 | 1: From Sea to Sea
Our international science team has gathered on the Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker Louis S. St. Laurent and we have begun our journey. |
 | 2: A Floating Lab
Boxes and crates were emptied today as a fully-functional oceanographic laboratory was contructed on the ship. |
 | 3: Like No Other Place
The first CTD cast was successfully completed, and preparations were finished for the CABOS mooring recovery tomorrow. |
 | 4: Along the Edge
We successfully recovered our first mooring, and began a long transit along the edge of multi-year ice deeper into the Beaufort Gyre. |
 | 5: Science Never Sleeps
In this dispatch I talk with Wendy and Nes about an important oceanographic tracer: freon. |
 | 6: Thunder Below
The mooring crew deployed a mooring on the shelf edge in extremely difficult ice conditions. |
 | 7: Electric Blue
Thicker floes hampered science as we made our way north along 150 degrees West longitude. |
 | 8: Three Strikes
After three attempts to locate the drifting buoys, we must assume they have fallen through the ice and cannot be recovered. |
 | 9: Terror and Boredom
As the sun made a welcome reappearance, the mooring crew retrieved the first Beaufort Gyre Observing System mooring in record time. |
 | 10: Float Factory
While CTD operations continued, the mooring group refurbished instruments and hardware for the mooring deployment. |
 | 11: Rain Day
Another cold rain pelted the Louis while CTDs and mooring turnaround work continued. |
 | 12: One Down...
After five and half hours of hard deck work, Beaufort Gyre Observing System Mooring A was finally released to the depths. |
 | 13: Shake, Rattle, and Roll
The Louis powered through patches of multi-year ice as we steamed towards Mooring B. |
 | 14: Recover and Recon
Mooring B was brought aboard and a thick ice floe was selected for placement of the ice buoys. |
 | 15: Camp Smiley
After six hours on the ice at Camp Smiley, two moorings, the Ice-Tethered Profiler and the Ice Mass Balance Buoy, were installed. |
 | 16: We Are Not Alone
We followed the icebreaker Healy's track for part of the day, sampling with CTDs and XCTDs. |
 | 17: Fogbows and Floats
Mooring B was successfully deployed and we began steaming eastward to the next ITP buoy deployment location. |
 | 18: Sunny and Clear
A high pressure system has moved into our area, bringing the clearest skies we have seen yet. We continued our transit eastward. |
 | 19: The Beaufort Triangle
We are temporarily stopped in the ice while the engineering department repairs one of the Louis' three propulsion shafts. |
 | 20: Gilligan's Ice Island
We have settled in for a few days' wait as the engineers labor below decks on the shaft repair. |
 | 21: Behind the Scenes
While the mooring group surveyed a nearby floe, I visited the engine room and galley for a look behind the scenes. |
 | 22: Polar Anniversary
Cracks in the floe next to the ship caused us to abort the buoy deployment. On this day eleven years ago the Louis was the first Canadian surface vessel to reach the North Pole. |
 | 23: Camp Persistence
A persistent mooring team finally installed the Ice Mass Balance Buoy and Ice-Tethered Profiler in an ice floe near the ship. |
 | 24: Fingers Crossed
Repairs complete! We are underway again, with updated ice information from a Canadian ice reconnaissance flight. |
 | 25: Back and Whack
Thick multi-year ice slowed our progress towards Mooring C. We have begun recovering the mooring--bottom first. |
 | 26: Midnight Mooring
Mooring C was successfully recovered just after midnight and redeployed a short fourteen hours later. |
 | 27: Bon Voyage Doug
We made good progress southward today, completing CTD and XCTD casts. Doug Sieberg was honored at a retirement party. |
 | 28: BGOS Complete
With the successful deployment of Mooring D, the Beaufort Gyre Observing System is finally in place. |
 | 29: Open Water
We made up for lost time today cruising through light ice conditions. |
 | 30: Signs of Life
A trio of gulls heralded our return to shallower waters. |
 | 31: Arctic Encore
Thank you to our sponsors and the crew of the Louis S. St-Laurent for a very successful expedition. |
