Dispatch 21: Recoveries of Mooring D and “Mike” the Glider
Ashley Arroyo (Yale University)
September 19, 2024
17:20 UTC, 73.59°N 140.02°W
Conditions:
- Snowy
- 0% sea ice cover
- -0.1°C
- Winds 10.7 knots northwesterly
- Sunrise: 18-Sep-2024 08:39:24 -06
- Sunset: 18-Sep-2024 21:51:24 -06
- Day length: 13h 12mn 0s
Early this morning, the Louis arrived at station CB-21 (the site of Mooring D), where the nighttime watch-standers completed two CTD rosette casts – one regular deep cast, and one shallower cast to sample for DNA. Once the rosette was back on deck, the science team and deck crew were cleared to begin mooring operations. Like the other BGOS moorings, the position of Mooring D was pinpointed using a triangulation algorithm. When the acoustic signal was sent to release the mooring from its anchor, its yellow flotation sphere emerged at the ocean’s surface only 20 meters away from the Louis! For one last time on this year’s expedition, Jerome Sibley was lowered to the buoy to clip it in, so it could be winched on board. The rest of the mooring was soon recovered, and all instruments were safely onboard shortly after lunchtime.
Near the beginning of this years’ expedition, the science team launched “Mike” the microrider glider on an 18-day mission to collect temperature, salinity, and microstructure data (See Dispatch 4 here. Technicians Paige Hagel and Seth Fleming-Alho, along with Jerome and Chief Mate John boarded the Fast Rescue Craft (FRC) to recover the glider. Despite choppy seas, the team wrangled Mike back into the FRC and ferried him back to the Louis, with waves breaking over the bow. The mission was a great success, and we look forward to taking a closer look at all the information collected during Mike’s polar adventure!
Once glider operations were complete, the Louis steamed northwest towards station CB-19, where we completed a pair of CTD/bongo casts with water sampling. We are now steaming southeast towards the site of Mooring D for an early morning deployment.
