Daily Reports

Position: 82° 11.50' N, 10° 13.4' W, temperature +1 °C, air pressure 1029 hPa, wind 3 knots from the N. Ice drift 0.2 knot to the SE. Made a CTD cast to 1000 meter depth in the morning. Captain Wunderlich and the Chief Scientist arrived by helicopter at 1045 hours from a position about 11 nautical miles to the south of the ice camp. The purpose of the visit was to gather information about the situation at the ice camp for later consultation with the AWI logistics in Bremerhaven. From our standpoint, pick-up of the cargo would be a great help.

Position: 82° 14.08' N, 10° 35.3' W, temperature +4 °C, pressure 1023 hPa, wind 2 knots from the WSW. Ice drift 0.1 knot towards the SSE. The azimuth of the hovercraft was determined to 147 degrees from GPS measurements. At 0950 GMT the AWI Polar-5 aircraft was overhead and a brief contact was made. At 1800 hours, the data logging of the radiation flux instrument was terminated, and also for the weather station at 1915 hours (Norw. Summer time). All the equipment were dismantled and packed. Our remaining fuel is 45 liter of gasoline and 1600 diesel including Jet A-1.

Position: 82° 22.85' N, 10° 51.6' W, temperature 0 °C, 1017 hPa, wind 8 knots from the NW. Ice drift 0.2 knot to the S. Overcast, rain during the middle of the day. Made one CTD cast to 1000 meter water depth. The hovercraft azimuth is now 148 degrees. Had a polar bear around the camp all day. Audun sorted food and repacked. We had to take down the Norwegian flag which has been flying from the mast on top of the hovercraft since 30 August 2014, because the rope broke. A new flag was put in.

Position: 82° 25.14' N, 11° 04.7' W, temperature 0 °C, air pressure 1024 hPa, wind 3 knots from the SSE. Ice drift 0.1 towards SSE. A CTD cast was made to 1000 meter water depth. The azimuth of the hovercraft is now 144 degrees and was 141 degrees yesterday. Audun spotted an Arctic tern in camp. Received an e-mail from AWI-logistics which expressed their understanding that our contact so far had been to explore possibilities not asking for assistance . The cruise plan suggests a minimum separation of at least 100 nautical miles between the ship and the ice camp.

Position: 82° 29.49' N, 10° 47.5' W. Temperature +2 °C, air pressure 1021 hPa, wind 4 knot from the NW. Ice drift 0.1 knot towards the S. Overcast, low clouds, rain before noon. Work on a wooden crate for the compressor. Engine maintenance - checking for possible oil and cooling water leaks.

Position: 82° 32.1' N, 11° 15.7' W, temperature -2 °C, air pressure 1016 hPa, wind 15 knots from the SSE. Ice drift 0.2 knot towards NE. Moved cargo and organized some of the food. Melt water is accumulating on the ice. We drill holes to drain the fresh water and inhibit formation of melt ponds in our immediate vicinity.

Position: 82° 32.36' N, 11° 39.5' W, temperature +1 °C, air pressure 1020 hPa, wind 4 knots from the NNW. Ice drift 0.15 knot towards SE. Mist in the morning, but later a glorious day. Visit by one or two polar bears during the night. The weather station mast was down, and the animal(s) had worked at the food storage, but done no significant damage. Moved more cargo to higher areas. Bathymetry buoy voltage 12.33 volt.

Position: 82° 35.8' N, 12° 19.8' W, temperature 0 °C, air pressure 1018 hPa, wind 4 knots from the SE. Ice drift 0.15 knot to the SE. A beautiful day with no clouds. The lead behind the hovercraft skirt widened to over 200 meter during the night. Made a CTD cast to 1000 meter depth. We are at the very edge of the floe and will be in danger if the ice comes together and ice pressure occurs. Started pulling down the tent and the work space and loaded onto the hovercraft. We moved the hovercraft30 meter away from the edge.

Position: 82° 36.16' N, 12° 43.5' W, temperature -1 °C, pressure 1010 hPa, wind 8 knots from the SE. Ice drift 0.1 knot towards the E. White-out until 0200 hours, then clearing and later a beautiful day. Moved cargo to higher ridges to avoid melt pond formation. Made a new small hydro hole for the CTD, because the main hole is getting contaminated. Audun is organizing some of the equipment in boxes. Had to throw out the remaining eggs - about 40. We have visits by Ivory gulls all day.

Position: 82° 38.23' N, 12° 53.3' W, temperature +3 °C, 1008 hPa, wind 5 knots from the NE. Ice drift 0.1 knot to the S. A glorious day. Audun continued sorting the food. Finished work in the engine bay and cleaned and checked the bilge pumps. Removed about 100 liter of water from the rear flotation tanks. The water is melt water leaking in from above. Pairs of Ivory gulls and Pomarine skuas are visiting the camp. Audun managed to photograph a tagged Pomarine skua. The tag was yellow with capital letters JN.

Position: 82° 41.2' N, 12° 48' W, temperature 0 °C, wind 7 knots from the N. Ice drift 0.05 towards SE. White-out. Woke up to a sound outside. A somewhat scruffy bear was outside the hovercraft. We have been 42 weeks on the ice and this is the sight of a polar bear. The animal walked over to the food storage and started digging for one of the Zarges boxes. We started the hovercraft engine and the bear took off, and we have not seen it since. The AirMar weather station on the hovercraft went down. We consulted Bergen, but did not solve the problem.

Position: 82° 48.5' N, 12° 59.1' W. Temperature -1 °C, air pressure 1021 hPa, wind 12 knot from the N. Ice drift 0.2 knot towards the S. White-out conditions. We are drifting on a course that brings us closer to the major shear zone along the coast, but still about 40 km away. Made a CTD cast to 1000 meter depth. Had the generator going all day to melt snow for drinking water - we need to replenish every two weeks.

Position: 82° 54.52' N, 12° 56.3' W, temperature - 3 °C, air pressure 1025 hPa, wind 12 knots from the N. Ice drift 0.15 knot towards S. A glorious day. Felt a shock at 0137 GMT and thought it may have been an earthquake from the Lena Trough below. However, both NORSAR, Univ. of Bergen and GEUS did not see any events recorded on the Svalbard stations or at St. Nord. The shock could have been related to the start of a pressure ridge about 35 meter in front of the hovercraft. Made CTD cast to 1000 m depth. Both ARGOS tracker buoys report good positions - batteries checked 12.4 and 11.9 volt.

Position: 83° 07.07' N, 13° 45.9' W, temperature 0 °C, 1009 hPa, wind 12 knots from the W. Ice drift 0.3 knot towards the SE. Light rain today. The crack behind the hovercraft has closed completely. Made CTD cast to 1000 m depth. Audun recovered the AWI mass balance buoy which had ceased to function three weeks after deployment 30 August last year. The snow shelter protecting our Zarges boxes with food collapsed in the mild weather and had to be restored.