Dispatch 14: Third and Final Ice Station     Print

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Hugo Sindelar

September 20, 2018

Location: 77° 34' N 145° 8' W

Weather: -2°C (28°F), Mostly cloudy, seas ice covered, Southwest winds at 11 knots, seawater temperature -1.2°C (29.8°F)

Sea Ice: Variable from complete coverage to mostly covered.

That’s a wrap for ice stations on this cruise!  The WHOI team found a suitable ice floe early this morning, and we deployed the final Ice-Tethered Profiler of the trip.  As usual while the WHOI team worked, the JOIS team took different measurements of the ice.  And we got it all done before dinner (again…the boat’s version of lunch).  It was an efficient morning to say the least!

While the first two ice stations were sunny and clear, we weren’t so fortunate this morning.  We finally found the moody Beaufort Sea weather I had been hearing about.  Complete cloud cover created an even flat light.  White snow on a white sky.  While not the bluebird days of before, the light was still beautiful in its own muted way.  Everyone sure stood out on the ice with all their different colored jackets on.  The soft light also accentuated the subtle patterns and textures of the ice floes.  The sheer diversity of ice types out here is amazing.

After lunch, we steamed toward CB-12, where we did both a rosette casts and multiple bongo casts.  Now that ice stations are done, the rest of the trip will focus on CTD stations and two more moorings for the WHOI team.  We likely have two more days in sea ice, and after that it’s back to open water.  Tomorrow we will be recovering Mooring B in preparation for its redeployment the following day.  That’s all the news I have for now!  I’ll have a brief update about the mooring tomorrow, but as I have covered a lot of the operations that will take place, I figure it is time to focus on science and ship.  After all there is a 24-hour science laboratory, and the ship can’t run herself.  It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to keep this cruise on course. Stay tuned!