They tried to prepare us. Bug shirts and bug spray were on the packing list as necessary items. The Polaris website has pictures and video of the swarming masses. But no matter what someone tells you, it is not the same as being out in it.
Yesterday many of the terrestrial survey team (those of us with land based projects) set up 2×2 meter plots in some of the shrubbery about half a mile away from our base of operations at the Northeast Science Station. On Friday those plots will be covered in dried wood and shrubbery that we have been collecting and then set on fire. There will be low, medium, and high intensity fires as well as control plots. These various treatments will be used to see how fire intensity affects the soil profile.
The area that we were working was pretty damp. Pockets of standing water, like what mosquitoes use to reproduce, were hidden all around. From the moment we arrived, we were covered. Luckily we all had our bug jackets and most had some sort of repellant on.
Even then we were not immune. Just now I counted the red spots on my hands, the only skin I had uncovered. As of this morning I have approximately 30 mosquito bites on my left hand and 70 on my right. Thankfully, most everyone else is not quite as bad as I am; they were either smarter than I, and wearing gloves or repellant, or don’t react as strongly as I do. My roommate Brandi Jo has had only two or three spots show up this morning even though we were out the same amount of time.
Cherskiy is beautiful. The chance to be out here learning, exploring, and experiencing a whole new corner of the globe far outweighs the one negative of a few bug bites.
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John Schade says
July 4, 2012 at 10:18 pmThat is a respectable mosquito load. Back in my day (Polaris 2008), we REALLY had alot of mosquitos. Couldn’t find the stream near Tube Dispenser Lake because the mosquitos covered the front of my headnet and I couldn’t see. Ask Karen Frey if she remembers running away from an unsampled stream, defeated by mosquitos.
If you want alot of mosquitos, hang out by the streams for awhile. And Lindsey, cover up your hands!!
Lindsey Parkinson says
July 5, 2012 at 7:35 amYesterday I put on some deet that someone was kind enough to lend me. It was like wearing a mosquito force field!
Erin Christensen says
July 6, 2012 at 2:36 amOh my goodness Linds….that is terrible! I am so thankful you are out there enjoying your time though. What a once in a lifetime experience. We love and miss you!
And I agree with John, cover your hands!!! 🙂
Susan Drake says
July 6, 2012 at 5:08 amWhen I was a kid camping on Mt. St. Helens, the number of mosquito bites you got was sort of a badge of honor! Now I am itching just reading your post…
Joanne Heslop says
July 6, 2012 at 8:52 pm100% DEET, along with the bug shirts. Seems like overkill, but you need it! Terrestrial gets so many more bugs than other teams!
Also keep updating on the controlled burns; that’s so exciting!
John Schade says
July 7, 2012 at 10:04 pmOk, Joanne, I must challenge your assertion that terrestrial team suffers the worst of the mosquitos. I think it was pretty obvious in previous years that the stream team suffered the most. Most mosquitos, hardest travel to field site, I could go on and on….