Dispatch 22: The Night Shift

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Hugo Sindelar

September 28, 2018

Location: 72° 0’ N 139° 58’ W

Weather: -2°C (28°F), Mostly cloudy, seas moderately choppy, Northeast winds at 8 knots, seawater temperature -0.7°C (30.7°F)

Sea Ice: None

I had every intention of spending a few days with the night shift when I laid out my plans for this cruise. If there is one theme on this expedition, it is that plans change daily (even hourly). I did film a few CTD casts at night, but they technically occurred during the day shift since shift change occurs at midnight. As our cruise ends, I made a point of staying up late to spend a few hours with the night shift.

This crew has been working 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. for weeks. It took many of them a few days to settle into their schedules, but after that they have been churning away. They are the denizens of the night that ensure that all the science onboard can be completed in a timely fashion. Without a 24-hour science schedule, it would be impossible to complete all our CTD cast locations across the Beaufort Sea. Their dedication to odd hours and eating dinner for breakfast, breakfast for lunch, and lunch for dinner keeps things running 24/7. They have to contend with colder temperatures, lower visibility, and a slick deck as a thin layer of ice is a common occurrence onboard at night. Most of our CTD “lines” have occurred during the night shift, so they got to complete most of the rosette casts that came back to back. Cheers to the night shift of Mike Dempsey, Peter Van Buren, Cassandra Konecny, Celine Gueguen, Jessica Kenigson, and Yuanxin Zhang for keeping things running while the rest of the ship is sleeping! Various crew members have rotated through the night shift, and they are also to be commended for their help too!

Last updated: October 7, 2019