We came and went. we arrived at B-15L in style and ready to work. with our initial circumnavigation and simple surface sampling of the immediate surrounding waters of the berg, we found the there is a phytoplankton (think algae) bloom. armed with the knowledge that the ice edge is only 60 nmi away, we decided to head straight for the ice edge (sampling continuously) to find out if this bloom is the influence of the pack ice or only of the berg. with a bearing of due south, we came within an hour of the antarctic circle (66 degree south) with no drop in fluorescence (a measure of phytoplankton). we turned around and headed due north and found that the influence of the pack ice extended well beyond (like 30+ nmi) where the berg bobbed. B-15L was no longer a viable study subject. with a big ol' "rejected" stamp on the bergs side, we left and headed to more uncertain shapes (as determined by satellite images).
so for the past few days, we've spent our time steaming to several targets, up along iceberg alley (which provided some sun and a whole lot of great scenery), and slowly running out of them. we returned to C18A today and regroup and to add some data points. with the prospect of adding new data points comes with the very likely 3am-11pm days. good thing we'll only have 4 of those in a row. then hopefully another berg will come along and dazzle us. :D
til next time!
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