Dispatch 3: More Science Prep
Jennifer Kosty (Yale University)
September 21, 2025
16:00 local, 68.51◦N, 114.32◦W
Conditions:
- Foggy
- 0% sea ice cover
- 3◦C
- Sunrise: 21-Sept-2025 07:16
- Sunset: 21-Sept-2025 19:42
- Day length: 12 hours, 26 minutes
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.
In the morning, ice-specialist Kyle McDougall joined the daily science meeting and explained the current weather and sea ice conditions that we will be facing over the next couple of days. A high-pressure ridge is moving towards AG-5, which will hopefully bring light winds and calm seas for our first science station!
In the afternoon, we continued our CTD rosette training, with watch-stander Andrew Ross teaching us how to filter samples of chlorophyll and biotoxins. Erinn Raftery then explained the procedure for pickling the dissolved oxygen samples, which is necessary for binding the dissolved oxygen in a stable form for future analysis. Finally, watch-leader Chris Clarke demonstrated how zooplankton samples are collected on the fore deck, a process that involves lowering Bongo sampling nets to a depth of 100 m and preserving the samples in iodine.
We are anticipating reaching AG-5 tomorrow morning around 10 am, where the watches will put their CTD rosette training to the test!
