September 2006 S M T W T F S           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

August 2006 S M T W T F S     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Cruise - 2006 Dispatches

Dispatch 01 - August 5, 2006
Global Warming?
The WHOI team has joined scientists from Canada, Japan, Alaska, New York, Denmark and China on the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent for this year's expedition to the Beaufort Gyre. More

Dispatch 02 - August 6, 2006
Anchors Aweigh
With all 75 officers, crew members and scientists onboard and the final preparations for departure completed, Captain McNeill hoisted anchor and began steaming west towards the Beaufort Gyre. More

Dispatch 03 - August 7, 2006
Practice Makes Perfect
The Louis has traversed the Amundsen Gulf and entered the Beaufort Sea. The first CTD casts were taken and the deck crew training began. More

Dispatch 04 - August 8, 2006
It's All About the Ice
The icebreaker has now entered the solid icepack, encountering heavy multi-year ice over the CABOS mooring. Chief Scientist Sarah Zimmermann decided to delay the recovery of this mooring until the end of the cruise. More

Dispatch 05 - August 9, 2006
Faces of the Louis
In this photo essay, Rick Krishfield shows some of the folks that keep everything shipshape on Canada's largest icebreaker. More

Dispatch 06 - August 10, 2006
What a Blast!
In this dispatch, Helen Drost from IOS describes the seismic survey operations being conducted by Canadian and Danish researchers. More

Dispatch 07 - August 11, 2006
CTD Nightwatch
Graduate students Jennifer Jackson and Abby Spieler describe their first nighttime CTD cast. More

Dispatch 08 - August 12, 2006
Meet and Greet
The scientists and crew enjoy some Louis hospitality on Meet & Greet night. More

Dispatch 09 - August 13, 2006
Mooring Day
WHOI mooring expert Will Ostrom describes the recovery of the shallow water Beaufort Slope mooring. More

Dispatch 10 - August 14, 2006
Bongos
Jennifer Hutchings from the International Arctic Research Center describes the bongo net tow operation and their catch. More

Dispatch 11 - August 15, 2006
Light in the Ocean
Jiuxin Shi from the Ocean University of China discusses his team's research on the physical and optical profiles of Arctic Ocean seawater. More

Dispatch 12 - August 16, 2006
Faces of the Louis II
Rick Krishfield shows more photos of the hard-working Louis crew. More

Dispatch 13 - August 17, 2006
Murphy's Mooring?
After a long and difficult 12 hour mooring recovery, BGOS Mooring A is safely on deck. More

Dispatch 14 - August 18, 2006
The Day After
Rick Krishfield happily reports that a full load of data was retrieved from Mooring A. More

Dispatch 15 - August 19, 2006
A Tale of Rosey and the Lab Rats
Kristina Brown and Mary Steele wax poetic. More

Dispatch 16 - August 20, 2006
Grin and Bear It
While temporarily halted for repairs, a curious polar bear visits the Louis. More

Dispatch 17 - August 21, 2006
Science Program
Chief Scientist Sarah Zimmermann explains the conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) instrument. More

Dispatch 18 - August 22, 2006
Phytoplankton Food
Linda White talks about why she is collecting nutrient data and how it relates to the growth of tiny ocean plants. More

Dispatch 19 - August 23, 2006
Faces of the Louis III
The Louis is back underway! Rick Krishfield's photo essay of Louis crew members continues in this dispatch. More

Dispatch 20 - August 24, 2006
Back to (Mooring) Work
Kris Newhall, WHOI mooring technician, describes the process of deploying one of the 2-mile long BGOS subsurface moorings. More

Dispatch 21 - August 25, 2006
Tiny Torpedoes
Shigeto Nishino of JAMSTEC talks about the expendable CTD, a small torpedo-like instrument used to measure water temperature and salinity. More

Dispatch 22 - August 26, 2006
Hump Day
It's the halfway point of the cruise, but much work remains to be done. More

Dispatch 23 - August 27, 2006
Captain's Table
A traditional supper at the Captain's Table is the highlight of a Sunday on the Louis. More

Dispatch 24 - August 28, 2006
Sonobuoys
The Louis cruises northward through unusually ice-free conditions, allowing the NRCan team to study the sediments below. More

Dispatch 25 - August 29, 2006
Ice Recon
Rick Krishfield takes a ride on the ship's helicopter in search of multi-year ice for an ice-tethered profiler deployment site. More

Dispatch 26 - August 30, 2006
Faces of the Louis IV
The Louis has made excellent time through light ice to the second WHOI mooring location and recovered the precious instruments. More

Dispatch 27 - August 31, 2006
Mooring Ops - View from the Bridge
Chief Scientist Sarah Zimmermann describes a subsurface mooring recovery from the bridge team's perspective. More

Dispatch 28 - September 1, 2006
White Out
The science party braves whiteout conditions on the ice to make measurements of ice optics and thickness. More

Dispatch 29 - September 2, 2006
A Long Day
A marathon day for the mooring crew results in the successful deployment of Mooring B and an ice-tethered profiler. More

Dispatch 30 - September 3, 2006
Foul Weather
The clear weather of the previous day is replaced by a fierce autumn storm. More

Dispatch 31 - September 4, 2006
Ice-Based Observatory
The science team installs a cluster of ice-tethered instruments on a thick multi-year ice floe. More

Dispatch 32 - September 5, 2006
Why it is still important to get wet doing oceanographic research
Mike Dempsey discusses the value of "being there." More

Dispatch 33 - September 6, 2006
Faces of the Louis V
Rick honors another group of Louis crewmembers in his photo essay series. More

Dispatch 34 - September 7, 2006
An ITP and a BBQ
The mooring crew successfully installs another ice-tethered profiler and the ship celebrates the (almost) completion of the cruise with a barbeque. More

Dispatch 35 - September 8, 2006
Little Creatures
Helen Drost describes some of the tiny creatures that the bongo net team has collected. More

Dispatch 36 - September 9, 2006
Mooring Levity
Rick Krishfield shares some lighter moments from the mooring operations. More

Dispatch 37 - September 10, 2006
ITP/IMB Revisited
One of last year's ice-tethered buoys is located but could not be retrieved. More

Dispatch 38 - September 11, 2006
Nearly Ice Free
Thoughts turn to home as the Louis makes her way back to open water. More

Dispatch 39 - September 12, 2006
CABOS Mooring
The recovery and redeployment of the final mooring operation of the cruise is described by Mike Dempsey. More

Dispatch 40 - September 13, 2006
End of Voyage
The final dispatch of the cruise tabulates the results and acknowledges the accomplishments. More