 Radio Script 2000
Risky Science __________________ STORY: At age 32, George Pappas is considered a bit young to be a biologist in charge of a major commercial fishery. He manages salmon in a 1,000 -square-mile area around Chignik Lake, a remote wilderness in southwest Alaska. One of the riskiest parts of the job entails counting spawning salmon, while sitting in a two-person bush plane flying low over the ground. Before he took the salmon job, Pappas worked as a crab biologist in the notoriously dangerous Bering Sea. There, 50-foot seas were commonplace, and you had to be careful not to get knocked overboard by 700-pound crab pots sliding across the deck. These days, Pappas has good reason to think that counting salmon is even more dangerous. PAPPAS: "Yes, I do now." A few weeks ago, he was on a routine salmon survey—something Pappas has done dozens of times. The day started out well enough. But high winds kicked up, and then suddenly the plane was hit by a powerful downdraft. PAPPAS: "It hit us so hard that my clipboard was pinned against the ceiling of the airplane. We dropped about 600 feet out of the sky into the tundra and stopped after crashing, probably within six seconds. It was a violent down-sweep into the tundra. There was no time to react. The pilot barely got the plane pointed downhill to take some of the force out of the crash. It did rip the plane in half. All I remember is a puff of dirt. I kicked the side of the plane out and ran. I looked back and the pilot said he needed some help. He had broken his right femur in three places and his left foot was dislocated, and his face was laid open from a large scratch on his forehead. I drug him away from the plane. At the time I was on adrenaline so I didn't really feel my injuries but I have compression fractures in two vertebrae in my back and a floating rib that is disconnected." Pappas isn't alone in the stories he can tell about the hazards of pursuing science in Alaska. Just about anyone who's spent much time in the field has a story about a too-close-for-comfort encounter with a bear, or of falling off a fishing boat, or of crashing in a plane. Or, in the case of ecologist Bruce Wright, of being bit by an angry shark. WRIGHT: "It all happened, you know, in a split second." Wright was chomped while conducting research on salmon sharks in Alaska's Prince William Sound. Usually, the process of netting one of the 400-pound sharks—and getting it into a hammock-like crib so it can be measured and tagged—comes off without a hitch. But not always. WRIGHT: "Well in this case, the shark got caught in the webbing of the net and ended up outside of the cribbing on the back deck with all this webbing wrapped around it. So, Lee Hulbert, who works with us on the shark project, and I jumped on top of the webbing and started pulling the webbing clear of the shark's snout so that we could get it into the crib and then get it off the boat. As soon as we cleared the netting from the snout of the shark—and they seem to have a lot of flexibility, we've noticed—it turned around and grabbed my leg. Lee immediately grabbed the shark's head and tried to pull it off. The shark shook my leg a little bit and ripped a big hole in my Helly-Hansen rain gear and a big hole in my Carharts. So there was this big open gash in my Carharts with all this blood and then the shark turned around with this big chunk of rain gear in its mouth." Fortunately for George Pappas, his pilot, and Bruce Wright, their stories have a happy ending. Pappas and his pilot were medevacked from the crash site by the U.S. Coast Guard, and are expected to make a full recovery. Wright was back to work soon after his shark encounter, having suffered only minor cuts. Both say the risks of getting hurt or killed are worth taking if it means they can pursue the jobs they love. WRIGHT: "The danger is not a big attractant. I love being out of doors. I love being in wilderness. That's a requirement I need for my personal sanity." OUTRO: This is Arctic Science Journeys Radio, a production of the Alaska Sea Grant Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I'm Doug Schneider.
Thanks to the following individuals for help preparing this script: Bruce A. Wright, Executive Director George Pappas, Area Management Biologist
Arctic Science Journeys is a radio service highlighting science, culture, and the environment of the circumpolar north. Produced by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Listen to story on RealAudio More audio clips: Is
science dangerous? What
is my job? Waiting
for rescue Listen in as Bruce Wright is bitten by a shark! (1:16) Thoughts
of going over Bear
encounter Every
shark is different Related links: Alaska Shark Assessment ProgramAlaska Fisheries Science Center Alaska Department of Fish and Game University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences |
