The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea enters Juneau's harbor on Wednesday
Crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea play basketball on the hanger deck while waiting to tie up in Juneau. The Polar Sea, the world's most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker, is returning to its homeport in Seattle after completing a 101-day deployment.
BM3 Kyle Abel plots the course from the bridge of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar as it makes it way to Juneau
Capt. David Vaughn watches a radar monitor Wednesday as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea enters Juneau's harbor
Pilot Barry Olver helps ENS Jennifer Hom pick out navigational aides in Gastineau Channel on Wednesday from the bridge of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea.
Capt. David Rauwolf of the pilot vessel pulls along the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea in Taku Inlet.
What: Public tours of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea
Where: South Franklin dock
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Friday
Details: Tour is free. More information at www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcpolarsea and www.icefloe.net.
Slideshow: On board the Polar Sea
Story last updated at 11/19/2009 - 10:48 am
A Seattle-based Coast Guard icebreaker returning from two months studying polar bears, marine mammals, sea birds and Arctic sea ridges will be open for tours in Juneau today and Friday.
Ensign Emily Holt, deck watch officer on the ship, said the tour will cover areas such as the bridge, ward room, cruise lounge, galley, and, for those who are interested, the engine room.
"It's just to get an idea of the ship layout and what life is like underway," she said.
With up to 75,000 horsepower, the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea is the world's most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker, according to the Coast Guard.
It just completed a 100-day deployment, of which 60 days were spent above the Arctic Circle. Over the course of those 60 days, scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory took core samples to study sediment composition, and water samples to study temperature, salinity and levels of oxygen at varying depths.
Scientists from varying institutions studied polar bears that had been tagged with radio collars in the spring.
The study's findings correlate the theory that polar bears travel distances up to 600 miles. The study is intended to find out more about polar bears' ability to adapt to a retreating ice edge due to global warming, and is the first study of polar bears at sea, Holt said.
The scientists disembarked in Barrow last week.
The cutter is 399 feet and has a reinforced hull. It can break through up to 21 feet of ice, carry 150 crew members and 35 scientists, and has five laboratories with space for seven extra portable labs.
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