Dispatch 23: A rosette cast, mooring deployment, and bear – oh my!
Jennifer Kosty (Yale University)
October 10, 2026
15:30 local, 75.00◦N, 149.59◦W
Conditions:
- Windy, snowy
- 100% sea ice cover
- -4.8◦C
- Sunrise: 10:17 PDT (local)
- Sunset: 19:11 PDT (local)
- Day length: 8 hours, 54 minutes
We have officially redeployed Mooring A! Yesterday, we were spoiled with clear skies and near-perfect weather conditions for Mooring A’s recovery (I even removed my outer jacket in the afternoon!). Today, we were met with overcast skies, wind, and snow during Mooring A’s redeployment. What a difference 24 hours can make! Still, spirits were high for our last mooring day of the cruise, especially after our second polar bear sighting yesterday!
Strong winds (steady at 15-20 knots) made today’s mooring deployment slightly more challenging. We were drifting at a speed of nearly 1 knot, which created a significant angle in the mooring wire as it was reeled out. Lead technician Chris Basque had to closely monitor as Mooring A was lowered into the water to ensure that no instruments/hardware collided with the ship. We had a slight hiccup when one of Mooring A’s bumpers detached due to the steep wire angle but were able to resume the deployment process quickly. By 3 pm, Captain Duffett had us in position, and we released Mooring A from the ship! Once again, a huge thank you to Captain Duffett, the bridge team, and the deck crew for making our mooring operations such a success!
Tonight, we plan to complete a CTD-rosette cast near Mooring A’s drop location to help calibrate the mooring instruments. We will then continue onwards towards CB6. We still have one more day of buoy operations, but otherwise, the remainder of the cruise will focus primarily on CTD-rosette casts.
