A typical day for five female scientists taking part in an international salmon research expedition on the high seas sees them do everything from chemical analyses of water samples to examining their catch to discover secrets of winter survival.
They are in the middle of the Gulf of Alaska, where 21 scientists and 31 crew members have faced seas of three to five metres on board a chartered Russian trawler in a first-of-its-kind research expedition marked by international co-operation.
Despite the distance from land, the women consider today special.
Nanaimo research biologist Chrys Neville said in a statement sent from the ship: 鈥淭he women on the Professor Kaganovsky wish the women of the world a wonderful International Women鈥檚 Day. You go, girl!鈥�
International Women鈥檚 Day is celebrated in Russia, where it is a public holiday.
鈥淥bviously it is a regular day of work at sea. However, the men are all congratulating the women on the ship for this day,鈥� Neville said.
Another four women on the trawler are crew members, who 鈥渁ll measure their sea time in decades,鈥� writes Neville, who, along with her own research, also heads up communication from the ship.
The expedition was organized by Richard Beamish, a fisheries biologist in Nanaimo. It brings together scientists from Russia, Japan, Korea, the United States and Canada. Beamish raised $1.3聽million to fund the survey, which started in February and finishes this month.
Scientists are teaming up to learn where and how Pacific salmon 鈥� important to all five countries 鈥� spend their winters after leaving their home streams.
Senior scientist Neville, who is based at Federal Fisheries and Oceans Canada鈥檚 Pacific Biological Station, has more than 25 years鈥� experience leading field research programs studying the marine ecology of juvenile Pacific salmon.
Neville, who began research on ships in 1990, said: 鈥淚 never expected my next trip to be to the middle of the Northeast Pacific in the middle of winter.
鈥淗owever, I always say that I聽want to explore the world, and this is definitely an area that only science could take me!鈥�
This trip provides the opportunity to augment her research on聽sockeye and chinook salmon normally studied closer to the coast.
American Laurie Weitkamp, who is serving as the chief scientist when the ship is in U.S. waters, began research on ships in 1991. She is internationally recognized for work on the ocean ecology of Pacific salmon.
While Russia has a long tradition of women serving at sea as scientists and part of the crew, that was not the case on North American research ships, Neville said.
Early in their careers, Neville and Weitkamp were often the only women on research ships.
鈥淗owever, things have changed dramatically over the last 20聽years,鈥� Neville said. 鈥淭oday women serve in all positions, including ship officers, engineers, crew and scientists.
鈥淥n several surveys I had led over the last five years, 80 per cent of the science crew has been female.鈥�
The female scientists on the Professor Kaganovsky agree there is more equality on ships these days. 鈥淏ut for some things, women are still being treated differently,鈥� Neville said.
鈥淔or example, many men automatically assume women are too weak to do any heavy lifting, or their upbringing suggests that they should offer to do it for a woman. However, generally after a few days working as a team, these stereotypes disappear.鈥�
Canada鈥檚 other representative is Svetlana Esenkulova of the Vancouver-based Pacific Salmon Foundation, a biological oceanographer who is collecting DNA and聽also studying squid, a key food for salmon.
Anna Vazhova, a hydrochemist from Russia, does all the chemical analyses of water samples collected at each station.
鈥淲hat makes this expedition special is that everyone is excited to be here,鈥� she said.
Albina Kanzsparova, also from Russia, is keen to see how salmon stocks are formed in both sides of the ocean, what processes define the stocks, what factors they have in common and what are found in聽specific regions.
Neville said the female scientists note that everyone is working well together and are enthusiastic about participating in the expedition, where they share the excitement of discovery.
鈥淲e鈥檙e actually seeing what is out here and the dynamics of this region, rather than just guessing what these fish are doing,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he passion for the science that is being conducted and simply having the opportunity to be part of this expedition is readily apparent for all participants, men and women alike.鈥�
