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Dispatch 25: Steaming back and Avoiding Waves

Ashley Arroyo (Yale University)

September 23, 2024
16:51 UTC, 71.16°N 134.61°W

Conditions:

  • Mostly cloudy
  • 0% sea ice cover
  • 8°C
  • Winds 14.5 knots southerly
  • Sunrise: 23-Sep-2024 08:43:33 -06
  • Sunset: 23-Sep-2024 21:00:17 -06
  • Day length: 12h 16mn 44s

With science operations wrapped up, the Louis is steaming back towards Cambridge Bay. The science team have been busy today with packing up lab spaces, finishing up with geochemical analyses, and processing data. In the next couple days, the science team will be continuing to pack up lab equipment, computers, and mooring gear in the forward hold. Most of the science equipment will eventually be shipped back to the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), or other various institutions, so it is important to keep organized with packing lists. In the afternoon, a large group of science members and coast guard crew took a break from packing to play hacky sack on the helicopter deck before the sea state got too rough.

We are on our way into Amundsen Gulf, where the seas are projected to be choppy. To avoid the 3.5-meter waves and 30-knot winds, the Captain made the decision to steam along the southern coast of Bank’s Island, where the conditions are less rough. The Louis will continue to steam through the Canadian Archipelago arriving in Cambridge Bay on Wednesday evening.

Map showing our current location.
Map showing our current location.
A map of the region showing wave height in meters (Source: https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves?waves,71.336,-121.201,5)
A map of the region showing wave height in meters (Source: https://www.windy.com/-Waves-waves?waves,71.336,-121.201,5)
The packing begins…
The packing begins…
Choppy seas are rolling in.
Choppy seas are rolling in.
Some of the science crew playing hacky sack on the helicopter deck (Photo by Sarah Zimmermann)
Some of the science crew playing hacky sack on the helicopter deck (Photo by Sarah Zimmermann)