A 24-hour sun reflected off the turquoise surface of the Beaufort Sea, a vast sheet of glimmering ice. The scene was much more than a photographer's beauty shot. But for the two flyers, the picture all around them was just another day on the job. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and pilot Jim Bredy and aerial remote sensing specialist Al Cilurso had boarded the Partenavia Observer, an Italian light twin-engine aircraft, to begin a journey that would span three weeks and thousands of miles, from the Southwestern desert to the Arctic Circle and back to the Gulf of Mexico. From Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bredy and Cilurso first flew to Canada to conduct aerial wildlife surveys and photo-mapping of various habitats in the wild.
Aerial surveys provide valuable information about habitats, wildlife, and ecosystems.
Often, the information gleaned from these surveys can determine important wildlife conservation strategies. A fuel stop for the Partenavia Observer, the plane used for aerial surveys. The small plane, loaded to maximum weight, flew above the 60th parallel to Fort Smith at the northeastern border of Alberta and the Northwest Territories, where, in winter, the vibrant colors of the aurora borealis dance across the nighttime skies. The designated survey site was at Canada's premier Wood Buffalo National Park. It is also the summer breeding grounds for descendants of 15 historically significant whooping cranes.