Polarstern / CAML expedition: a glacial delay ...
White above, white below, stuck in the ice ...
© International Polar Foundation
8th and 9th of January: if the Cape Petrels have now left us, Snow Petrels and Emperor Penguins are back. There are less icebergs, but sea ice gets denser and denser. And at the end of the afternoon, we entered a huge ice floe.
The progression is slow, but the captain is confident. Especially when a combination of an helicopter flight survey and satellites ice charts confirms that open sea lies 15 miles ahead. But on the next day, Polarstern is still fighting, this time with so little visibility that helicopter flights are not an option anymore.
Our progresses become extremely slow. After every stop in the ice, the ship steams about 500m back, and then accelerates forward to meet the ice at a speed of 5 to 6 knots, opens his way for another 100-150m (if not less sometimes), and then gets stuck again. It is a combination of winds and currents pushing the ice against the Peninsula, and of the thick snow covering the sea ice which slows down Polarstern. Scientists grow impatient, while they eagerly wait for us to reach the Larsen B area where they can get on with their research programs.
10th of January: disappointment when we wake up, the Polarstern is still stuck in the ice and is as slow as ever. Until the beginning of the afternoon, the officers on shift use all their experience of the ice to identify the weak zones of the big floe blanketed with snow still surrounding us.
nd suddenly that's it: Polarstern is finally in open water again! The tensed but quiet atmosphere of the last days changes quickly. New meeting, but this time to fix the last details of a stations plan already delayed several times. All scientists are actively preparing the first sampling operations. Tomorrow, we will be working on the Larsen B area !
