As
part of the Bering Strait project funded by
NSF-AON (Arctic Observing Network), in July
2025 a team of US scientists undertook a ~8
day cruise in the Bering Strait and southern
Chukchi Sea region on the US vessel Norseman
II, operated by Support Vessels of Alaska,
Inc..
The primary goals/activities of the expedition
were:
1) recovery of 3 moorings carrying
physical and biogeochemical oceanographic
instrumentation (Woodgate & Peralta
Ferriz) and whale acoustic instrumentation
(Stafford). These moorings were deployed in
the Bering Strait region in 2024 from the
Norseman II.
2) deployment of 3 moorings in the
Bering Strait region, carrying physical and
biogeochemical oceanographic instrumentation
(Woodgate & Peralta Ferriz) and whale
acoustic instrumentation (Stafford).
3) a set of CTD sections studying water
properties in the region, with some sampling
for nutrients and salinities (Woodgate &
Peralta-Ferriz),
4) collection of trace metal/nutrient
water samples using a pumped system at
selected CTD casts (Jensen),
5) collection of accompanying ship's
underway data, viz. surface water temperature
and salinity, ADCP velocity data and
meteorological data (Woodgate &
Peralta-Ferriz),
6) deployment of a glider (Stafford,
Danielson, Statscewich),
7) analysis of underway water with an
Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) for Harmful Algal
Blooms (Farrugia)
8) taking of opportunistic samples for
delta-O18, to characterize freshwater sources
(Jensen, Woodgate & Peralta-Ferriz); and
9) taking of opportunistic and
exploratory samples for phytoplankton studies
(Orellana).
The cruise loaded and offloaded gear and
people in Nome, Alaska.
Key Statistics:
= 3 moorings recovered,
= 3 moorings deployed,
= 162 CTD casts on 6 CTD lines,
with 194 nutrient samples, 6
salinity samples and 7 delta-O18 samples
= trace metal/nutrient water samples taken on
32 stations, a few with accompanying sampling
from the CTD.
= 1 glider deployed
= 8 samples for phytoplankton identification
and 42 samples for phytoplankton
quantification
For full details, and preliminary results,
see:
|
BERING STRAIT 2025 CRUISE MAPS:
Ship-track, blue. Mooring sites, black. CTD
stations, red. Water samples color code as per key.
Green arrows show direction of travel. Depth
contours every 10m from IBCAO (International
Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean [Jakobsson et
al., 2000] |
