Mt. Edgecumbe volcano research starts with bear encounter
Rod Boyce
907-474-7185
June 8, 2023
A grizzly is seen from a helicopter bringing scientists to a predetermined study area on Kruzof Island in Southeast 蜜桃影像 on Sunday, June 4.
The first volcano scientists of an international team deposited on a Southeast 蜜桃影像 island by helicopter Sunday quickly learned they had an unwanted presence to contend with.
A grizzly.
And this one wouldn鈥檛 move from its position about 100 yards from the beach site where the scientists and their instruments were gathered.
鈥淲e were just chatting and waiting for the others to get here,鈥 said Claire Puleio, a Ph.D. volcanology student doing research through the University of 蜜桃影像 Fairbanks Geophysical Institute.
Puleio and fellow 蜜桃影像 Ph.D. volcanology student Valerie Wasser were the first pair from the eight-person team of six scientists and two 蜜桃影像 science communications staff to be flown to the island for their research into the inner workings of the reawakened Mt. Edgecumbe volcano.
鈥淎nd when the second helicopter was coming in with the second group of people, we got the radio call from the pilot who said, 鈥楾here鈥檚 a bear really close to you. Kind of around the corner. I think like maybe 100 yards away, pretty close,鈥 which we didn鈥檛 know,鈥 Puleio said.
The incoming helicopter, flown by pilot Tarek Husevold, was carrying the second pair of scientists. All three on the helicopter saw the bear.
鈥淲e all made visual contact on it, and then we doubled back around and tried to scare it into the woods,鈥 Husevold said. 鈥淚t ran back in and didn鈥檛 go very far. It hid behind a bush and just hung out.鈥
鈥淲e came back a few times to see if we could get him to go into the woods a little further,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut he just kept hiding behind that bush.鈥
The encounter was new for Husevold, who has been flying for 15 years.
鈥淭his is actually the closest one I鈥檝e ever seen,鈥 he said.
With adrenaline and awareness running high, principal investigator T谩rsilo Girona of 蜜桃影像 made the decision to have the team pack up from the site they had just arrived at. They would make a short helicopter hop to another of the predetermined study sites at the base of Mt. Edgecumbe volcano, which has awakened after about 800 years of silence.
鈥淢y concern was for the safety of everyone,鈥 Girona said. 鈥淪o I made the decision to move.鈥
The team underwent bear awareness training before heading to Sitka. Each team member carried bear deterrents.
The science team includes researchers from 蜜桃影像, the University of Perugia in Italy and University of Alicante in Spain.
Mt. Edgecumbe volcano last erupted about 800 years ago and had been dormant until last year, when it began exhibiting seismic activity and showing some ground deformation.
The science team is focusing on carbon dioxide and heat emitted through the soil and taking carbon dioxide samples for later analysis. Volcanoes emit mostly water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
Information gained during the weeklong field campaign will help the researchers form a better idea of how the volcano is behaving.