By Alyssa Burns
Our first day on the water was the coldest day of all, but a definite highlight of the trip. We traveled to Three Finger Lake, a site that has been of interest during previous trips but was of particular importance during this trip as it was impacted by wildfires in the summer of 2022. While our project aims always include understanding how terrestrial sources and off-channel storage impact carbon cycling within the delta, there was now an added goal of quantifying black carbon export from the nearby (and another) massive wildfire within the delta. To accomplish those goals, we sampled surface water sites in and around Three Finger Lake as well as terrestrial sources (i.e. charred plants, soils, etc.) on the burned tundra. As a bonus, Augusta Edmund (one of our local partners) gave us some homemade akutaq that made a great tundra snack! The second day on the boat, we went out to the Bering Sea to capture a salinity gradient coming out of the Alakanuk channel. As we slowly pulled away from the riverbank in Alakanuk, Sonny Isadore (one of our boat drivers) said “It feels like Christmas morning” – describing the feeling of seeing the ocean for the first time after a long winter. When we exited the river mouth and traveled further offshore into the Bering Sea, the water was as smooth as glass, the sea faded into the sky, and the horizon blurred. Whether the feelings were like those on Christmas morning or not, there was no doubt that we were all awe-inspired. Shortly after, wind/wave conditions turned, and our time on the Bering Sea was cut short. Against all odds (i.e. nonoptimal sea conditions, lingering sea ice, and the large size of the river plume during the freshet), we were still able to sample 16 miles offshore and find a bit of saltier water along the way. Feeling accomplished, we headed back to the mouth of the Alakanuk channel to collect one last sample and return home, Sonny skillfully navigating us through fields of large logs and stumps and against the powerful freshet river current. For our third sampling day, we decided to revisit some delta sites sampled in August 2022 along the North and Middle mouth branches. Since this was our last day on the boat with Sonny, he brought us fry bread that his wife made – another tasty sampling treat! Fueled by fry bread, we had our longest boat day of the trip, covering ~130 miles, spotting river otters, and even seeing some sunshine. To top off the day of sampling (and late-night filtering back in Alakanuk), we all took a moment to appreciate the fiery post-midnight sunset. On our fourth and final day of sampling, we took a quick trip upstream - where the Middle Mouth splits from the main Yukon. As we sampled at this site, the high water levels and strong current were particularly noticeable. Several large islands were completely inundated and the current moved the boat downstream at ~10 miles per hour! Once we completed our sampling, John Strongheart (our boat driver) wanted to take us to a camp that he’s been visiting for about a decade and holds a special place in his heart. It’s located along a small channel and hosts church activities for adults and youth – attracting people from throughout the delta. With the completion of delta-based sampling for this project, it’s hard to know when each of us will be back in Alakanuk, but I’d like to think we all took a piece of Alakanuk and the Yukon River delta with us. Alakanuk feels like so much more than a fieldwork location because of our relationships with the local people. While I cannot begin to properly express gratitude in this post, I just want to recognize the generous community members who took the time to help us with sampling or to share a piece of their lives or story with us. Through those efforts, they have not only made this project incredibly successful but also positively impacted us all as individuals. - Alyssa Burns
Photos courtesy of Alyssa Burns, Sasha Wagner, Harrison Smith, and Maddy Miller
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July 2023
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Maria Tzortziou |