Sea Chris Hedge helps process research data aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy. Photo credit: NOAA.
Hedge, a seventh-grade science teacher, spent six weeks this fall onboard the Healy as part of a multi-year, multi-agency effort to collect seafloor mapping and oceanographic data along the North American Extended Continental Shelf in the Arctic Ocean, a project sponsored by the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Task Force.
On August 25, while en route to map Arctic seafloor features targeted for investigation, the Healy took a slight detour to explore a small contour that appeared on a 2002 Russian map. As the ship traveled toward the new target, Hedge — who was on watch at the time — noticed an unusual underwater formation on the shipboard monitors. She alerted the science team in time to redirect the ship towards the area.
“At that moment, I thought — this isn't what we expected to find here — this could be big! I'd better call the chief scientist!,” said Hedge. “Being a part of this discovery gave me an inkling of what it must feel like to be part of a cutting edge team of scientists. What a thrill it was to watch the seamount unfold before our eyes and to sense the excitement of the gathered crowd.”
The Healy’s high-techmapping system (multi-beam sonar) soon revealed the full extent of a seamount rising 1,100 meters from the seafloor — 100 meters higher than the height required to be classified as a seamount. News of the previously undiscovered seamount made international headlines.
“The discovery of this seamount is a prime example of how little we know about the Arctic Ocean,” said retired NOAA Capt. Andy Armstrong, the mission’s co-chief scientist and co-director of the NOAA-University of New Hampshire Joint Hydrographic Center. “Christine’s keen observations allowed to us to react in time to turn the ship and explore this important seafloor feature in closer detail.”
Like many other NOAA Teachers at Sea, Hedge’s students back in Indiana participated in the Arctic voyage by following her online blog from the classroom and their homes.
“When students realize that there are new worlds to be explored and discoveries still to be made, it gets them excited about science and science-related careers,” said Hedge. “I strongly encourage all teachers with a passion for science to get on board a NOAA ship and learn everything they can about the ocean floor and the marine ecosystem.”
Thanks to NOAA’s Teacher at Sea program, Hedge had an incredible life experience that she hopes to use to inspire future generations of ocean scientists.
About the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program
NOAA’s Teacher at Sea program was established in 1990 as a way to give kindergarten through college-level instructors hands-on research experience on board NOAA oceanographic, fisheries and coastal mapping vessels. Today, the program has expanded to offer dozens of teachers annually the opportunity to study on board NOAA ships, aircraft and in its world class research facilities.
Newly discovered Arctic seamount as detected by the Coast Guard Cutter Healy's multibeam sonar on August 25. Photo credit: Andy Armstrong, NOAA.
Coast Guard Cutter Healy used multibeam sonar (pictured above) to map portions of the Arctic seafloor and identify the newly discovered, 1,100-meter seamount. Photo credit: NOAA.