Work Season

The open water season in the Beaufort Sea is very short in comparison to other areas in Alaska.  This is due to the spring ice leaving approximately the second week in July and freezing up in late September.  During the past two to three years the season has started between 13 to 15 July.  The end of the season is the most variable and hardest to predict.  Up to about five years ago, the season ended when the pack ice started to moved onshore.  Recently, the pack ice has been 250 to 300 miles offshore during the open water season so this is no longer the problem it once had been.  The inshore waters starts freezing in late September, but from mid to late September there has been a tendency for high winds and storms every four to five days.  The ice is so far offshore that the swell takes a couple of days to decrease to be able to work efficiently.  It could be a matter of waiting out a storm for two to three days to be able to work one to two days.  We have found for now, between the second and third week in September is the start of the limit of diminishing returns for working days.

Comments on working in the Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay area:

The names Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay are used interchangeability, which can be confusing.  The region is unique because it is strictly a work area and not an organized town.  There is no governmental body, no full time residents, no schools, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.  This is a large area that is comprised of oilfields and the companies that support it.

Deadhorse is the public area where private businesses and the airport are located.  Alaska Airlines has daily passenger and cargo flights into the Deadhorse airport as do two other cargo carriers.  Deadhorse is also accessible by road via the Dalton Highway (550 miles from Fairbanks, mostly gravel).  There are two trucking companies that deliver freight to Deadhorse.  Deadhorse has hotels where the general public can stay. 

Prudhoe Bay (the area with the oilfields) adjoins Deadhorse to the north.  This is the actual oilfield and the area is carefully controlled by the oil companies.  From Deadhorse to the Beaufort Sea is 15 miles and there is only one access road which is through the oilfield.  Everyone is required to have security clearance to enter the oilfield.  It is not difficult, but scientists need to obtain this clearance in order to drive to where the R/V Annika Marie is berthed.  Contact Oceanic Research Services for security clearance assistance.