Labrador Sea 2015 Mission update: Lost contact

It's been over two weeks now since we last heard from our LabSea mission glider. Before that it had been happily drifting along at the surface, calling into us with its position every few hours. Then - without warning - we didn't hear from it any more. Assuming the glider hasn't broken apart, it should still be at the surface. Unfortunately, the back-up device to the primary Iridium/GPS method of locating the glider, the ARGOS transmitter, was not working when contact was lost. So we don't know where it is.

The glider's last known location 

before contact was lost (Jan 27th 2016)

Our only hope now is that someone spots glider 472 as it drifts around the north Atlantic or when it washes ashore - the latter could take a year or more.

If you spot a glider how can you tell it's this lost one? The lost glider is unique in having a sensor mounted on the front, with a black cable running back from it along the outside of the hull. It also has Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) logos at the forward and aft ends.

Distinguishing features of the lost glider

 The MUN logo

If you have information you think may be of use in locating our glider (e.g. rumours of a possible sighting), please do get in touch at gliderspotted@gmail.com. We will be monitoring that frequently. If you spot the glider in the water, (if possible) immediately call the phone numbers written on it or ring the MUN Physics Department.

Labrador Sea 2015 Mission update: A leak sparks a rescue attempt

Things haven't exactly worked out as planned with our LabSea 2015/16 glider mission. Unforunately shortly after getting off the continental shelf into the central Labrador Sea and starting deep dives (to 1000m), our mission glider sprang a leak. As seawater and electronics don't mix, it is preferable in these situations to recover the vehicle as soon as possible. However, this having been December in the Labrador Sea, our recovery options were limited.

But as luck would have it, on December 3rd, the CCGS Hudson, a Canadian Coast Guard science vessel happened to be in the vicinity. The Hudson was on an Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) cruise, and having just completed the final AZMP sampling transect (the Seal Island line off southern Labrador), was on its way back to its Halifax home base. The ship's captain graciously agreed to steam over to our glider and assess whether recovery was feasible.

Once it became clear the CCGS Hudson would pass close to the glider, we put in a request for recovery.

With the weather conditions being too rough to launch the Hudson's small inflatable 'fast rescue' craft, an impromptu attempt was instead made to snare the glider using lines thrown from the Hudson. Ultimately, despite coming close to getting a line around it, this proved too difficult and the rescue attempt had to be abandoned. We do, however, remain grateful for their heroic efforts.

With no remaining options for ship-based recovery, our attention turned to trying to fly the glider back in towards land, despite the leak. This idea was soon dashed, however, when the glider's fin (which controls its heading) stopping working a few hours after the Hudson's rescue attempt. Although not caused by the latter, this was unfortunate timing. With the fin out-of-order, we could no longer send the glider in a particular direction. It would simply go round in circles when flown.

Have exhausted all our recovery options, we were forced to leave the glider drifting at the surface. And this is what it's been doing ever since, while calling in each hour with GPS position updates.

The glider's journey so far.

Where exactly the winds and currents will take our glider now, we don't know. Messages in bottles launched over the past few years from Newfoundland and tracked on yourmessageinabottle.com can serve as some guide. Those that have made landfall (and been found) have tended to drift east across the north Atlantic, reaching as far north as Scotland and as far south as the Canary Islands.

You can post your guess for where you think our glider will next come near land in the comments below, then follow the glider's path in real-time here to see if you're right:

http://vitalsgliders.blogspot.ca/p/labsea201515-mission-map.html

Labrador Sea 2015 Glider Testing and Deployment

Testing the glider in the bay off Charlottetown. Robin controlled the glider from a van onshore while the rest of the team were out watching from a skiff.

Photo credit: Mark Downey

Lowering the glider into the water off the dock in Charlottetown for a final check on science sensors.

Testing complete, it was time to deploy.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Sunrise on deployment day in Port Hope Simpson (where we were staying), down the road from Charlottetown.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Snowflakes on our van window.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Charlottetown harbour with our deployment vessel, Little Bubbles tied up to the dock on the left. As can be seen in the foreground, ice is starting to form around the edge of the bay. In only a few more days the harbour may be completely frozen over and Little Bubbles won't be able to get off the dock. So we're deploying just in the nick of time!

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Close up of Little Bubbles.

Photo credit: Mark Downey

The deployment team - from left to right: Brian, Everett, Mark and Robin. 

A big thanks to Everett and Brian for use of their vessel and testing/deployment assistance.

Photo credit: Darlene Turnbull

The path out to our offshore deployment location from Charlottetown was riddled with numerous small islands, many separated only by narrow passages containing treacherous submerged rocks. Fortunately our experienced local crew knew the route to take to avoid these underwater hazards and navigated us out into open waters with ease. It won't be long now before this area is frozen solid and you can walk out to the islands.

Photo credit: Mark Downey

Deployed! We slid the glider off its cart into the water over the side of Little Bubbles in the manner of a kid going down a slide. It shot down beneath the surface before bobbing back up again (to our relief).

Photo credit: Mark Downey

Robin sends the glider on its way from the cockpit of Little Bubbles.

Photo credit: Mark Downey

Back in Charlottetown, Little Bubbles had to cut a path through the ice in order to get back to the dock. This made a disconcerting crunching noise on the boat's fibreglass hull.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Off to Labrador: Day Three

In the final outbound leg of our journey to Charlottetown we travelled up the Trans-Labrador Highway.

The majority of the highway is gravel road. The stretch up to Charlottetown wasn't completed until 2001. Before that such coastal towns could only be reached by air or sea.


The highway passes through boreal forest.

    

Entering the town of Capstan Island. The town takes its name from a small island offshore upon which a capstan (a rotating post - originating on sailing ships) was erected to wind in a rope running from the mainland. The line opened the door of a seal trap, designed to catch seals as they migrated through the area in springtime.

Mammoth in the town of Red Bay.

Frozen river.

Charlottetown. Notice the sledge, which is used to transport materials behind ski-doos in winter.

Another sign full-on winter is on its way. Charlottetown locals have already stockpiled firewood for their wood stoves.

Off to Labrador: Day Two

Today we travelled up the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland to catch the ferry across the Strait of Belle Isle from St. Barbe. The ferry actually lands in Quebec rather than Labrador.

Entering Gros Morne National Park - Moose country.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

A dusting of snow blanketed the hilltops.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Photo credit: Mark Downey

The wreck of the SS Ethie along the shoreline in Gros Morne. Luckily all lives were saved (including that of a baby brought ashore in a mailbag).

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Many fishing vessels have already been hauled out of the water this time of year.

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Our ride across the Strait of Belle Isle (the MV Apollo).

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

The ferry had Pacman!

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Off to Labrador: Day One

Before our LabSea2015/6 glider deployment can get underway, we first need to get the mission glider from St. John's to its deployment location in Southern Labrador. Today we completed the first leg of this 1200 km-long road/boat trip, making it to the west coast of Newfoundland in good time despite heavy rain much of the way. Tomorrow we journey north along the Great Northern Peninsula.

A rainbow saw us off from St. John's as we began our long journey to Charlottetown, Labrador.
Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Labrador Sea 2015 Mission Preparations

Preparations are now complete for our next VITALS glider mission. One of our deep gliders has been readied to brave the frigid waters of the Labrador Sea for our longest, most challenging mission yet. Glider 472 will overwinter in the deep waters of the central Labrador Sea from early December until spring 2016. To reach this remote location, it will first have to navigate across the shallow Labrador Shelf on the Sea's western edge, traversing the fast-flowing inner and outer branches of the Labrador current. It will also have to contend with a wide range of seawater densities in order to successfully surface and descend to depth throughout the deployment. Achieving the latter requires the glider be appropriately weighted (i.e. ballasted), while the former requires the glider's attitude sensor be well-calibrated so the glider can accurately navigate. Details of how we carried out both of these procedures are given below.

Keep tuned to this blog over the coming months for the latest developments in this exciting glider adventure.

Ballasting

Oceanographic technician Mark Downey lowers the mission glider into the MUN deep tank to begin ballasting (i.e. making it an appropriate density for the seawater it's going to operate in by altering its mass). 

Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Weighing the glider fore and aft on our hanging scales. The aim of ballasting is not only to set the glider to an appropriate overall weight but also to have its internal weight distributed evenly along and across its body such that it sits horizontal and upright.
Photo credit: Robin Matthews

Attitude sensor calibration

The glider was strung up outside away from sources of magnetic fields to calibrate its attitude sensor. This device measures magnetic heading, pitch and roll and is critical to glider navigation. Our calibration procedure involves rotating the glider across all three dimensional axes to reduce the influence of magnetic fields within the glider on this sensitive instrument. Fortunately the weather was fairly agreeable despite this being conducted in mid-November (no wind, rain or snow!). Note that normally we'd mount the glider along the central beam of this custom-designed frame for calibration, but this glider is too long for that since it has an additional battery pack for its extended deployment. Thus we hung it from the frame instead.
Photo credit: Mark Downey

Ballasted and ready-to-go our glider ponders the meaning of its existence. 

Photo credit: Mark Downey