Crew members aboard Coast Guard Cutter Buckthorn hook a buoy as they prepare to decommission the ice-laden buoy, Dec. 12, 2013, for the winter season in the northern St. Marys River leading into Whitefish Bay. An early start to the ice season has caused the crew of Buckthorn to race to complete Operation Fall Retrieve before the ice floes set firm and damage the navigational buoys.