We are at 87o 21.34N 001o 27.22W, The air temperature is -2.6C, foggy, and the wind is at 6.9m/s. Yesterday was a disappointing day. At this time yesterday, at 87N, we had found an ice floe with the ship's radar, circled it and were testing its suitability; we were delighted. However, despite its size (8x10km) and its ice thickness (2-3m), the ice edge kept crumbling every time the ship went next to it; time was spent making a small harbor for Oden. However, when the helicopter was finally able to fly (no fog!), the ice floe had so many melt ponds, so close together and probably too deep (judging by the color), that the ice floe was deemed unsuitable for the deployment and, by the end of the day, we sailed north again. We "sailed" or better "broke ice" through the night.
We have now found and circled a 2nd ice floe. By noon Oden was tied to the ice floe and 2 groups went exploring for possible sites for the meteorology/physical oceanography camp and the lead ice camp. A lead was selected about 2km from Oden; soon, a very curious seal appeared and stayed in the lead while Paty checked salinity and ice thickness. By 1500, the heli was slinging boxes to both camps. By 1600, a polar bear was sighted at the lead camp by the Polar staff who were there receiving the boxes from the helicopter. All ice activities were suspended, all people called in to the ship, the gangway raised, and the heli chased the bear away. And it started to snow heavily. The combination of bad weather and a polar bear significantly slowed all ice activities and many of us have spent the afternoon and evening waiting for clearance to be given. In the case of the lead, we wil start again tomorrow
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
August 8, 2008
At 14:26, we were at 83o 15.53N, 002o 52.5W; now at 20:00, we are at 83o 32.00N 003o 25.7W. We keep going back and forth across the 0o meridian looking for leads of open water so we break less ice and actually move faster than if we were to go in a straight line. It is snowing, air temp -0.4C, not too windy 6m/s, foggy. However, the sun came out yesterday evening for 1 hour: the many colors of the white/blue ice, the dark blue water, and the blue/white sky.
I finally turned the seawater pump off that provides continuously flowing seawater to the lab, as it is extremely loud right now; the pumping rate was increased to compensate for all the ice that gets flushed into the pipe every time they back the ship before they ram the ice forward for a 2nd time. Lots of vibrations and shaking; very noisy. Most instruments are turned off during this pack ice transit as they don't do well with the vibrations. So people are analyzing data, getting ready, watching movies, reading, exercising or spending time on the bridge watching the impressive panorama unfold.
This morning we had our first ice safety class, all morning, for polar bear deterrence once we work on the ice. Flares and rifles: Load, unload and shoot. During the ice work, the bridge will maintain one person on bear watch for 24h/day. There are professionals on board to scare the bears; they will also use the helicopter to scare the bears. However, we will need to have a scientist as a bear guard every time we go on the ice and always work and travel in pairs. Andy was quite good at firing the flares!
Food is pretty good, even the vegetarian fare that I'm doing; lots of potatoes! We've had chicken and fish once each...
I finally turned the seawater pump off that provides continuously flowing seawater to the lab, as it is extremely loud right now; the pumping rate was increased to compensate for all the ice that gets flushed into the pipe every time they back the ship before they ram the ice forward for a 2nd time. Lots of vibrations and shaking; very noisy. Most instruments are turned off during this pack ice transit as they don't do well with the vibrations. So people are analyzing data, getting ready, watching movies, reading, exercising or spending time on the bridge watching the impressive panorama unfold.
This morning we had our first ice safety class, all morning, for polar bear deterrence once we work on the ice. Flares and rifles: Load, unload and shoot. During the ice work, the bridge will maintain one person on bear watch for 24h/day. There are professionals on board to scare the bears; they will also use the helicopter to scare the bears. However, we will need to have a scientist as a bear guard every time we go on the ice and always work and travel in pairs. Andy was quite good at firing the flares!
Food is pretty good, even the vegetarian fare that I'm doing; lots of potatoes! We've had chicken and fish once each...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
August 6
We went into the pack ice last night. We are following an open water channel (= lead) most of the time but are breaking ice more frequently as the day progresses. We've had lectures about safety for cold, polar bears, and what we will do once we are in the ice. Two polar bears were seen yesterday in the distance. The ice, as it breaks, is sometimes brown "dirty" on top and almost blue underneath; the brown sediment or brown ice algae on or under the ice seen here in the pack ice, was also present in marginal ice zone.
We were all given blue fleece (= polar) warm jackets. We all wear them! However, we will have to wash them all because little blue fibers appeared in our filtered samples yesterday, which is not good. So, we have vacuumed and washed both labs, we all wear lab coats, we have restricted access to a single door. Gao (graduate student from Stockholm University) and Monica are even wearing hair nets!
At 1pm today, we are located at 81o 52.1N 04o 13.2E; it is cold with -1.3C air and -0.6C water temperatures and very windy. We are traveling at 2knots so it will take us 5 days to arrive at 89N where we will establish our ice camp.
Next will come some pictures!
We were all given blue fleece (= polar) warm jackets. We all wear them! However, we will have to wash them all because little blue fibers appeared in our filtered samples yesterday, which is not good. So, we have vacuumed and washed both labs, we all wear lab coats, we have restricted access to a single door. Gao (graduate student from Stockholm University) and Monica are even wearing hair nets!
At 1pm today, we are located at 81o 52.1N 04o 13.2E; it is cold with -1.3C air and -0.6C water temperatures and very windy. We are traveling at 2knots so it will take us 5 days to arrive at 89N where we will establish our ice camp.
Next will come some pictures!
August 4-5
We just arrived at the marginal ice zone (MIZ) this morning, prime polar bear territory but have yet to see them. People have seen whales, birds and seals. It is here we saw many bears in 2001.
No aurora borealis as it has been overcast and foggy more than clear skies. I'd love to see such a display in the sky while here. We've only seen the rolling sun (over the horizon at midnight) and then up again so we have the same light level at 2am as at 2pm. We will be stationary here at the MIZ for 24h. Every one is sampling again and tired. Warm? not too bad. Today's air temp is -1.4C and water temp is 0.8C. Much lower than yesterday. Winds are expected to increase up to 15 m/s so it will soon be colder.
Several other groups are also posting blogs and pictures. Please check them at the following addresses:
http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shipposition.phtml?call=SMLQ - Oden's position and weather
http://ascos.wordpress.com - Stockholm University polar expedition's blog.
http://www.polar.se/expeditioner/swedarctic2008/ascos - Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, information and reports.
http://www.ascos.se - Meteorological Department (MISU) at Stockholm University.
No aurora borealis as it has been overcast and foggy more than clear skies. I'd love to see such a display in the sky while here. We've only seen the rolling sun (over the horizon at midnight) and then up again so we have the same light level at 2am as at 2pm. We will be stationary here at the MIZ for 24h. Every one is sampling again and tired. Warm? not too bad. Today's air temp is -1.4C and water temp is 0.8C. Much lower than yesterday. Winds are expected to increase up to 15 m/s so it will soon be colder.
Several other groups are also posting blogs and pictures. Please check them at the following addresses:
http://www.sailwx.info/
http://ascos.wordpress.com - Stockholm University polar expedition's blog.
http://www.polar.se/
http://www.ascos.se - Meteorological Department (MISU) at Stockholm University.
August 3-4
Our first research station, Open Water, started today when Oden moved slowly into the wind for 24h. All instruments, pumps, and methods are being tested. Some worked, some did not. Some labs lost power, others did not. We have so many sophisticated instruments on board that the power (electricity) demands are VERY high. We had many fuses burned and breakers tripped. The ship's engineers and the staff from the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (also known as Polar, who provide enormous and strategic support to all scientists- thank you!) were extremely busy. Not much sleep for anyone. Our labs also had problems with power, with lack of flowing seawater in the lab, with misplaced - but finally found- supplies. There is lots of sharing of parts, cables, tools, etc among all the scientists as we help each other solve problems.
August 1-2
We were very busy setting everything up while still in Svalbard. All equipment had to be installed on the lab benches, tied down to the benches, and turned on. All boxes are tied down in the labs and in our storage space. We spent these 2 days checking all instruments are working properly, checking for gas leaks to the instruments (many hours) as we have a limited supply of compressed He, N2, air and H2 for the cruise. We also spent much time transferring liquid N2 (for freezing samples) from the 500L container we ordered to smaller ones
July 31
We arrived in Svalbard in the early hours (1am), having left the US on the 29th or the UK on the 30th. A full flight with many tourists coming to hike and observe the almost (93%) complete solar eclipse.
Sailing plans changed fast. We were told to come on board to stay, on the evening of the 31st as Oden had to leave the dock by 10pm. Why? Because the UK research vessel JC Ross was waiting its turn to unload/load scientists. Pity, we were not able to visit neither with the departing scientists nor the vessel itself
Sailing plans changed fast. We were told to come on board to stay, on the evening of the 31st as Oden had to leave the dock by 10pm. Why? Because the UK research vessel JC Ross was waiting its turn to unload/load scientists. Pity, we were not able to visit neither with the departing scientists nor the vessel itself
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