NBP22-11: Heading Northwest

29 November 2022

Today we’re heading northwest in the Southern Pacific towards New Zealand, our current position being about 52 degrees S, 150 W. Tomorrow at about 9pm, we’ll get to our next CTD station and deploy our 8th float of the expedition, the only Navis SOCCOM float. Navis floats collect the same data as Apex SOCCOM floats, which are the other 9 floats we’re deploying. Both types of SOCCOM floats collect data on temperature, salinity, pressure, nitrate, pH, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Their firmware allows them to detect ice cover above them as they’re surfacing that might damage the float or impede communication, which is what allows them to be suitable for deployment around the Antarctic Circumpolar Current/ Southern Ocean. The most recent float deployed was named N’dee Bii Łog (translated to Apache Trout) by the students of McNary Elementary School and was deployed two nights ago! Tomorrow at 160W, we’ll deploy the Salty Lion, named by the Washington State School for the Blind. Photos will be uploaded as soon as we get a little bit better communication. Tune in for more!