After 50 days operating, the second float and one glider have malfunctioned, leaving three operating gliders. The Knorr finished a successful cruise this week and discharged the science crew in Iceland.

A rescue cruise on the Bjarni Saemundsson is being organized for the errant platforms. For approximately the next month, we will operate the gliders alone in a coordinated pattern. They will be recovered in July on a final Saemundsson cruise.

So far, the project has captured the growth and saturation of the North Atlantic Bloom south of Iceland using a combination of autonomous floats and gliders and research vessels. A remarkable degree of spatial structure has been revealed apparently due to modulation of the bloom intensity by ocean eddies. Despite the strong structure on the 1-20 km scale, there is a clear seasonal pattern revealed by averaging over all of the platforms. The progression of the bloom has been marked by changes in the dominant phytoplankton type and clear evidence of export of carbon through sinking.