August 3, 2019
Hi all, we are in Bonne Bay, Newfoundland deploying our 2 gliders (Pearldiver and Unit 473). Initially we were going to deploy the gliders into East Arm, but the difference between surface and at depth densities are significantly larger than what we can adjust the glider for. So instead we are deploying both gliders into the inlet of Bonne Bay between the tickle and the mouth of Bonne Bay.
Both gliders are deployed! Here is a shot of 473 getting ready to dive by talented Lucie McCormick who is following our field work this trip to make a documentary about ocean and climate research.
August 5, 2019
While glider 473 was successfully navigating the inlet of Bonne Bay, the other glider Pearldiver aborted overnight for not being able to surface and when we rescued it we were surprised to find large jelly fish tentackles all over its tail cone. Wow!
Our colleague Mingxi Zhou joined us today from the University of Rhode Island to help test glider path-planning algorithms. We will be deploying Pearldiver into the Gulf of St. Lawrence today launching from Daniels Harbor. There we will encounter strong currents as well as deeper water. We are excited for this adventure.
August 6, 2019
We successfully deployed Pearldiver into the gulf of St. Lawrence yesterday and its encountering strong currents. Making headway in these conditions for a vehicle moving at 1km/hr is difficult. A good way to test the new waypoint planning algorithm from Mingxi. The current forecasts are provided by the Gulf of St. Lawrence observatory. Current forecasts are available here: https://slgo.ca/ocean/
Proper functioning of the path-planning tool will be important later this year when we deploy these gliders into the Labrador Sea. Make headway little glider make headway!
August 15, 2019
Took a long time to get Pearldiver navigate back to Bonne Bay… extending our field work by a week. We successfully recovered the glider near the tickle by the Marine Station completing our 2 week glider adventure
Glider News from the Sea 