Press Release from VSU

ttp://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2015/04/vsus-dr.-theresa-grove-joins-international-research-team-in-antarctica.php

Palmer Station on Anvers Island, Antarctica

This past Saturday was my first day off since arriving to Palmer Station.  We were lucky that it was a beautiful day, and we had the opportunity to take a zodiac to a neighboring island about 10 minutes away from Palmer.  This is a view of Palmer Station when we were coming back to the station as we made our way through the brash ice.

 We headed on the research vessel  LM Gould to Antarctic Peninsula, which is just south of South America.  It took us about 4 days to cross the Drake Passage (the water between South America and Antarctica.  Luckily for us the seas were relatively smooth during the crossing.

 Palmer Station is located on Anvers Island; you can see on the above image where Anvers Island is located just off the Antarctic Peninsula.

And, if you look even closer at Anvers Island, Palmer Station is located on the southern end of the island.

Fish!

We are studying a group of fish called the notothenioids.  One family within this group has translucent "white" blood because it doesn't express the protein hemoglobin, which is the oxygen binding protein found in red blood cells of vertebrates, and it is hemoglobin that gives blood its characteristic red color.  The fish species in this family of fishes (Family Channichthyidae) are commonly called icefish because of their lack or red blood. Below are some of the fish species of icefish.  Chionodraco rastrospinosus is my favorite.

Chaenocephalus aceratus

Chionodraco rastrospinosus

Pseudochannichthys georgianus. By the way the large "spider" is a sea spider (a pycnogonid).  To give you an idea of its size... see below.

Punta Arenas...the largest city south of the 46th parallel

Before we left Chile for Palmer Station we had the chance to wander around Punta Arenas.

The orange and red boat is the LMG.

We moved on board the R/V Laurence M. Gould, and left for Palmer Station on April 7.

Getting gear

Since I now live in south Georgia I no longer have much winter clothing.  However, we are provided with the essentials that include rubber pants, coat, and boots for fishing, hats, gloves, socks, boots, hats, coat, etc.  In Punta Arenas there is a large warehouse with a small part of it that has the clothing we need. We return the gear on our return trip to Punta Arenas.

Inside the warehouse

Lisa and Amanda getting their "cool" Palmer attire.

Clothing checkout window

Getting closer....

We left Santiago yesterday (April 4) and flew to Punta Arenas with a 1 hour stop in Puerto Montt.

The mountains in Chile are amazing, even from a plane!

En route...

My luggage and I arrived to Santiago. It's beautiful flying into the airport because of all the mountains.  We leave for Punata Arenas this afternoon.

I am waiting at the gate in Atlanta's airport....

But at least the sunset was nice. Next stop Santiago, Chile. I take off at 10:00 and land tomorrow morning at 8:30. 

A few links you may enjoy...

Here's the Palmer Station webcam link (click on it to open a new window) for your first glimpse of Palmer; it takes photos every 15 seconds.  Unfortunately, the Torgersen Island webcam that takes photos of the Adelie penguin colony is only online during the austral summer months, so it is currently offline. The research vessel that will take me from Punta Arenas, Chile is currently just off the coast of South America.  You can track the LMG by clicking here, which is a marine traffic website.  If you then click on the green button "Show on live map" you can see where exactly the LMG is.  And, finally for you weather junkies, the current weather at Palmer Station can be found here.  It's a balmy 33F at Palmer... I am really looking forward to the cold and the snow. 

Stay tuned for more more posts.  I am scheduled to arrive Palmer Station on April 12, but I may be able to post en route.  I leave this afternoon, fly to Santiago, Chile tonight, and from there fly to Punta Arenas (P.A.).  We leave P.A. on the 7th.