Dispatch 11: A quick quiz
Jennifer Kosty (Yale University)
September 28, 2026
14:30 local, 76.06◦N, 136.47◦W
Conditions:
- 90% sea ice cover
-5.1◦C
- Sunrise: 08:18 PDT (local)
- Sunset: 19:32 PDT (local)
- Day length: 11 hours, 13 minutes
We are currently steaming through a pack of fresh pancake ice! Pancake ice forms when wave and wind activity cause small ice crystals to collide and form flat discs. We are excited to be seeing signs of ice growth as we head northward in search of large floes for our upcoming ice work. Co-chief scientist Paul Macoun and WHOI engineer Jeff O’Brien have been consulting with our on-board ice specialist Roxane to identify promising floe candidates. In the meantime, the rest of the science team is remaining hard at work!
Earlier today, the team from Japan re-deployed their sea ice thickness-measuring instrument (i.e., “the sushi”) after it broke during a large swell a few days ago. Our analysts are still busy processing the hundreds of water samples we have already collected on this cruise. The watches have also completed several more CTD-rosette casts, fighting against increasingly cold and windy conditions as we head northward. We anticipate arriving at PP6 later today, where the day watch will complete our 14th cast!
Now that we have spent nearly 2 weeks aboard the Louis, I thought it would be fun to end today’s dispatch with a quick quiz on some of our most used initialisms. Come back tomorrow for the answers!
