As the refueling process reached completion, the weather decided to take a turn for the worse, hindering our plans. With 40 – 50 knot winds and minimal visibility, we delayed starting the transect to the first station and stayed in the sheltered harbor.

Eventually, the winds gave us a break and we headed out to Franklin Bay to the first station. There was a buzz of excitement and activity as the science crew made sure everything was ready to go for their experiments.
The spotlights of the Amundsen helped light our way as we headed to our destination...

We arrived at our station on the evening of November 15th and our science sampling plan began. For this station we have switched to 24-hour operation of the ship, meaning that as a scientist your sampling can begin at any time of the day or night. Immediately, we began our sampling with the EM equipment, followed by several groups visiting the ice surface using the ice cage throughout the night.

Rosette casts were performed to sample the ocean column. This allows us to collect water at different depths between the surface and the ocean bottom.

Throughout the dispatches we will be giving you more details on each of these aspects. But for now we better get back to work as time is always short.