Arctic cracks

[LRC1962]

Saw a Doc done by David Attenborough. Can not remember the name of the exact title, but in it he went with an Inuit hunter out on the Arctic ice. The hunter as part of the trip recorded all the cracks he found with GPS location and any other relevant information. The reason for this is that almost all cracks form in the same same spot year after year. Another reason was for both scientific study, but also for informing Arctic communities for safety reasons in the changing Arctic environment.
Any new ones found would also be recorded as it would be presumed that the new cracks would follow the same pattern. Thought it worth mentioning because the same has been noted many times in this forum as we watch as the melt season develops.

[ChrisReynolds]

Thanks LRC,

It makes sense that near the coasts cracks form in the same place. I wonder what the situation is deeper into the Arctic Ocean pack?

[nukefix]

Further-out the cracking must be quite chaotic, like breaking of glass.

[johnm33]

This immediately brought to mind a doc. i saw years ago which was about a race across the Pacific [point to point] between a fully equipped modern yatch and one of the last native navigators. The navigator knew the landscape [waves swells counter swells] of the ocean sufficiently well not only to always know where he was but also to know where storms were, and how best to avoid them and take advantage of the winds they generated. Needless to say he won and analysis showed he'd actually taken close to the optimal route. I don't recall what he sailed in.

[Polynya88]

Cracks in fracturing Fast Ice in the Arctic Islands, Lancaster Sound, and Admiralty inlet often form in the exact same location, but timing is highly variable. In working on CCG icebreakers (1980 -1996) we were tasked no less than 2 or 3 times a year in spring/summer to rescue Inuit hunters who ended up on the wrong side of fracturing fast ice and drifted out to sea... "Traditional" knowledge is no match for the vagaries of break-up in the Arctic. Current unusual ice conditions can only lower their success rate further...