We arrived at the second mooring deployment site around breakfast time this morning. The deployment went well and we are now on our way to the third mooring site – about 60 nautical miles to the northeast.

Moorings will be deployed at four different locations during this expedition. They will monitor ice drift, ice thickness, current and hydrography and will provide useful data for sea ice statistics, climate studies and ridge properties.

Preparing for mooring deployment

Preparing for mooring deployment. Photo: Jan-Ola Olofsson

The top section of the mooring are being towed by boat

The top section of the mooring are being towed by boat. Photo: Jan-Ola Olofsson

Then the anchor weight is released

Then the anchor weight is released. Photo: Jan-Ola Olofsson

We were also hoping that there would be an opportunity for an ice station today, but there’s still not enough ice. We’ve only seen drift ice so far. Hopefully things will look better when we get further north.

Jan-Ola Olofsson, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat