Adding to this good news, Nindemann, on a survey of the southern coast of the island, had seen significant patches of open ocean. As he described it to De Long, there were “large lanes of water making to the southwest, and the ice was constantly separating to form new ones.” Offshore from their campsite, smaller lanes were beginning to clear. De Long understood that this was their chance. The icy world was finally opening up, just a little—and just in time for the closing weeks of the Arctic summer.
