It is currently day 16 aboard the USCG cutter Healy! I am constantly surprised by the vessel and its capabilities, as well as the incredible crew that staffs her. The Healy is a coast guard ship where many freshly enlisted members come to train. Being such a large ship, with a variety of missions going on at any one moment, it makes for a new environment each day. On the back deck, you can see a rainbow of hardhats- each of the different colors have a different meaning! The green hats are those with the least experience, and as you gain knowledge and skills, you move up to a blue, yellow, and eventually a white hat. In this photo, you can see a yellow hat teaching the other deck members how to tie a knot. Seamanship skills such as knot tying, splicing, and line handling are of the utmost importance to work on the deck. This ensures safety of personnel and also the effectiveness of the scientific mission.
We arrived on station for our next evolution right as our night shift began. Science waits on no man, so we got to work immediately. I am very excited to finally get some science action on the night shift! Though, honestly, you could never tell that this photo was taken at midnight- it is all sunshine all the time in the arctic.
For a mooring recovery, there is an order of operations that we more or less follow each time. Every instrument package varies slightly, but it is the same process.
Once the scientists locate the mooring via a GPS transponder attached to the top float, the ship cuts ice in the area for several hours. The science crew then uses a pinger to communicate to the mooring release. Since the ship has other echosounders running at all times, it is the responsibility of the marine technician on shift to power down our multibeam and ADCP devices. This ensures that no interference will effect the mooring release. Once the anchor is released, the floats on the top of the mooring line drag it to the surface.
At this point, the ship can make its approach. We line up to the floats, keeping them on our starboard side. This can take some time and fine adjustments from the bridge, so the deck crew stands by patiently. We must be careful to avoid running over the mooring line, as well as potentially navigating around ice floes as they drift by. Dynamic environments require constant focus from every crew member involved!
Once we are along side the floats, you can see that they are attached to one another via line. Our goal is to hook onto the line, to pull it towards the deck. The man in yellow made quite an impressive grappling hook throw, and snagged the line perfectly. I always love to see people who have mastered their craft hard at work. Some of the green hats attempted to throw the hook, and Mr. Yellows skill was undeniable. A grappling hook is heavy, and a rather awkward shape to try and heave. So we were all thoroughly impressed!
Once the floats are at our side, we can hook the topmost one onto the winch line. The line is brought from the A-frame block, and held around the quarter by the deck crew. Once the floats are tied on, we allow the ship to float slowly forwards, bringing the floats aft to the A-frame. It takes many hands to ensure the line does not become snagged on anything while we can walk the float back assembly line style. Once it comes to our stern, it is time for the Lebus winch to start pulling the immense amount of gear onboard.
First up, the floats! Once the winch pulls up enough line to suspend them, the A-frame operator brings the frame inboard to the deckhands reach. They make off the line below the floats, so that the gear still in the water stays attached to the ship. At that point, the floats are no longer weight bearing, and can be removed from the main line. Special float stands are carried on a palette jack, so the floats can be stowed without rolling around like pinballs on deck. Once they are securely fastened down, the weight bearing line is attached back to the winch to haul up the next section of the instrument package.
The VLF is the next to be recovered! This device, which operates on a ‘very low frequency’ (hance the name VLF), communicates with seagliders. If you’ve been following along with my blog posts, you may remember seagliders from my time aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Those little yellow rockets dive up and down the water column collecting data, all by their selves! The VLF is so huge because of the extensive batteries that it must carry. It’s hard work under the ice, so they need their energy to stay awake until we come back for them!
This scientific crew has previously sailed in the area to deploy seagliders and moorings, which is what we are here to recover. These devices generally stay out for 1-3 years, autonomously collecting data which is critical for oceanographic research.
The VLF was brought back on board the same way as the floats, by transferring weight bearing lines. After that, its just a mere 3500 meters of line to hoist up! This takes a good chunk of time, as the winch can only pull in line so quickly. After a couple hours of line winding, the acoustic anchor release is the bitter end of the line. Finally the deck crew can head back inside and warm up for a bit!
While still sitting on the same station, science requested a CTD cast. After all of the testing we have put the CTD through, its time to put it through the true ringer- a cast to a depth of around 3700 meters! Luckily I was still on shift, so I was able to prep the CTD for deployment. We opened all of the bottles, and prepared them for water collecting. There I am, on deck finally! Hi me! I removed caps from all of the sensors, and the plungers from the oxygen sensors. I stood back as the deck crew deployed the rosette over the side, to ensure everything on the rosette looked correct. Similarly to how the line recovered from the mooring, it takes some time for the CTD to reach the requested depth. So it’s back to waiting around for you, deckies!
Once the CTD was 3700m below us, dangling into the dark arctic waters, it was time for data collection. This was right around our turnover time, so it was lucky that both Kaleigh and I were able to fire some of the niskin bottles. Look at us go! The computer program, SeaSave, is fairly simple to use. It graphs the water column data in real time, and makes some pretty neat charts. You can clearly see the thermocline here, which is a depth at where the temperature changes drastically. I am a nerd, so this is fantastically exciting for me! To some it may just be a few lines, but it is a visual representation of all of the oceanographic theory I have studied before. I love to see science in action!
After the CTD came back on board during the dayshift, we allowed the full niskin bottles to settle and test for leaks. And wouldn’t you know it… Sigh. It’s back to testing for us! In an unusual turn of events, many of the bottles are leaking from the screws, which is a new one for me. Some drip from the spigots as well. So, time to try something else!
The niskin bottles we use are as big as I am! These bottles hold 12 litres of seawater each. With 24 bottles on the rosette at any one time, we can grab 288 litres of sea water in a single cast! Seldom will the science group need all 288 litres, but it does give them plenty to work with. Science needed no water for this station, it was actually just for our own testing purposes. We wanted to let the bottles sit so we could detect leaks, and detect them we did!
We couldn’t just pour the bottles onto the staging bay floor, so we had to take the bottles down while they were full. One full niskin bottle weighs approximately 35 lbs, so as you can see, it was a bit of a wrestle to pull them off the rosette. We emptied them all into the floor drains, and got to work with our repairs.
I have worked with rebuilding a niskin bottle as part of a school project, but never this many! We documented which bottles had which issues, and began trying to solve some leaks. We ran an experiment to try and figure out a solution. We replaced one bottles O-rings, one bottles spigot, and one bottles lower screws. We filled them back up and let them sit for a little while again.
When we came back to check, the only bottle that showed improvement was bottle number 2, where we replaced the spigot. This involves wrenching the bottles open, removing the spigot disc, removing O-rings, and popping out the old spigot. So, we took a sit down on the floor and got busy switching out all of the spigots. It is a bit of a delicate and involved process, so this took us much of our shift to accomplish. Once we had swapped out all of the affected pieces, we cleaned up the mess we made and hung the bottles back onto the rosette. Try again!
Another facet of the scientific mission on this deployment is ARGO floats. You can find out more about the floats and their mission on their website! These devices are deployed over the side and act much like a drifter. They go out and do their thing, collecting precious, precious data! An excitable member of sci allowed me to assist in the deployment of this float, which was a bit underwhelming and a ton of fun. More or less, we simply wait for a break in the ice and toss ‘er over the gunwale! We are a bit more precise than that, using a piece of line to slowly lower the float into the water, but you get the picture… Thanks, Justin!
Oh right, this is the Coast Gaurd! Back to official matters. An incredible training opportunity presented itself while we are in such thick ice. Ice rescue! We spent a considerable amount of time looking for an appropriate floe, and posted up beside of the piece. Once the bridge felt confident it was a good spot, the deck department craned the gangway onto the ice, and the first man was down that quick. One small step for man!
They walked as far from the ship as the fog would allow. Each man on the ice carries equipment that they might need while off of the ship. They place little orange safety cones on spots where there might be tripping hazards or questionable ice. They even have a team member dedicated to watching for wildlife! With the fog, it would be relatively easy to accidentally creep up on an unsuspecting polar bear. It was a delight to watch them trudge across the frozen snow, and fade into to distant fog as ships in the night. The going is slow, walking carefully on slippery surfaces and uneven terrain.
Then it was the time for their true trials- surviving a fall into the ice! If they were to step through a thin spot of ice, or have any other reason to end up in the water, they need to know how to respond. Their suits have a base of neoprene, which keeps them dry, and a snowsuit that keeps snow and wind off of them. These suits float very effectively, so theres no need to try and tread water. While in the water, they practice manuevers for rescuing an unconscious team member, best practices for crawling back up onto the ice, and more. This training, though surely strenuous, looked like the most fun you could have! What a crazy feeling it must be, floating in an ice hole with nothing but 4000 meters (13,000+ feet!) of ancient arctic water below you.Only those training were allowed to get onto the ice, so it is a bummer I was not able to participate. But even just watching was incredible!
My mentor Maya and I were jealous of the coasties play time on the ice, but we enjoyed our time on deck watching just as much!
It was surreal to see the vessel at a stand still in the ice, and I got this insane view of the bow. The ship is unbelievably huge, and I am always in awe of her stature. Once the ice training was complete, the coasties scaled the rather steep gangway back onboard, and we were back to crushing ice in no time. As we continue our efforts, with many more miles ahead of us, we say so long and farewell to our northern most point.
Fair winds and clear leads to you scallywags back home.
Micah Barton – God Bless – 07/31/2025