2025 Dispatches
Dispatch 17: TOP Deployment
We arrived at CB-11 around 12:30 am, and the night watch completed a 3800 m CTD rosette cast. Strong winds and cold temperatures have prevented us from collecting zooplankton samples at the past few science stations, because it would be unsafe to deploy the Bongo sampling nets. Thankfully, the weather conditions allowed us to collect samples at CB-11, although we still faced issues with the samples freezing before they could be processed.
Dispatch 16: Mooring B Deployed and a Polar Bear Sighting!
And that’s a wrap on the mooring operations for the 2025 BGOS/JOIS expedition! This morning, we redeployed Mooring B. The deployment process went smoothly, thanks to the help of our amazing deck crew. However, we had some unexpected excitement about half-way through the deployment when a polar bear was spotted approaching the Louis! Everyone came out to the fore deck to snap pictures and watch our new polar bear friend wander around the ice floes. Meanwhile, the deployment process continued with roughly 3800 m of wire and numerous instruments being lowered into the ocean. The polar bear ended up remaining nearby for the duration of Mooring B’s deployment, which we finished around 3 pm. Afterwards, we were happy to escape from the cold to celebrate our third and final mooring deployment. Huge thanks to the crew for helping make this year’s mooring work such a success!
Dispatch 15: Mooring B and TOP13 Recovered
Today was a busy day for the BGOS team (Jeff O’Brien, Tim McDonough, Jim Ryder, Cory Beatty, Jennifer Kosty)! We started with recovering Mooring B in the morning/early afternoon. The relatively thick sea ice pack made Mooring B’s recovery slightly more challenging. After we identified Mooring B’s precise location, the ship spent around 30 minutes breaking a large hole in the ice pack for the recovery operation. At 11:30 am, Mooring B was released from its anchor, and we were delighted to see its top sphere pop up right within the hole we had created. We then began the long process of winching Mooring B’s instruments and nearly 3800 m of wire on board. Although we faced a wind chill of -20◦C, we were treated to some beautiful views of the sea ice as the sun finally emerged from behind the clouds. Mooring B’s bottom pressure recorder and acoustic releases were on deck by 3:15 pm, marking the end of the recovery process. After 4+ hours in the blistering cold, we were excited to warm up with a well-deserved supper. Tonight was pizza night on the Louis, much to the excitement of the science team!
Dispatch 14: Two weeks on the Louis!
It’s officially been two weeks since we boarded the Louis in Cambridge Bay! In that time, we’ve traveled nearly 2200 miles, recovered and redeployed two moorings, recovered three buoys, and completed 25 CTD rosette casts. We still have another three weeks on board and are excited for the science work to continue!
Dispatch 13: The RS Line
We survived the RS line! The day started around 3:45 am when we arrived at RS-6, the first of the 5 RS line-science stations. Upon arrival, the night watch spent nearly 3 hours completing a 3800 m CTD rosette cast. After the rosette was safely back on deck, the night watch began sampling, while the ship steamed towards our next station (RS-4). The RS line is located on the continental slope of the Northwind Ridge, so the stations are spaced close together and get progressively shallower. We arrived at RS-4 around 9 am, where the night watch wrapped up their shift with another 2200 m cast.
Dispatch 12: Mooring A Deployed
A quick turnaround! This morning, we successfully redeployed Mooring A, a mere 19 hours after it was brought on board yesterday. The weather conditions were a bit harsh, with 1-2 meter swells, wind chills around -12◦C, and occasional flurries. However, after many conversations between Captain Briggs, co-chief scientist Paul Macoun, and the BGOS team, it was ultimately decided that we could safely go ahead with Mooring A’s deployment.
Dispatch 11: Mooring A Recovered
Today, we recovered Mooring A! The day started with the BGOS team (Jeff O’Brien, Tim McDonough, Jim Ryder, Cory Beatty, Jennifer Kosty) meeting at 6:45 am to identify Mooring A’s precise position. This process involved traveling to 3 locations, each approximately 1.5 km away from Mooring A’s drop location, where we sent an acoustic ping to its bottom releases. We used the signal’s travel time to determine Mooring A’s exact location, which was 37 m from where it was dropped last year.
Dispatch 10: Change of Plans, TOP15 Recovered
Change of plans! During the daily science meeting, co-chief scientist Paul Macoun informed us that there has been a last-minute adjustment in the schedule for the next few days. Ice specialist Kyle McDougall warned that next Wednesday the forecast at the site of Mooring A included stormy weather and rough seas, resulting from the pressure gradient between two nearby systems. Rough weather can be common during this time of the year, so Paul and the BGOS team decided that we should take advantage of the relatively calm seas forecast for the next couple of days and immediately head towards Mooring A. The plan is now to recover Mooring A tomorrow and redeploy on Tuesday. We will then decide if we want to return to CB-17 and the originally planned schedule, or if it will be more advantageous for us to work our way backwards through the stations up north.
Dispatch 9: Back in the ice
Today, we woke up back in the ice! We arrived at CB-51 around 10 am, and the night watch kicked off the station by collecting zooplankton samples off the fore deck. The samples collected here were the largest taken on the cruise so far, so we briefly paused the 11 am science meeting so that Marguerite Larriere could show us the specimens. We were excited to see a diverse collection of zooplankton, ranging in size from a few millimeters to centimeters, including at least one ctenaphore (or comb jelly). These creatures are iridescent, bioluminescent jellies that propel themselves forward using short hair-like structures, called cilia. The increased volume of the zooplankton collected here at CB-51 may be due to our location near the ice edge, which can be a more productive region.
Dispatch 8: Mooring D Deployed
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!
Dispatch 7: Mooring D Recovered
This morning, we recovered Mooring D, the first of the three BGOS moorings! The recovery process started at 6:30 am, with the BGOS team (Jeff O’Brien, Tim McDonough, Jim Ryder, Cory Beatty, and Jennifer Kosty) working with the bridge to identify Mooring D’s exact location. After a quick breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, and blueberry pancakes (which were a big hit amongst the science team), we headed to the fore deck, and Jeff O’Brien sent the signal to release Mooring D from its anchor. Luckily, we were in calm, ice-free water so it was easy to spot Mooring D’s bright yellow top sphere when it surfaced a few minutes later. Deckhand Jerome Sibley once again entered the man-basket and clipped the sphere into the winch. We then began the 3-hour long process of bringing Mooring D and its numerous instruments back on board. The recovery process went smoothly, thanks to the help of boatswain Rico Amamio and the many deckhands and cadets who were there to assist!
Dispatch 6: Recovery of TOP12 and ITP142
Today, we recovered two ocean profilers (TOP12 and ITP142) that were deployed last year on the 2024 BGOS/JOIS expedition. TOP12, a tethered ocean profiler, was recovered around 8:30 this morning, while ITP142, an ice tethered profiler, was recovered just after noon. Both systems include (1) a surface instrument package which sits atop an ice floe or floats in the water, and (2) an instrumented profiler that climbs up and down an attached wire, returning depth profiles of temperature and salinity as the system drifts. The surface package transmits the profiler data and the system’s position to the WHOI servers via satellite, allowing us to track the profilers after they’ve been deployed. TOP12 and ITP142 happened to be drifting near our planned cruise track, so we were excited at the opportunity to recover them since the systems were running low on battery.
Dispatch 5: Flurries and Sea Ice!
We woke up this morning to snow flurries and sea ice! Now that we are entering areas with higher sea ice concentration, the ice observing team from Japan (Kazu Tateyama, Shotaro Muraoka, Takuji Waseda, and Michiharu Shibata) spent the morning setting up their electromagnetic sensor (EM-31) which will continuously measure sea ice thickness along the cruise track. The EM-31 system will be mounted near the bow of the ship, approximately 5 m above the sea surface, where it will measure sea ice thickness before the ship breaks apart the ice.
Dispatch 4: A successful first station!
Happy fall equinox! Today marks the start of a 6-month period during which the sun will never rise above the horizon at the north pole. We had an auspicious start to autumn, as the first science station of the 2025 expedition was a success! We completed two casts at AG-5, one designated for the collection of DNA/RNA samples and one regular geochemical cast. The night watch (Paige Hagel, Marguerite Larriere, Collette LeClerc, Magali Pucet) led the DNA/RNA cast at 10 am. We then broke for a quick lunch of trout, quesadillas, tater tots, and roasted veggies. After lunch, both watches helped collect samples of phytoplankton and zooplankton on the fore deck, by lowering sampling nets down to a depth of 20 m and 100 m, respectively. The day watch (Chris Clarke, Celine Gueguen, Jennifer Kosty, Annabel Payne, Andrew Ross) then took over for the geochemical cast at 1 pm.
Dispatch 3: More Science Prep
We are currently steaming towards AG-5 at a speed of approximately 10 knots. Last night, members of the science team set up the TSG (thermosalinograph), which collects measurements of temperature, salinity, chlorophyll, fluorescence CDOM (colored dissolved organic matter), and pCO2. Water is pumped from the hull to the main lab, where these properties are measured every 15 seconds, providing a high-resolution record for the entire cruise track.
Dispatch 2: Prepping for Science Operations
We remained in Cambridge Bay through the late afternoon a fter yesterday’s refueling. In the morning, the team from WHOI worked with the ship’s crew to prepare the fore deck for upcoming mooring and buoy work. Other members of the science team spent the morning testing lab equipment and planning for the start of science operations. The science plan is designed to be flexible, as we must consider the current and future sea ice and weather conditions. For example, we are currently monitoring a low-pressure system which has moved into the central Beaufort Sea over the past few days.
Dispatch 1: First Day on the Louis!
All aboard! Today is our first full day on the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, and the beginning of the 2025 BGOS/JOIS expedition. The science team arrived at the Cambridge Bay airport yesterday afternoon and were transported to the Louis via helicopter. The journey to Cambridge Bay is a long one, typically involving multiple days of travel and several airports! Once on board, the science team got busy unpacking (science equipment, personal items, clothes, etc.) and organizing lab spaces. After a long day of traveling and work, we were treated to our first meal on the Louis – chicken strips, pork chops, veggie burgers, and fries!