I have spent a significant amount of time aboard the CCGS Amundsen; I have been on board for 13 cruises totaling over 57 weeks in the field. The first time I went to the Arctic was in January 2008, I was a new graduate student then and I was eager to learn about sea ice and to experience the beauty of the Arctic. Over the years I have learned a lot scientifically, but each year the Arctic teaches me something new and shows me something unimaginable. 

This year was the fourth lowest sea ice minimum on record, the extent ranked behind 2012 (lowest), 2007 (second lowest) and 2011 (third lowest).  The difference I have seen in the sea ice over the past seven years has been dramatic. In 2008 we still came across multiyear ice (MYI - ice older than one growing season) that had hummocks (large humps or mounds in the ice field) taller than people.  This year the pieces of multiyear ice we came across were...read more