Behind the Scenes with the BBC

Last June, a BBC film crew joined Memorial University's Autonomous Ocean Systems Lab on an iceberg survey expedition to shoot a segment on icebergs for their 'Forces of Nature' documentary series. The resulting 10-minute piece was recently screened in the UK as part of the first episode, entitled 'The Universe in a Snowflake' (see previous posts). Although not officially a VITALS project (the normal topic for this blog), the expedition did involve a glider as well as some VITALS contributors, so is a justified diversion. Here's what went on behind the scenes...

Loading our iceberg profiling glider.

The front end of the glider has been modified to hold a scanning sonar to measure the underwater structure of bergs. The glider also uses this sonar to autonomously circumnavigate around bergs, maintaining a predetermined distance from the sides.

Our main expedition vessel, Shamook.

Ocean currents and winds bring bergs into the shallow bays of Newfoundland where they can become grounded.

 Large icebergs show up on radar. Here you can see one just below the cross at the top left of the screen.

We've heard tales that grounded bergs can bring a chill to nearby coastal towns by the cooling onshore winds.

An iceberg-chilled coastal town?

Wavecut notches are a common feature of bergs. Submerged ice melts the faster than the ice above water, with erosion being strongest at the waterline. This can lead to bergs becoming top heavy and rolling over to reestablish equilibrium. Large submerged protrusions called rams can break off in the process.

Sometimes you can see multiple wavecut notches, as on the right of the photo here. These reveal how the waterline has shifted as the berg has changed orientation. A cleaved surface develops above these notches where chunks of ice become undercut and fall off. Note the black sediment, possibly bedrock scoured out while the ice was still part of a glacier.

The profile of this berg looks a bit like the Memorial University logo.

The film crew brought some nifty gadgets with them, such as this gyro stabilized camera system.

We had some nifty gadgets of our own, like this autonomous surface craft fitted with a radar and camera to capture the above-water structure of bergs. 

Filming on small boats can get a bit crowded.

Scuba diving around icebergs is not for the faint of heart. As grounded bergs scrape around on the seabed, they can emit loud booms that the smiling underwater cameraman here (Doug Allan, second from left) said he could feel reverberating through his body.

View BBC appearance online

If you're in the UK, you can now view our appearance in 'The Universe in a Snowflake' on the BBC iPlayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07k7m4z/forces-of-nature-with-brian-cox-1-the-universe-in-a-snowflake

The segment on icebergs in which we appear begins at 41:44 and runs to 51:44. The documentary is available for the next 29 days.

Appearance in BBC documentary

We are excited to reveal that the the Autonomous Oceans System Lab of Memorial University will be appearing in the first episode of a new BBC TV series called 'Forces of Nature with Brian Cox'. The episode, entitled 'The Universe in a Snowflake', will be shown in the UK this Monday evening (July 4th, BBC One at 9pm). We feature in the segment on icebergs.

US viewers will be able to catch the show on PBS in the near-future (details to follow).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07k7m4z

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.