Jennifer Kosty (Yale University)

October 15, 2025
15:00 local, 70.10◦N, 141.07◦W

Conditions:

• Sunny
• 0% sea ice cover
• -1^◦C
• Sunrise: 15-Oct-2025 10:40
• Sunset: 15-Oct-2025 19:38
• Day length: 8 hours, 58 minutes

We were woken up at 1:30 this morning to more exciting news – northern lights were spotted on the starboard side of the Louis! Most of our expedition route was located too far north to observe auroras, so we were keeping our fingers crossed for clear skies and favorable conditions as we entered the southern-most part of our journey. Luckily, our wishes came true, and we were treated to some unforgettable views of this incredible natural phenomenon.

After about 30 minutes of aurora watching, the day watch went back to bed to get some much-needed rest. Meanwhile, the night watch spent the remainder of their shift processing samples from the BL-line. We then met at 11 am for the daily science meeting, where ice specialist Kyle McDougall updated us on the weather forecast. A few days ago, we adjusted our original schedule for the MK-line to avoid a low-pressure system that is moving into the Beaufort Sea from the south. This system is projected to bring strong winds and large waves, which we were hoping to avoid during our work on the MK-line. We were glad to hear that our adjusted schedule should avoid the worst of the weather, with only moderate 1-1.5 m waves projected near the end of the MK-line.

After a quick lunch of BBQ chicken/meat lovers pita pizzas, chili cheese nachos, and tater tots, we officially began our work on the MK-line! The day watch will be completing the first 5 CTD-rosette casts of the MK-line today, and the night watch will be completing another 3 casts early tomorrow morning. Like the BL-line, the MK-line science stations are located close together, so the work is seemingly non-stop. However, 4 weeks into the cruise, we are a well-oiled machine and are ready to take on this challenge!