Dispatch 8: Deployment of TOP13, Seals, and Jellyfish!
Ashley Arroyo (Yale University)
September 6, 2024
23:10 UTC 77.45°N 141.04°W
Conditions:
- o Foggy
o 50% sea ice cover
o –0.7 °C
o Winds 6.3 knots easterly
o Sunrise: 05-Sep-2024 06:57:43 -06
o Sunset: 05-Sep-2024 23:50:36 -06
o Day length: 16h 52mn 54s
This morning, the team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the deck crew deployed a Tethered-Ocean Profiler (TOP13) in open water at 77.24°N 134.18°W. A typical TOP transmits measurements of temperature, salinity, and pressure from the upper water column (from 200 meters all the way up to the bottom of the sea ice). TOP13 is the first system that additionally measures velocity. For this reason, the profiler is fitted with fins to keep it stable in the ocean flow. The deployment went smoothly; TOP13 was lowered into the ocean off the side of the Louis and sent off on its way to collect data!
After the deployment, we did CTD/bongo casts at CB-13 and then steamed northeast at ~11.8 knots to station CB-17. During the transit, a few members of the science team were up on the bridge observing the sea ice pack. They spotted a pair of seals lounging on top of the sea ice in the distance! When we arrived at CB-17, we completed another CTD/bongo cast. Right after the bongo team finished their cast, they radioed to us, “If you guys want to see something cool from the bongo nets, come to the main lab!” A jellyfish was caught in the bongo nets! We have been quite lucky with the wildlife sightings over the past few days. We are now steaming north, to where we will have an ice station in the morning.
