Email Print Share
March 18, 2015

R/V Sikuliaq returns from Great Lakes trials

An aerial view of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-owned research vessel Sikuliaq (pronounced see-KOO-lee-auk, translated from Inupiaq as "young sea ice") on its return trip from preliminary acceptance trials on the Great Lakes at the end of February 2014.

The research vessel is a 261-foot ship that the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences will operate as part of the U.S. academic research fleet. Sikuliaq is a global class, ice-capable research vessel that will support science that helps to learn more about marine life, the oceans, the atmosphere and the global climate.

The vessel design strives to have the lowest possible environmental impact, including a low underwater radiated noise signature for marine mammal and fisheries work. R/V Sikuliaq will be able to accommodate up to 24 scientists and students at a time, including those with disabilities, providing scientists from around the world and in the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) a unique and important research opportunity.

You can view video of the Sikuliaq returning from trials Here. (Date of Image: February 2014)

Credit: Val Ihde, photographer

See other images like this on your iPhone or iPad download NSF Science Zone on the Apple App Store.


Images and other media in the National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery are available for use in print and electronic material by NSF employees, members of the media, university staff, teachers and the general public. All media in the gallery are intended for personal, educational and nonprofit/non-commercial use only.

Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.

Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.

Also Available:
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (9.6 MB)

Use your mouse to right-click (Mac users may need to Ctrl-click) the link above and choose the option that will save the file or target to your computer.