To go or not to go, that is the question we all have right now. Elías Berticevic, our Chilean host, is working very hard trying to rescue the expedition. He is dealing with the Chilean health department, doctors, the powers to be at INACH, and a bunch of anxious explorers, both healthy and ill. Our moods change as quickly as the medical diagnosis. In half an hour we go from having food poisoning to salmonella then to nurovirus and back to salmonella. The sick people declared contagious at one moment they stop being contagious in a matter of hours. It is hard to deal with the uncertainty, but all of the students are doing an amazing job. They are very calmed and supportive of those who have to be taken to the clinic

    We came to learn about the scientific process and this is, sadly, a reality of science, particularly field science, and even more for Antarctic science. Setbacks lurk around; what matters is how we recover, grow and learn from them. I saw scientists deal with adversity last time I went to Antarctica. The first time when we arrived to McMurdo Station to find the containers containing chemicals and equipment that should not have been frozen left at the dock with subfreezing temperatures. The expedition was about to be cancelled, but the team figure a way to go ahead. We did lose an component of the project due to equipment failure.

    We also had to readjust the scientific goals because we kept loosing days to bad weather ( check this journal on that expedition ). Jim and Alex had to figure every day the priorities and what to drop. We all have also read about how many scientific projects were lost during the sequester, when congress could not agree on how to fund the government.

    It will be sad to miss this opportunity to reach Antarctica, but it is a learning experience. Anything is possible if we really want to do it. In the case the last leg of the expedition gets cancelled, this team will have to figure out how much we want to go to Antarctica and commit ourselves to make it happen

    Meanwhile Luke is feeling much better, so we went for a walk around to Punta Arenas, hoping that these pictures with our Antarctic gear will not be the only ones that we will have as memories.

    Claire and Luke exploring Punta Arenas
    Claire and Luke checking Punta Arenas' coast

    Anna in Punta Arenas
    Anna enjoying Punta Arenas.

    Luke in Punta Arenas
    Luke looking for wildlife to photograph

    Lidiando con la incertidumbre

    Ir o no ir, esa es la pregunta que tenemos todos ahora. Elías Berticevic, nuestro anfitrión chileno, está intentando muy duro rescatar la expedición. Tiene que lidiar con el Ministerio de Salud de Chile, con los doctores, los poderes del INACH y un montón de exploradores ansiosos, tanto los saludables como los enfermos. Nuestro humor cambia tan rápido como el diagnóstico médico. En media hora pasamos de tener una intoxicación alimenticia a salmonela para luego ser un norovirus y de nuevo a salmonela. La gente enferma, declarada como contagiosa en un momento, dejan de serlo al poco tiempo. Es difícil manejar la incertidumbre, pero todos los estudiantes lo están haciendo impecablemente. Se les ve muy calmados, apoyando a quienes les toca turno para visitar el hospital.

    Venimos a aprender sobre el proceso de hacer ciencia y esotro es, tristemente, parte de la realidad de hacer ciencia en el campo, y más aún ciencia antártica. Merodean los reveses; lo importante es cómo nos reponemos de éstos, cuánto crecemos y aprendemos de ellos. Ví a científicos lidiar con la adversidad la última vez que estuve en la Antártida. Cuando llegamos a la estación de investigación McMurdo nos encontramos conque los contenedores para la expedición que claramente estaban marcados como "no congelar" estaban a la intemperie en el frío antártico. Por poco se cancela la expedición, pero el grupo se las amaño para que continuara. Perdimos un importante componente del proyecto, pero sacamos adelante lo que se pudo.

    También tuvimos sue reajuster el calendario científico debido a los días sue se iban perdiendo por mal tiempo ( ve el diario de esa expedición ). Jim y Alex tenían que reordenar las prioridades casi a diario para ver que se podía dejar de muestrear. Muchos saben de los muchos proyectos científicos que se perdieron el año pasado cuando el congreso de los EEUU no se pudo poner de acuerdo en como financiar al gobierno.

    Será muy triste perder esta oportunidad de llegar a la Antártida, pero es una experiencia de aprendizaje. Todo es posible si uno realmente quiere hacer las cosas. En caso de que se cancele el último vuelo a la Isla Rey Jorge, este equipo tendrá que plantearse qué tantas ganas tiene de ir a la Antártida, y comprometerse con esa meta.

    Mientras tanto Luke se siente mucho mejor, así que fuimos a dar un paseo por Punta Arenas, esperando que estas fotos con el equipo antártico no sean las únicas que nos llevemos de recuerdo.

    Claire y Luke explorando Punta Arenas
    Claire y Luke explorando Punta Arenas' coast

    Anna en Punta Arenas
    Anna disfrutando Punta Arenas.

    Luke en Punta Arenas
    Luke buscando vida silvestre para fotografiar en Punta Arenas

    Comments

    Guest

    Thanks for the update, Juan. I thought KGI was off the table, but you still sound hopeful. Will keep our fingers crossed.

    Juan Botella

    My apologies for misleading you with the timing of the posting of this journal entry. It has been hard to post the texts at the correct time with all that has been happening here. We already knew the trip to Antarctica had been cancelled when I posted this entry, but I thought it would make sense to post what I had thought when we were still hopeful. Thank you for your support!
    Juan.

    Juan Botella

    My apologies for misleading you with the timing of the posting of this journal entry. It has been hard to post the texts at the correct time with all that has been happening here. We already knew the trip to Antarctica had been cancelled when I posted this entry, but I thought it would make sense to post what I had thought when we were still hopeful. Thank you for your support!
    Juan.