Dispatch 3: Science Operations Begin!     Print

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Kristina Brown

August 4, 2013

We’ve been on the ship for 3 days now and have almost finished unpacking our boxes and setting up the equipment needed to carry out the science operations for the voyage. A lot of careful planning and preparation in the months before the cruise has ensured that the science group is ready for almost any surprises. Boxes of spare components, duplicates of integral equipment, as well as a lot of extra batteries and duct tape, help to troubleshoot the issues of equipment malfunction, breakage during shipping, and missing odds and ends. As we all unpack, sort, and set up our lab and sampling stations, the whole team is eager to lend a hand to help setup go smoothly.

Today we arrived at our first water sampling station in Amundsen Gulf (71.03 N, 127.76 W). This was our first chance to work out any “bugs” in our science operations, test deployment and operation of equipment, and make some of our first measurements. It was also an opportunity for the science and deck crew to get oriented with some of the new equipment and the multiple operations carried out during each sampling station.

After a long but successful day on deck, there remains some final equipment to fix and boxes to unpack before the next sampling station. Tomorrow we will continue north-west towards some heavy ice cover in the south-east corner of the Canada Basin. I think I can speak for everyone when I say how good it feels to be on our way!