LMG02-1A Weekly Cruise Report - February 10, 2002

The RV Laurence M. Gould (LMG) left Punta Arenas at 1700 (Local Time = GMT-3) on Wednesday (2/6) for the start of the 2002 Southern Ocean GLOBEC mooring cruise (LMG02-1A). This cruise was scheduled to leave the day before, but was delayed while we waited for a special air shipment of lithium batteries for the SIO moorings to arrive. The original shipment got split en route, and was finally reassembled in Santiago on Tuesday night, and flown to Punta Arenas Wednesday morning on a chartered airplane. The new mooring winch was put aboard the LMG and tested fine.

The LMG entered the Drake Passage on Thursday (2/7) and the standard cross-strait XBT/XCDT/ADCP section started at 2148.This section was continued as the LMG crossed the Drake until the ship reached the site of the first SIO bio-acoustic mooring S1 at 1840 Saturday (2/9). A XCDT cast was made, and then S1 recovered by 2045.The LMG then continued the XBT/XCDT/ADCP section as we steamed toward Palmer Station.The weather crossing the Drake was moderate, with winds ranging from 10 to 25 kts from the NW quadrant and seas below ~ 5 m. The XBT auto launcher system worked very well, making this task both safer and more productive in terms of data return and quality. The IWC observers conducted their marine mammal survey during daylight hours as we crossed the Drake, and several SIO sonobuoys were deployed near where whales were spotted. An initial analysis of the S1 data shows numerous blue, humpback, and fin whale sounds, while the sonobuoys recorded on blue whales.

The LMG is now steaming southeast through the GerlacheStrait, continuing the IWC marine mammal survey and SIO sonobuoy deployments.Our ETA at Palmer Station is 1700 today (Sunday, 2/10).

Bob Beardsley

Chief Scientist