Dispatch 34: An ITP and a BBQ : Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project

Our third and final ITP of this cruise was deployed today. Since we started heading south along 140° W longitude, the ice conditions have been deteriorating, becoming thinner and less concentrated. In order to find better conditions that would promote a longer lifetime for our ITP buoy, the Louis diverted eastward. When the weather conditions improved enough for a helicopter flight, we took off for an ice reconnaissance.

Based on the ice that we had seen from the ship, we were expecting to fly some distance before locating an appropriate floe. However, as soon as we took off, we spotted several reasonable candidates in the immediate vicinity. While none of the candidates was very large, we picked one which we thought looked the best, and when we drilled through it, found that it was a perfect 3.1 m (10 ft) thick.

Shortly thereafter, Brian MacKenzie, Gary Morgan, Joe Illasiak, the WHOI mooring team, and all the ITP gear was transported to the floe. In the next 2 hours, the 10" diameter hole was augered through the ice, the profiler deployed, and the buoy surface package attached. This particular ITP is programmed to acquire 3 profiles between 7 and 750 m (23 and 2460 ft) of seawater temperature and salinity each day. These data are relayed back to Woods Hole via satellite telephone and made available on the ITP website within a few hours after the actual measurement.

It was a good thing that the deployment operation went so smoothly, because it allowed everyone to be back on the ship before supper time. And this evening’s meal was a barbeque in the helicopter hanger. Steaks, chicken, sausages, fish, and hamburgers and an assortment of salads and side dishes made for a magnificent feast.

Dispatch 34: An ITP and a BBQ

Rick Krishfield

September 7, 2006