Wednesday, December 22 



Weather 



Conditions 



(Daylight) 



Air: High visibility. Broken clouds. High west winds 



at 50 to 15 knots. 

 Sea: Fifteen- to 5-foot waves. 



Argo Merchant 0730: Bow section splits forward of bridge. Ship in three 



pieces. 

 Ice 1/4 inch thick. Center section sunk, bearing 45°. 



USCG 1930: USCGC Bittersweet arrives on scene, 



Operations USCGC Vigilant on scene entire day. 



Overflights 1005: HU-16E. Mapping. Whale sighted. 



1044: H-3. Differential velocity measurements. Oil samples, 



1130: NASA C-54. 



1505: PA-23. Oblique and vertical photos. 



NASA Lands at. 



EPA oil survey. 



NOAA/USCG 

 SOR Team 

 Operations 



Personnel aboard HU-16E and H-3, 



Other 

 Operations 



AMSI conducts overflights, 



Ship 



Cruises 



NOAA/NMFS Delaware II cruise DE76-13. Begins measurement of 



environmental conditions, XBT temperature profiles, surface 



and column water samples, fish and bottom biological samples 



for two stations. Plankton, neuston, and bottom sediment 



samples at six stations. Bird fouling noted. 



USGS White foot cruise. 



USCG Evergreen cruise begins. 



Spill 

 Characteristics 



Three mixed patches of densely packed "pancakes" 

 interspersed among large patches of lightly packed "pan- 

 cakes" extending 100 miles east and averaging 25 miles in 

 width. 



Coordination 

 Meetings and 

 Briefings 



1000-1130: EPA scientific meeting in Boston. 

 1900-1930: Senator Edward Kennedy's public hearing. 



11-10 



