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Dispatch 8: Mooring D Deployed

Jennifer Kosty (Yale University)

September 26, 2025
16:00 local, 73.58◦N, 139.44◦W

Conditions:

  • Cloudy, flurries
  • 0% sea ice cover
  • -2.5◦C
  • Sunrise: 26-Sept-2025 09:18
  • Sunset: 26-Sept-2025 20:58
  • Day length: 11 hours, 40 minutes

The night watch wrapped up a nearly 3700 m CTD rosette cast at CB-19 around 2 am this morning. We then steamed back to Mooring D’s drop location and began the deployment process at first light (around 8 am). 6 hours later, Mooring D was successfully deployed!

We started by assembling the base, which includes a 2500 lb anchor, a bottom pressure recorder, and two acoustic releases, which will be used to recover Mooring D next year. The base pieces were connected to approximately 1500 m of wire and lowered into the ocean by winchman Daryl Tobin and the rest of the deck crew. We then attached another 2000 m of wire along with two McClane Moored Profilers, which will climb up and down the wire all year collecting profiles of temperature, salinity, and horizontal velocity. Finally, we attached a suite of instruments to the top sphere which will sit around 30 m deep, collecting measurements of ice thickness, ice speed, ocean currents, and more! The top sphere was then attached to the mooring wire and lowered over the side of the deck.

We waited for Captain Briggs and second officer Dominique Rennie to give the final confirmation that we were in position before Jeff O’Brien officially released Mooring D from the ship. Overall, the recovery and redeployment of Mooring D was a huge success, and we are excited to repeat this process in a couple of weeks with Moorings B and A!

After a couple of days in open water, tonight we will return to the sea ice which is remaining in relatively high concentration on the eastern side of the Canada Basin. We anticipate reaching our next science stations (CB-50 and CB-51), in the early morning and afternoon tomorrow, respectively. Tonight, we celebrate a successful first week of science aboard the Louis with a ship-wide happy hour, complete with non-alcoholic beers, mocktails, and live music!

 

Figure 1: The most recent sea ice concentration map for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (Source: https://data.seaice.uni-bremen.de/databrowser/).
Figure 1: The most recent sea ice concentration map for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (Source: https://data.seaice.uni-bremen.de/databrowser/).
Figure 2: Map showing our current location along the planned 2025 cruise track.
Figure 2: Map showing our current location along the planned 2025 cruise track.
Photo 1: Jeff O’Brien, Jim Ryder, and Cory Beatty assembling Mooring D’s base (which includes an anchor, bottom pressure recorder, and acoustic releases) with the help of boatswain Rico Amamio and winchman Daryl Tobin.
Photo 1: Jeff O’Brien, Jim Ryder, and Cory Beatty assembling Mooring D’s base (which includes an anchor, bottom pressure recorder, and acoustic releases) with the help of boatswain Rico Amamio and winchman Daryl Tobin.
Photo 2: Mooring D’s base entering the water. Photo by Paul Macoun.
Photo 2: Mooring D’s base entering the water. Photo by Paul Macoun.
Photo 3: Tim McDonough (left), Jim Ryder (middle), and boatswain Rico Amamio (right) attaching a McClane Moored Profiler (MMP) to the mooring wire.
Photo 3: Tim McDonough (left), Jim Ryder (middle), and boatswain Rico Amamio (right) attaching a McClane Moored Profiler (MMP) to the mooring wire.
Photo 4: A huge thanks to all the deck crew who helped make Mooring D’s deployment a success!
Photo 4: A huge thanks to all the deck crew who helped make Mooring D’s deployment a success!
Photo 5: Night watch leader Paige Hagel bringing the CTD rosette back on deck after a snowy cast at CB-19. Photo by Marguerite Larriere.
Photo 5: Night watch leader Paige Hagel bringing the CTD rosette back on deck after a snowy cast at CB-19. Photo by Marguerite Larriere.