On March 5th and 6th, 2011, Hokkaido University held the third session of its Future Scientists Training Program, "Field Adventure Pro." This time, lectures and practical exercises focusing on the Sea of Okhotsk and drift ice were conducted in Monbetsu City and Lake Saroma along the Sea of Okhotsk coast.
Day 1
Lecture about drift ice
First, we attended a lecture on various scientific topics related to drift ice at the Hokkaido Prefectural Okhotsk Drift Ice Science Center in Monbetsu City. The lecturer was Professor Masaaki Aota, Professor Emeritus of Hokkaido University and Director of the Drift Ice Science Center. Professor Aota's passionate talk about drift ice was extremely interesting. Afterwards, we toured the Drift Ice Science Center.
The students in uniform are high school students from Monbetsu.
とっかりセンター
The Okhotsk Tokkari Center (Tokkari means seal in the Ainu language) is Japan's only marine mammal conservation facility. It provides care for seals that have been injured or entangled in fishing nets, protecting them until they recover. Here, we were able to observe seals at close range and learn about their physical characteristics and ecology. We were even able to touch the seals.
Okhotsk Tower
The Okhotsk Tower is a tower that juts out into the Sea of Okhotsk, allowing for observation of the sea from underwater. Research on the Sea of Okhotsk is also conducted here. We spoke with them about that research.
Evening lectures
After dinner, there was a lecture at the hotel about the creatures that live in the northern seas. The lecturer was Professor Noriko Higashi from the Institute for Bioresource Development, Tokyo University of Agriculture. She spoke about the systematic classification of crabs using DNA. We actually calculated and confirmed what biodiversity means.
Day 2
Ice training
On the second day, we had an ice-working practical session on Lake Saroma. Mr. Toru Takatsuka from the Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Science served as our instructor. Lake Saroma was completely frozen over, and when we measured the thickness of the ice, it was an astonishing 90 centimeters (there were also some dangerous spots with cracks). During the practical session, we drilled holes in the ice, extracted the ice, observed it, and measured its temperature. We were able to actually confirm the structure of ice that we had learned about in the lecture on the first day.
