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www.marinelink.com MN23when most wildlife is gone.? In some cases, waiting until winter to clear awreck may cause even greater environ- mental damage. ?Sometimes, prep work can be done in the winter to minimize the window needed at that crucial time when the ice breaks up and just before most of the birds and mammals show up.? ?Emergency response in the north has so far depended more on Alaskan inge- nuity than impressive equipment,? he said. An example of working with the ice includes Magone?s salvage work on the 225-ft AHTS Aquamarine and the world?s largest bucket dredge, which were disabled as the ice season was beginning. With no tugs for thousands of miles capable of towing the barge, both vessels were brought alongside Nome harbor?s rock jetty and an ice dam was built to protect them until the spring. The ice damn was created by spraying sea water in a semicircle until it froze into a 20-ft high by 50-ft wide barrier. In other cases, he said, if a casualty cannot be towed south before ice blocks it in, some places are safer for the vessel and the environment than others. ?A Port of Refuge policy for the Arctic is something that will need to be fullydeveloped as it has been successfully implemented and utilized in Southwest Alaska and elsewhere.? While large vessels need to protect their cooling systems from freezing, operating small boats and portable equipment is a particular challenge. ?By far the most troublesome equipment to operate in the cold is water pumps. The small diesel engines are hard to start and ice will quickly form in suction and dis-charge hoses soon after they are shut off. Thawing out the frozen hoses in freezing weather can be an exercise in futility. Back up hoses need to be on hand. If the pump housing freezes it will crack the housing so it?s good to MN#2 (18-31):MN 2011 Layouts 2/6/2012 2:49 PM Page 23