When the probe fell silent, Behar turned to Plan B. He labeled 90 rubber ducks with an e-mail address and the words "science experiment" and "reward" written in English, Danish and the native Inuit language, then set the toys loose in a moulin. The idea was that fisherman would find the ducks and notify Behar where they were found. He's still waiting for first contact. "I was a little surprised," Martin told Discovery News. "There are a lot a fisherman up there." Baffin Bay, an ice-laden body of water between northeast Canada and Greenland, freezes over in the winter, so Martin is hoping the ducks might be located next summer. The field work complements ongoing measurements of Greenland and the world's oceans taken by an array of satellites. "In the last century, the total change in sea level was about 8 inches," Martin said. "Right now, it's headed to more like 12 inches so we're seeing a greater contribution from the ice sheets." The Jakobshavn Glacier is responsible for shedding almost 7 percent of Greenland's ice. Related Links: Irene Klotz's blog: Free Space How Stuff Works: If the Polar Ice Caps Melted, How Much Would the Oceans Rise? |
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