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Dispatch 1: All Aboard!

Jennifer Kosty (Yale University)

September 19, 2025
15:00 local, 69.03◦N, 105.17◦W

Conditions:

  • Foggy
  • 0% sea ice cover
  • 7◦C
  • Sunrise: 19-Sept-2025 06:32
  • Sunset: 19-Sept-2025 19:15
  • Day length: 12 hours, 43 minutes

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!

Today, we continue to unpack and set up lab spaces. The main lab is being set up for analysis of nutrients, alkalinity, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), microbial community composition, and much more! Additional lab spaces on board are also being set up to test concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), chlorophyll, and transient gas tracers.

At 1 pm, co-chief scientist Paul Macoun led the first of our daily science meetings, where we discussed ship logistics and the science plan for the next few days. We are remaining in Cambridge Bay today as the Louis is being refueled. Tomorrow, we will steam towards our first science station (AG-5), which is located about 700 km away in the Amundsen Gulf. Once we arrive, we will be conducting our first Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) cast, officially marking the first data collected on the 2025 cruise!

 

The most recent sea ice concentration map for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (Source: https://data.seaice.uni-bremen.de/databrowser/).
The most recent sea ice concentration map for the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (Source: https://data.seaice.uni-bremen.de/databrowser/).
Airports visited on the journey from Yale University to Cambridge Bay.
Airports visited on the journey from Yale University to Cambridge Bay.
The Louis S. St-Laurent stationed in Cambridge Bay on September 18, 2025. Photo by Marguerite Larriere.
The Louis S. St-Laurent stationed in Cambridge Bay on September 18, 2025. Photo by Marguerite Larriere.
Members of the science team (left to right: Magali Pucet, Annabel Payne, Collette LeClerc, Marguerite Larriere, Jennifer Kosty, Andrew Ross) trying on their mustang suits.
Members of the science team (left to right: Magali Pucet, Annabel Payne, Collette LeClerc, Marguerite Larriere, Jennifer Kosty, Andrew Ross) trying on their mustang suits.