Journal

Yesterday was a tense, but big, day for Science. The technical crew set out to recover a mooring that had been anchored to the bottom of the Laptev Sea since 2018 in a location that has been monitored since 2002.

A mooring is a set of floats connected to a series of instruments connected to a long chain connected to a release mechanism connected to an anchor at the bottom of the seafloor.

Mooring schematic
A schematic diagram of the mooring. Look closely for the polar bear at the top!

The ship got into position late last night. MooringAn anchor or weight attached to the sea floor used to hold a scientific instrument in place. technicians Jim Dunn and John Kemp from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI - pronounced who ee), used a computer to send release signals to the release mechanism about 2700 meters below the surface.

Mooring computer
Technician Jim Dunn checks the codes for the release mechanisms. Recently, codes have been repeated so some other ship could release the wrong mooring.

They "pinged" the release mechanism but initially didn't hear back. They tried again. No response. Finally, they inputted the release command. And waited. If the release mechanism does not work, all the data will be lost.

Mooring release mechanisms
Mooring release mechanisms programmed and ready to be deployed later in the cruise.

After several minutes, someone spotted the floats bobbing in the waves. The captain navigated the ship so that the apparatus could be recovered. After 3 years in one of the most remote and harsh environments on earth, the sensors were recovered.

Recovered sensors
Sensors recovered from the Laptev Sea. They have been recording data under the ice since 2018.

Data sensors
Data sensors and the all-important release mechanism (yellow). If it fails, no data.

Chief Scientist Igor Polyakov displayed great relief this morning - these were his "babies." After a quick scan of the data, he notes that preliminarily the dynamics of the ocean are changing significantly, stating that "this is not the same ocean."

Details
Author
Jonathan Pazol
Date
Location
Laptev Sea
Expedition
Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System
Weather Summary
Cloudy - calm seas, open water
Temperature
1.2 C
Wind Speed
8.4 m/s

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Comments

Mon, 09/20/2021 - 15:39

Beth Rush

Exciting...if not sobering...recovery! How cool.

Tue, 09/21/2021 - 08:52

Jonathan Pazol

Yes, it's amazing that they're able to build technology to withstand these conditions and that if anyone little thing goes wrong, the data could be lost.

Tue, 09/21/2021 - 07:24

Lisa Seff

Great journals Johnathan and so happy you made it safely through quarantine to your ship! Reading this journal I imagine that there must have been a huge sigh of relief for your and your research team when the moorings released to the surface with data intact successfully!- especially given that they've been down on the ocean floor since 2018. So important to have that data, and from the same area since 2002. That's a lot of data! It will be interesting to see more details from your team with regard to the Chief Scientist Igor Polyakov statement "this is not the same ocean".....let us know!
Safe seas, travels and continued data collection!
-Lisa

Wed, 09/22/2021 - 08:45

Jonathan Pazol

Lisa,
I felt a sigh of relief, and I'm just an observer. We are currently deploying other moorings and the scientists' repeated comments are that it's so "anxiety-provoking to be doing all of this work, testing and re-testing, and then not knowing for 2 years." I'll keep everyone posted about Igor's preliminary ideas about what he's been able to see so far. Thanks for reading.

Wed, 09/22/2021 - 07:44

Becky Alberts

This is so cool. It's great to see the photos, as well. Can I share what you are doing with my bio classes?

Wed, 09/22/2021 - 08:18

Jonathan Pazol

Glad you're enjoying the posts. Please share with anyone and everyone - the more the merrier!

Fri, 09/24/2021 - 19:26

Naomi Pazol

Even to a non-scientist like myself, Igor's comment that, "this is not the same ocean" got my interest. Our planet is changing so fast and significantly, it will be interesting to see what we learn from this remote data. Glad all is well up there with you and the crew!