Taking Shelter from Severe Storm

Credit: James Kuo © WHOI.

Credit: James Kuo © WHOI.

Conditions forced the R/V Neil Armstrong to take shelter in Prince Christian Sound. Quite a storm is going on at the array.  Peak wave heights have subsided from 15.5 m to about 11.45 m.  The surface buoy is still showing wind speeds 23 m/s (44.7 knots). These conditions make it impossible to deploy the moorings safely. As soon as a weather window allows, they will head back to the array ready to deploy the subsurface moorings.

Meanwhile the ship and team are safe  in a deep fjord surrounded by rugged ice scraped mountains, where they have seen whales, large chunks of ice floating past the ship, and Northern lights, as captured above.