Chirikof Island

things get gross.

July 15th 2024

Remember how the seasickness patches were working, albeit gently blinding us all? Well, turns out the sea had been holding out on us. I woke up to big lurching 4-6 foot rollers. I staggered to the galley where Janice had made pancakes and bacon and the smell of it made me want to die.

Engineer Craig said that the Tiglax was sea-friendly, not people-friendly. She’s designed to stay dry, so she rides quite high, but because of that you sacrifice a smoother ride. As a research vessel a dry deck is a high priority. And so we suffer.

 I wasn’t the only one suddenly feeling rotten - I kept running into green-faced ratpack members hiding in corners or lying in beds. After a few dry heaves in the head (the bathroom) I was able to get a little bit of yogurt and granola down to get me through the morning. 

It helped a lot to get outside, too. A few of us wound up on the aft deck for some fresh air and to watch horned puffins fly by. They’re like determined little black footballs hurtling through the air - it doesn’t seem like they should be able to get very far, but they do. An inspiration to all of us footballs.

This trip so far is reminding me of a video game. You go to sleep, and wake up at the beginning of a new level, each presenting a new environment and new challenges. The boat moves through the night to get you to your next destination. Today we were going to Chirikof, a very strange place given over to wild cattle that had been abandoned by various ranchers over the years. It’s not as idyllic as it sounds - the cattle graze the vegetation down to nubs, ruining seabird nesting grounds. There’s shit EVERYWHERE. The bulls are extremely rapey. There’s not much food, so starvation is not uncommon. Getting rid of them would be hard and expensive and people get very emotional about cows, apparently. So Chirikof is what it is - kind of gross.

Yesterday the dress code had been a mix of Xtratufs and rain pants, but as everyone suits up for the morning expedition I notice 100% of the people are wearing waders now. I do not have waders. I was told I could get by without them, but Chirikof was going to be an intense and wet landing. Thankfully there was one spare pair found down in the hold, bought for someone who couldn’t make the trip. Yes, the boots were three sizes too small, but surely that wouldn’t matter.

Spoiler alert: it super mattered. But they got me to shore.

The ride to Chirikof was indeed wet and rough. The intrepid Rachel timed the waves perfectly (she’s also a surfer) and got us in safely. Getting herself out safely was another matter:

She hit a breaker head on and caught major air. We were all very glad she did not flip over. 

Chirikof felt weird and gloomy, definitely the second level of a video game, where you have the hang of the controls but now everything gets harder. There was driftwood everywhere, like piles of bones. Sometimes it was bones of whales or sea lions, but mostly cows. So many dead cows.

There was also poop everywhere, as you might expect from an exclusive cow resort. This carcass didn’t seem scavenged at all (though we didn’t exactly dig in), which is a good sign that there aren’t foxes here. 

I did a beachwalk survey with Katie, looking for rat tracks and counting crab carapaces. It is a soothing job and I found lots and lots of dungies. No green crabs, no rats, but yes to arctic ground squirrels, whose tracks we found in the sand and discussed at length re: their toe count and spread. This is fun. 

We skiffed back for lunch, compared notes, downed some quesadillas and soup, and went immediately back out there to do more surveys. Aaron saw some sandhill cranes with their colts, and grumbly bulls stared at us from afar.

This time I went with a plant team. Ben (the plant guy) was having a heck of a time figuring out what was going on with the buttercups that were all over the place. We couldn’t confidently decide if they were native or non-native. Tall and creeping are invasive and on our hit list, native is not. Can YOU tell them apart?

So we took some samples and headed back to the beach to try and not be late for dinner again.

There was a little frustration surveying tiny sections of such a large island, where it would be so hard to act on anything. I asked Stacey (the strike team leader)  why we were on Chirikof if it was basically a lost cause. Birds return when rats and foxes are eradicated, but the cattle have trampled their habitat. Getting rid of the cows is impossible. The  buttercups are EVERYwhere. Why even go there? She said she wanted to show the people in charge just how far gone it is, so that maybe resources would be re-allocated to islands that they can make a difference in, sooner. Time is of the essence with invasive species, and it’s too late for these poor gross cows.

Dinner was delicious cheesy halibut, quinoa and kale salad, with ambrosia salad for dessert. Lots of the team are fishing off the back of the boat, including Captain John. Katie caught a nice flounder before heading off for round 3 of Chirikof.

I am not feeling one more round of wet waders, so I stayed on the boat and sat in the wheelhouse talking to Captain John about his commercial fishing career and his time with the Tiglax. He also very kindly loaned me his wader boots so I am no longer guaranteed to lose toenails. 

It was really nice having a quiet evening on a nearly empty boat to do laundry, draw and gather my thoughts a little. This video game level was pretty intense, and I’m excited to see what tomorrow is like. Hopefully less dead cows.