Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Humble and Torgersen Islands

A couple of weeks ago we took zodiacs to Humble Island to see the Giant Petrels and then on the way back to the station we were dropped off at Torgersen in the hopes of seeing penguins.  We passed by this small iceberg on the way to Humble (click to see video: http://youtu.be/C8x0TK95RVs).

At Humble Island there was still one giant petrel chick that hadn't fledged yet. The chick is the dark bird and the flying one is the adult.

Giant Petrels on Humble Island
Two giant petrel adults
One thing you don't expect to see is moss, and on Humble Island there was a lot of it!  From what I remember of Palmer Station and the islands around Palmer there was never this much moss present at this time of year... global warming?


Moss on Humble Island

More moss on Humble Island
 On Humbel and Torgersen there were a number of elephant seals and fur seals.  Elephant seal males have a very large nose, that the females do not have.  If  you have ever smelled a pig or cow farm in the midwest, then you know what a group of elephant seals smells like.


Female elephant seals and a sheathbill on Humble Island
Male elephant seal on Humble Island
Fur seals on Torgersen Island

Fur seal on Humble Island
From Torgersen Island you have a good view of the station, which is on Anvers Island.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Walking up the glacier

A couple of weeks ago we hiked up the glacier around noon.  Right now (middle-end of May) it gets light at ~9:00am and dark at ~3:00pm. 

Glacier movie: http://youtu.be/fvntupmVU1k

Nature's Modern Art on Torgersen Island, Antarctica

Here are some beautiful pictures of lichens on Torgersen Island, which is a small island near Palmer Station.  We had hoped to see some Adelie penguins, but no such luck; however, we did see elephant seals and fur seals, which I will post photos soon. I think these images are beautiful!







Sunday, May 12, 2013

White Sided Dolphins

After we left Punta Arenas and were leaving South America white sided dolphins (I think) followed our boat. Click on the link to see the YouTube video.

white sided dolphins:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCdUA91B1Ao



The RV Laurence M. Gould


The Laurence M. Gould (or LMG) is named after the geologist and explorer Laurence McKinley Gould  who was a member of Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition where he was the second in command under Admiral Byrd.  This is the vessel we take from Punta Arenas, Chile to Palmer Station Antarctica.

The Drake Passage is the body of water between South American and South Shetland Islands, which are just off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. After the Drake Passage formed about 40 million years ago, it enabled the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to flow around Antarctica with no interruptions, which helped cool the waters around Antarctica.  The Drake Passage is known to have the roughest seas in the world. This time down to Palmer Station it was like sailing on a pond however with no storms and the waves were large and rolling.

Anyway, here are some photos of areas inside the boat.
Bedroom with bunkbeds.  There are curtains that can be drawn so that you aren't bothered by your bunkmate.  Also, note the brown mat on the desk.  It keeps computers, books, etc from sliding off. I was lucky to not have a roommate on the way down to Palmer Station from Chile.
Each room has it's own bathroom with toilet, shower and sink (not shown).  You step into the shower, which keeps the water from running out during high seas. The bar in the shower helps you stabilize yourself during the rolling motions of the boat.
This is the galley where we eat. Notice the condiments sitting on the table in a stationary bin.  It keeps things from sliding off the table.  Also, the bin holds your glass so that you don't spill your drinks when the boat is moving.

This is another part of the galley that leads to the window where we pick up our food, which in this picture has the metal window closed.  It's cafeteria style so you help yourself to the food at mealtimes.  The window that is open is where we put our dirty dishes.
In the galley there is a plaque dedicated to my graduate advisor, Bruce Sidell.  He passed away in 2011 way too soon.


This is the Bridge where the captain (sitting to the right) steers the boat.  We can go on the bridge at almost any time and talk to the captain.
And, of course there is the lounge with comfortable chairs.  There is a large selection of movies to keep people occupied on the crossing. It's also a nice place to read a book.
We have a meeting when we first get on the boat about what happens if we have to abandon ship and they show us where the life rafts are and all of the equipment and supplies in the life rafts.
This is a view of the LMG from the front.  The orange circular "thing" on the upper right of the ship (your left) is a life boat. It is a fully enclosed lifeboat, although there is a hatch at the top.  Inside there are seat belts that go around your chest and strap you in.  In the event of abandon ship in rough seas the lifeboat will roll around and although it will upright itself you need to be strapped to prevent injury to yourself and others. Everyone gets a seasickness bag once they enter the lifeboat, and everyone has to take seasickness meds; even if you don't normally get seasick, the crew said that in one of these lifeboats EVERYONE gets seasick!

You can read more about the specifics of this boat at NSF's website:

http://www.usap.gov/usapgov/vesselScienceAndOperations/index.cfm?m=4



Friday, May 10, 2013

Technically challenged....

My graduate advisor said on numerous occasions that he was an analog man living in a digital world. I have been trying to figure out a way to upload videos into this blog, and I finally made the decision to upload the videos into YouTube and then link to there.  So, finally, without further ado, below are two video links. The first is of my favorite Antarctic bird, the sheathbill, and the 2nd is a short video of a Wilson's Storm Petrel feeding at the outfall of Palmer Station. You can use your imagination as to what he may be eating....

Sheathbill video: http://youtu.be/nWgwLII_FXo

Wilson's Storm Petrel video: http://youtu.be/Vq43Am4HlBI

Hopefully, the links work... 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Guess what my favorite Antarctic bird is....

You probably guessed penguin, right?  Well, you are wrong!  My favorite bird here at Palmer is not Adelie, gentoo, or chinstrap penguin.  It's not the giant petrel (shown below)....
Young giant petrel.  I took this photo at dawn when we were leaving to go fishing, so it's a bit dark. 
Or the cape petrel or Wilson's storm petrel (photos and videos coming soon).

Sheathbill at Palmer Station
My favorite bird is the snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus), which is supposed to Antarctica's only land bird. They eat really anything they can find.  Many people call this bird the Antarctic chicken, and as you can see from the phot, they kind of look like a chicken.  Here at Palmer they can be found wandering around the station.





Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Back from fishing...

I went out on the boat fishing and was unable to post any updates from the ship. I will hopefully over the next few days put many new posts.
Me with a Dissostichus mawsoni.  The common name of this fish is the Antarctic toothfish. This is a young one; they can up to ~80kg, but this one was a mere 4.5kg.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Getting ready to leave Chile


Warehouse in Punta Arenas where we get our gear


Lots of options for Palmer Station attire
We are provided with all the cold weather and fishing gear that we need to wear in Antarctia.  At the dock there is a warehouse where we get a dufflebag with what we need and get a chance to try it all on to make sure it fits.  When we return to Punta Arenas we return it back to the warehouse.  We get long underwear, winter boots, coats, rubber boots, gloves, pants, and jacket for fishing, hats, gloves, and my favorite Carhartts!


Ooh-la-la... Kristin O'Brien checking out the latest in Palmer Station fashion.

Checking out our clothing

 The research vessel that we use is the Laurence M.Gould (or LMG) , which is named after the explorer Laurence McKinley Gould who was a member of Admiral Byrd's expedition to Antarctica in the late 1920s.  The boat was built in 1997 by the Edison Chouest Offshore out of Louisiana, and it replaced the Polar Duke. During my 1997 field season I was on the Polar Duke, so I have been lucky enough to be on both vessels. The LMG is about 230 feet in length and quite comfortable (if you are fortunate enough not to get seasick!). Pictures will be coming... so stay tuned.

Johanne Lewis and Amanda Reynolds walking along dock to LMG
LMG

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Skipping ahead to Antarctica...

I still have a lot of pictures and information to post about the ship and traveling down to Palmer Station, but tonight I'm going to show some photos that I took on our walk up the glacier. Behind Palmer Station is a glacier that you can hike up, as long as you stay within the flagged area. Outside the flags are crevasses, which you really don't want to fall into.  To walk up the glacier you sign out on a board in the main hallway with the people who are going, where you are going, time out and the time you expect to get back, and you take a radio with you.  Anyway, Kristin, Lisa and I hiked up the glacier, which takes about an hour to walk up, and it's icy so we put Kahtoola microspikes that stretch over your boots and keep your from slipping on the ice, after all we are walking on a glacier.  Here's a top view of my feet, showing the microspikes on my boots, but it's not that good of picture.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and the temperature was probably around 20-25 degrees Fahrenheit (although I could be off), cold, but not super cold.  Below is a photo of Palmer Station I took when I was near the top of the glacier.
Can you find Palmer Station?
It has been cloudy around the station; some days it rains, other days it snows, and the other day it hailed.  The last time I was down here was in 2001, and over the past 13 years there are definite indications that the Antarctic Peninsula is warming. I'm going to ignore the decline of penguins around Palmer, and the issues we are facing keeping the water cold enough for our icefish in our aquarium lab (yes, the water around Palmer Station that we bring into our aquarium is on the verge of being too warm to maintain our fish. In the next few years we may need to use chilling units to keep the water at ~0.8 degrees Celsius). Since 2001, which was the last time I was here, glacier has retreated away from Palmer Station leaving a rocky "backyard", that is A LOT larger in size than what it used to be! The Antarctic Peninsula is warming extremely quickly causing loss of glacier ice and ice shelves (http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ngeo1787.html).  The warming of the ocean by even a few degrees has the potential of wiping out the plants and animals that cannot adapt to rapidly changing temperatures. The Adelie penguins rely on ice to serve as floating docks that they can rest on and then enter into the water to feed.  Since 1974 Adelie penguin populations along the western Antarctic Peninsula have declined by 84% (http://pal.lternet.edu/sci-research/transformational_science/). I have seen a few Adelie penguins on my way down this time (no pictures yet), but not as many as in previous years.

And on that note, here are some photos from today.





Rubbing the toe for good seas!

Main square in Punta Arenas.
 The main square in Punta Arenas is really beautiful.  Some of the trees have wicked huge trunks!
Walking to the square.
Large tree
























In the square is a monument to Ferdinand Magellan, the explorer after whom the Strait of Magellan is named. Legend has it that if you rub to toe of the native you will have smooth seas, and when you cross the Drake Passage you need all the help you can get!  Rubbing the toe may also give you good luck, or ensure that you will return to Punta Arenas. We rubbed the toe every time we walked through the square!

Rubbing the toe for a smooth crossing!
A closeup of the native's foot---- it's SHINY from all the rubbing!
Here's the entire monument with Magellan on the top.






Shackleton Bar


In the hotel in Punta Arenas there is the Shackleton Bar, obviously named after Ernest Shackleton, an Antarctic explorer.  Although he was not the first explorer to reach the South Pole (that honor goes to Roald Amundsen), he set out to cross the entire continent through the South Pole.  His ship the Endurance became trapped in pack ice and eventually sunk, so he did not complete he goal, but the story of he and men surviving and being rescued is an amazing story. Anyway, this bar in Hotel Jose Nogueira is a nice place to relax.  There's intricate woodwork and paintings that depict Shackleton's expedition, and here we enjoyed pisco sours. The image below does not do the bar justice.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Hotel Jose Nogueira in Punta Arenas

In Punta Arenas the hotel we stayed at was Jose Nogueira, which was Bruce's (Bruce Sidell was my graduate advisor for both my Master's and Ph.D at the University of Maine), favorite hotel.  Below is a picture of the hotel from the sidewalk.  In Punta Arenas (or PA for short) there are A LOT of stray dogs, and you'll see one sleeping in the warm sun outside the hotel.  However, they may not be completely "stray" dogs; many businesses put out food and water for these dogs, and unlike most of the stray dogs in the United States that are terrified of people, these dogs will walk along with people, not begging, but sort of in a pack. I however still find it a bit sad, especially when I see one that is injured.  What is also exceptional about these dogs is that they know how to cross the street and they watch for traffic; just like people who are waiting for the light to change, so do the dogs.  They don't randomly cross in front of cars, but maybe the ones that do either don't survive or else they learn that cars are not their friends.  I did see one dog that walked on all four legs up to a street, waited for the light to turn and then limped across on three legs picking up is front left paw, and as soon as he had crossed the street he started walking normally again.  I wish I got a video.

Hotel Jose Nogueira in Punta Arenas
 The glassed in area in the picture above is the dining room (below) where we had breakfast which consisted of coffee, fruit, meats and cheeses, a typical South American breakfast. There were grape vines inside the dining room, but since it is fall in the southern hemisphere, no grapes.
My room in the hotel was nice with two twin beds and overlooked the street, a typical street, not much different than a street in the United States. The room had two twin beds
My hotel room in Punta Arenas.

Street view from hotel
The toilet paper was interesting, and probably geared towards young children.  There was a dog imprinted on the tissue and the word "Pare!", which means "Stop" or "Halt" in spanish. Cute, huh?

How to know how much toilet paper to use....
 Next..... the Shackleton Bar.