SIMBA Antarctic Sea Ice Journals
Location: Punta Arenas, Chile Two months ago as I was moving my things into my room on the Palmer I remember thinking I was the luckiest person in the world. Today, two months later and my last day on the Palmer, I am the most grateful. Twenty years ago when I started my teaching career I never dreamed it would take me to Antarctica. I never imagined that I’d be peeking over the shoulders of world class scientists doing ground-breaking work in polar science. I never envisioned seeing so many talented and hard-working people come together in spite of great adversity to achieve so many things. Teaching has truly taken me places!
This journal entry doesn’t contain any photographs of cute penguins or seals, no tales of adventure, descriptions of things we’ve broken, coffee conundrums, or...
Location: From the Drake Passage into the Strait of Magellan.Latitude: 53° 33′ SLongitude: 72° 28′ WAir temperature: 4.5 °C (40.1 °F)Wind chill: -7.7 °C (18.4 °F)Wind speed: 15 to 20 knotsBarometric pressure: 1004.6 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Many nations conduct research in Antarctica and have permanent research facilities there. Which of these facilities is the largest? What do milk, sugar, almonds, chocolate, coffee and excess liquid nitrogen have in common? Mixed together they make great ice cream! Apparently somewhat of a tradition on the Palmer, ice-cream making was undertaken recently by a group of conscientious employees thoughtfully putting excess liquid nitrogen to good use instead of wasting it.
Chemical waste is a concern in any lab, and...
Location: From Peter I Island to the Drake Passage. Latitude: 60° 20′ SLongitude: 82° 30′ WAir temperature: 1.7 °C (35.1 °F)Wind chill: -13.7 °C (7.3 °F) Wind speed: 25 to 30 knotsWater temperature: 3.7 °C (38.7 °F)Barometric pressure: 985.6 mBarAntarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): 90% of the world’s ice is found in Antarctica. What portion of Earth’s fresh water does this represent?
In a polynya (an area of open water surrounded by ice) near Peter I Island.
Our planned route home from Ice Station Belgica included a stop at Peter I Island, an ice-covered volcanic island in the Bellingshausen Sea. We reached Peter I Island late on the 25th and stopped for the night. At sunrise we began a circumnavigation around the island so that Brent could conduct a...
Location: In transit from Ice Station Belgica to Peter I Island. Latitude: 69° 08′ SLongitude: 91° 18′ WAir temperature: -10.8 °C (12.6 °F)Wind chill: - 29.7 °C (-21.5 °F)Wind speed: 18 to 22 knotsBarometric pressure: 981.5 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Leopard seals, named for the spots on their bellies, are a dominant predator in the Antarctic. Do they have any natural enemies? Wednesday morning we said farewell and adieu to Ice Station Belgica, our home for the past 28 days. Mixed emotions are the rule; we are happy to be headed home again, but sad that our great adventure is coming to an end. We encountered heavy ice throughout the day – the Palmer is rated to break 3 feet of ice at 3 knots, but the going was slow through the heavy ice ridges in...
Location: Ice Station Belgica
Latitude: 70° 03′ SLongitude: 93° 59′ WAir temperature: -9.4 °C (15.1 °F)Wind chill: -24.1 °C (-11.4 °F)Wind speed: 13 – 15 knotsBarometric pressure: 964.3 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Ice fish, a unique group of Antarctic fish, have an interesting physiological adaptation. What is it?
Our last two days at Ice Station Belgica were a whirlwind of activity as everyone wrapped up work and prepared for transit. The geophysics group finished final surveys of our three study areas while the Belgian-Canadian group finished their last round of data collection. We also ran overnight CTD and trace metal casts for our water-thirsty physical oceanographers. We sent a round of our decorated Styrofoam cups down with the CTD…here is what...
Location: Ice Station BelgicaLatitude: 70° 02′ SLongitude: 93° 43′ WAir temperature: -7.7 °C (18.4 °F)Wind speed: 5 to 10 knotsBarometric pressure: 967.2 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Fish that live in Antarctic waters need special adaptations to survive the harsh climate. What adaptation allows them to live in water that would otherwise freeze their blood and body tissues?
Our friendly neighborhood iceberg hasn’t hit the Palmer or smashed our floe to bits. There hasn’t been another fire or hurricane-strength blizzard. It’s something worse. Jeroen discovered late last week that we are now out of instant coffee!
First, let me tell you that coffee is a pretty important item around here. When you work outside all day coming in to a nice hot cup of coffee...
Latitude: 69° 30′ SLongitude: 92° 23′ WAir temperature: -13.7 °C (7.3 °F)Wind chill: -23.3 °C (-9.9 °F)Wind speed: 6 to 10 knotsBarometric pressure: 982.8 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Fast-ice isn’t fast, and grease ice isn’t greasy. Why are these ice types given such confusing names?
Steve, Brent, Chris, and I participated in a live International Polar Year event Tuesday. A “Webinar” was hosted by the PolarTREC folks in Fairbanks, Alaska. We used our satellite phone to join a conference call with schools and individuals from across the U.S. The audience was able to view pictures of our expedition online during the event. We fielded many great questions from the audience, and we all enjoyed the chance to share our adventure. We hope there were some...
Location: Ice Station Belgica
Latitude: 69° 44′ SLongitude: 92° 45′ WAir temperature: -2.2 °C (28 °F)Wind chill: -21.4 °C (-6.5 °F)Wind speed: 25 to 30 knotsBarometric pressure: 966.3 mBarRelative humidity: 94.2%
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Why do scientists go to Antarctica to study meteorites?
A weather system moved in yesterday afternoon from north. Unlike the northern hemisphere, air masses moving in from the north are warm and wet. We’ve had mostly southerly winds (winds are named from the direction they originate) this past week which has given us dry, but cold conditions. The “norther” we’re experiencing now has made temperatures more comfortable (-2 °C) but brought in strong winds (up to 30 knots) and more humid conditions.
Even a large ship like...
Location: Ice Station BelgicaLatitude: 69° 89′ S Longitude: 93° 10′ W
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): The Titanic, though billed to be “unsinkable” sank in under three hours after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 14, 1912. The iceberg wasn’t the only problem, however; do you know some of the other reasons so many people died on the ship’s maiden voyage?
The Palmer and our new neighbor, a mammoth iceberg!
Yesterday morning when I looked out my porthole I saw a pair of seals; today, a huge iceberg dominates my view! We continue to have numerous icebergs around us at Ice Station Belgica. The bridge monitors their location by radar - Steve checked the radar screen recently and noted more than 70 icebergs in a six nautical mile range. The large...
Location: Ice Station Belgica
Latitude: 69° 31′ SLongitude: 92° 23′ WAir temperature: -12.5 °C (9.5 °F)Wind chill: -28.7 °C (-19.7 °F)Wind speed: 11 to 13 knotsBarometric pressure: 978.1
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): The word igloo comes from the Inuit word “iglu” meaning house. What is it about an igloo that makes it a good shelter?
Steve thought it would be a good idea for our group to get a little safety and survival training Sunday morning, so Erik took us outside and taught us about the construction of snow shelters and igloos. It turns out that constructing an igloo is probably the most time consuming and least efficient way to build a structure to get out of the weather, but since we weren’t doing it for anything other than fun, we decided that an...
Location: Ice Station Belgica
Latitude: 69° 43′ SLongitude: 92° 00′ WAir temperature: -12.2 °C (10.4 °F)Wind speed: 10 to 15 knotsBarometric pressure: 987.0 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Shipboard speeds are commonly expressed in knots instead of meters per second or miles per hour. What is a knot, and what is the origin of this term?
We drifted to the northeast for a number of days, eventually getting close enough for Peter I Island to come into view. This is the island we were headed for the second time we left Punta Arenas, but on the way in we discovered that there was no ice in the area, so we kept heading southwest. Friday our drift took us back to the southwest, so we’re headed away from the island now. It was pretty exciting to see land after...
Location: Ice Station Belgica Latitude: 69° 49′ SLongitude: 92° 10′ WAir temperature: -7.2 °C (19 °F)Wind chill: -18.7 °C (-1.6 °F)Barometric pressure: 973.6 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): How many penguins live in Antarctica?
It seems our team has a bit of a problem with equipment - we keep breaking or losing it. It’s a good thing the marine techs can repair things as fast as we break them – thanks Ben, Erik, and Jeremy. Here’s the list so far:
BrokenA brand new ice thickness measuring tape (not a cheap measuring tape of course)Another ice thickness measuring tape (but it was repairable) A 100-m measuring tape (wind and measuring tapes don’t mix)The connecting pin to an auger (and we got the broken section stuck in the ice) The latch on a plastic...
Location: Ice Station Belgica
Erik, Chris, and Jeremy check to see if what lies ahead is safe for travel.
Yesterday I reported that our destination today was an area that had been dubbed the “zone of death” by those who scouted the location previously. Why would it be given such a terrible name? The thicker the snow and ice, the harder it is to survey and sample. We were told that the snow was deeper than any we’d seen yet, and that the area was full of ice blocks and very thick, very old ice. With a bit of worry we loaded the snowmobiles with our gear this morning and off we went into uncharted territories. Did this part of the ice floe live up to its reputation? Were there untold horrors awaiting us when we arrived? In a word, no! It turns out that the “zone of death” did not have the...
Location: Ice Station Belgica Latitude: 70° 01Longitude: 93° 09Air temperature: -17.8 °C (0°F) Wind chill: -44.3 °C (-48 °F)Barometric pressure: 976.7 mBarWind speed: 25 to 30 knots
You remember the fairy tale - the children leave a trail of breadcrumbs on their walk through the forest to find their way home. We didn’t use bread crumbs to find our way home yesterday, but we did use a trail of Kool-Aid! We were working at our remote site remeasuring snow depths along the transect lines we had established a few days earlier. We mark every five meters along the line with a spot of Kool-Aid. This probably sounds like a pretty non-scientific method of marking, but it’s almost always too windy to lay down a measuring tape and measure in a more traditional fashion. The Kool-Aid is...
Location: Ice Station Belgica Lots going on at Ice Station Belgica, here’s a quick summary of the major activities the past two days:
Friday 10/5Continuous CTD casts – the ship was repositioned in the afternoon to run continuous CTD casts throughout the afternoon, evening, and late night hours. Sharon and Katie stayed up all night monitoring the casts.
Belgian group – sample processing in the lab today. This group is doing work at 2 clean sites (called Brussels and Liege) on the ice floe. They work at Brussels one day, process samples in the lab the next, work at Liege the following day, and then process samples for the next two days. They hope to repeat this 5 day cycle 5 times while we are at the ice station. They are interested in how the ice changes over time during the spring...
Location: Ice Station Belgica
Latitude: 70° 09 SLongitude: 94° 21 WAir temperature: -7.3 °C (18.9 °F)Wind chill: -8.7 (16.3 °F)Wind speed: 5 to 10 knotsBarometric pressure: 987.8 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): If you walked in a circle around the South Pole you would cross through every time zone on Earth. So, since every time zone is possible in Antarctica, how do you tell time here?
Palmer In Ice
How did my port view suddenly become starboard? What happened to the open water that was outside my window last night? Where did our work site go? These questions were asked by a number of disoriented people when awakening this morning. The ship was turned around in the early morning hours to expose the starboard side of the ship to the open water to run a CTD...
Location: Ice Station Belgica We have officially established our home base for the next three weeks or so. Ice Station Belgica is the name given to the project location. The ice floe we’re working on is approximately circular and we think about 1.5 miles in diameter. Over the next few weeks we’ll be busy marking, measuring, coring, counting, digging, sampling, and surveying the ice, snow, slush, water and biology in the area. Our first full day on the ice was October 1. The Belgian-Canadian group established their first 2 work sites and clean areas. To avoid confusion about which site is which I learned that familiar names are often given to work sites on a project such as ours. The name Belgica is in honor of the Belgian ship that explored Antarctica in 1897-1899. The Belgica...
Location: Drifting in the pack ice in the Bellingshausen Sea.
Latitude: 70° 26¢ SLongitude: 93° 54¢ WAir temperature: - 11.4 °C (11.5 °F) Wind chill temperature: - 35.4 °C (- 32 °F)Wind speed: 25 to 30 knots (29 to 35 mph)Relative humidity: 75.4 %Barometric pressure: 955 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Which gets less precipitation, the interior of the Antarctic continent or the Sahara desert?
Sunday mornings at home for me usually begin with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. I’m still an advocate of the paper version of the news, especially on Sunday, though people tell me that print journalism is on its way out due to twenty-four hour cable news and the Internet. My only problem with getting news the old-fashioned way is that one of my cats is...
Location: Drifting in the pack ice in the Bellingshausen Sea.
Latitude: 70° 31¢Longitude: 93° 07¢Air temperature: -11.9 °C (10.6 °F)Relative humidity: 75.1%Barometric pressure: 946.7 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Are there polar bears in Antarctica?
Another day of waiting out the weather. We awoke yesterday to 60 knot winds and white out conditions. Today is better, but it’s still not safe enough for us to be out on the ice. So we wait, again. We’ve had a lot of practice at that on this cruise! The snow has mostly stopped, but some is still blowing around. We looked out the windows a lot and talked about the weather today…I imagine we’d all be glued to the Weather Channel if we had TV down here! The ice reminds me of the frosting on a cake, not the kind...
Location: Drifting in the pack ice in the Bellingshausen Sea.
Latitude: 70° 38′ SLongitude: 92° 13′ WAir temperature: -13.9 °C (7.0 °F)Wind chill: -42.9 °C (-45.2 °F)Water temperature: -1.7 °C (28.9 °F)Relative humidity: 74.8%Barometric pressure: 936.8 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Who was the Bellingshausen Sea named after, and what was his Antarctic claim to fame?
A team strategy-planning meeting and weather-watching were the main activities today. We arrived at our drift station location yesterday afternoon and were looking forward to starting our ice work today, but Mother Nature clearly had other plans for us. We awoke to cold temperatures, swirling snow, and intense winds. Sustained wind speeds throughout the day were recorded at 50 to 60 knots (58...
Location: In the pack ice, in the Bellingshausen Sea, in transit to our multi-week drift station.
Latitude: 70° 38¢ SLongitude: 90°42¢ WAir temperature: - 3.7°C (25°F)Water temperature: -1.8°C (29°F)Relative humidity: 74%Barometric pressure: 945 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): What is the largest seal on Earth?
Crunch! Crunch! Sloosh! Crunch! Sloosh! Such were the sounds of my boots when I stepped off the ship onto the ice for the first time. “Crunch” was their call when the snowfall on top of the ice had formed a firm crust, “sloosh” when it wasn’t so firm and my foot sank through the knee-deep snow layer to the ice. Though there were more than a dozen of us on the ice, I heard these sounds clearly in the still night. This was my first experience on the...
Location: In the ice, in the Bellingshausen Sea.
Latitude: 70° 24¢ SLongitude: 90° 28° WAir temperature: -3.5° C (25.7° F) Water temperature: -1.8° C (28.6° F)Relative humidity: 74.2%Barometric pressure: 961.9 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Are there any volcanoes in Antarctica?
When I first saw him (or was it a her?) out of the corner of my eye, I thought it was a seal sliding into our ice station. But this was no seal coming to pay the ice party a visit, it was a penguin! The species was easy to recognize, an Emperor without a doubt, and not a small one! He appeared from out of the water behind the boat and slid on his belly into the middle of the science party working on the ice. He extended his wings to the side, pulled himself up to a standing...
Location: In the ice, in the Bellingshausen Sea.
Latitude: 70° 16′ SLongitude: 90° 08′ WAir temperature: -2.3° C Water temperature: -1.8° C Relative humidity: 74.7%Barometric pressure: 940.3 mBarAntarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): How many species of penguin are there?
A good day was had by all! We reached the ice edge around midnight, and wildlife viewing in the morning and early afternoon was unbelievable. Yes, I’m happy to report that I saw my first penguin today! In fact, I saw over a hundred. They are quite social and tend to congregate in large groups. The first group we saw was off the bow on the starboard side of the ship. As they sensed our approach they hurried out of the way, or at least they hurried in the penguin sense of the word. They are powerful...
Location: In the Bellingshausen Sea, approaching Peter I island.
Latitude: 67° 36¢ SLongitude: 89° 56¢ WAir temperature: - 1.7° C (29° F)Water temperature: - 1.8° C (29° F)Relative humidity: 74.1%Barometric pressure: 932.7 mBar
Antarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Were there ever dinosaurs in Antarctica?
Soft snowfall all day today as we head for the ice. I promised myself I would see a penguin today, but alas, no luck yet. Really, it’s worse than that…I not only promised myself, I told everyone at breakfast that I was absolutely going to see a penguin today! I better get back to my penguin watching…hard to see them in the open ocean, but I’m giving it a shot.
Later that same day…lots of penguin watching, but no penguins. Even Brent hasn’t seen any penguins, so I...
Location: In the Bellingshausen Sea, approaching Peter I island.
Latitude: 67° 36′ SLongitude: 89° 56′ WAir temperature: - 1.7° C (29° F)Water temperature: - 1.8° C (29° F)Relative humidity: 74.1%Barometric pressure: 932.7 mBarAntarctic trivia (answer at the end of this journal entry): Were there ever dinosaurs in Antarctica?
Soft snowfall all day today as we head for the ice. I promised myself I would see a penguin today, but alas, no luck yet. Really, it’s worse than that…I not only promised myself, I told everyone at breakfast that I was absolutely going to see a penguin today! I better get back to my penguin watching…hard to see them in the open ocean, but I’m giving it a shot.
Later that same day…lots of penguin watching, but no penguins. Even Brent hasn’t seen any penguins,...
Location: Punta Arenas, Chile and into the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica.
Antarctic trivia (answer at end of this journal entry): Why are there no wild penguins in the northern hemisphere?
We departed Punta Arenas at 2:00 P.M. Saturday, September 20. We enjoyed a smooth ride through the Strait of Magellan which separates the Patagonian region of Chile and Argentina from Tierra del Fuego. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, found this passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in 1520 during his voyage to circumnavigate the globe. In the central square in Punta Arenas there is a large statue depicting Magellan and some of the native people he encountered. The statue was erected in 1920 to commemorate the four-hundredth anniversary of the...
Location - Punta Arenas, Chile
Latitude: 53° 10 S
Longitude: 70° 54 W
Temperature: 7.1 °C (44.8°F)
Barometric Pressure: 1005.3 mBar
Relative Humidity: 71.1%
Antarctic trivia question (answer at the end of this journal entry): What is the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth?
We've gotten the "green light" to return to Antarctica tomorrow (Thursday, September 20). Environmental health and safety reports were good, repairs have been made (and are still underway) and we're all excited to return to the ice. Our original departure date was September 1, so we've lost twenty days to the fire. Our chief scientist has trimmed the science schedule to fit the time we have left - the good news is that most of the major items planned will still be able to be completed.
We're changing...
Location: Punta Arenas, Chile
Antarctic trivia (answer at end of this journal entry): Icebergs are pieces of glaciers that have broken off and fallen into the ocean. Because they are composed of fresh water they float in the salty sea water. A commonly used expression “the tip of the iceberg” refers to the fact only a portion of an iceberg is visible above the surface of the water. Just how big is “the tip of an iceberg”?
We awoke to fog Sunday morning after several days of sunny and warm weather while in port at Punta Arenas. We’re spending a few days here having fire damage repaired. Looks like we’ll be headed back to Antarctica on Wednesday morning if all goes well. Our neighbor at the dock this time is a Chilean navy ship.
A Chilean navy ship blends in with the fog in Punta Arenas...
Location: Drake Passage, Straits of Magellan, Punta Arenas
Latitude: 53° 10 S
Longitude: 70° 53 W
Air temperature: 7.1 °C (44.8 °F)
Barometric pressure: 1020.8 mBar
Relative humidity: 72%
Breaking news…if we get clearance to continue the cruise we will depart no earlier than next Tuesday or Wednesday. It is Friday morning now, so many days of unproductive activity lay ahead. Morale is declining rapidly…at least the weather is cooperating - a warm and sunny day late winter day in Punta Arenas, Chile.
Antarctic trivia (answer at end of this journal entry): Antarctica is a large continent (as big as the U.S. and Mexico combined) covered with ice. How thick is the ice?
We made it back to Punta Arenas at 1:00 PM Wednesday. We’re returning to PA to have the fire-damaged areas of...
Location: In the Drake Passage between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America.
Antarctic trivia (answer at end of this journal entry): Crabeater seals are the most numerous large mammals in the world, but they don’t eat crabs! What do they eat?
Disappointment turned to action today – we know that we may not get another chance to “do science” on the ice this cruise, so we took advantage of our transit time in the ice to collect some data.
Four people were sent in “the basket” over the side of the ship onto a small ice floe to collect ice cores for analysis.
The ice party ascends in the basket over the side of the ship to the ice.
Ice cores are taken for analysis on the ship.
The EMI (electro-magnetic induction) device housed in the kayak was calibrated and put into service today. The...
Location: Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula.Latitude: 64° 49.3171′ SLongitude: 64° 03.3766′ W
Antarctic trivia (answer at end of this journal entry): Who owns Antarctica?
The residents of Palmer Station warmly welcomed our invasion! Most of the science party and support team spent a pleasant afternoon and evening at Palmer Station while we awaited further information from our project managers in Denver and the NSF (National Science Foundation – the funding agency for this research project) in Washington D.C. We got a chance to check email and even surf the Internet a bit – just like home.
Seven days without email makes one weak! Frederic and Isabelle catch up on email at Palmer Station.
Palmer Station is a U.S. research facility that hosts numerous projects throughout the year,...
Location: Palmer Station on the Antarctic PeninsulaLatitude: 64° 49.3171′ SLongitude: 64° 03.3766′ W
Palmer Station
Today dawned bright and sunny – a rarity for this part of the world. We had a meeting first thing to determine the status of our scientific equipment, communication needs, and computer network. We’re sending a small party over to the station again this morning to send out emails and gather a few more needed supplies. It looks like our computer network sustained some pretty serious damage from the fire. Our IT folks have been working around the clock to piece together equipment for all the scientific data collection. It looks like we’ll be able to collect all our data and the science won’t be too greatly affected. They may never be able to patch together the email system, so...
Location: In the South Pacific Ocean, near Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula.Latitude: 64° 49.3171′ SLongitude: 64° 03.3766′ W
We awoke today to a sea full of pancakes! Pancake ice, that is. Actually, our first sea ice was encountered last night around 11:00 PM. We’ll have ice observers working around the clock now characterizing the nature of the ice we see. My shift was from 6:00 AM to noon today. We do our observations from the bridge – it was a spectacular sight early in the morning to see the ocean covered with ice. As the sun came up the colors began to change as quickly as the ice. The sky has been mostly overcast, but as we approached Palmer Station islands in the distance became illuminated by sunshine – an almost eerie sight.
It’s obvious why this is called pancake ice...
Location: In the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica
During the early morning hours of September 4 we were awakened by the sound of the fire alarm and ship’s whistle. After grabbing our safety gear we headed to our muster station. (A muster station is a pre-determined location for a group to meet in case of emergency.) Seeing smoke in the hallways and smelling burning plastic, we knew that this was not a drill. Because we had gone through safety training the previous day everyone knew what to do and no one panicked. We knew to grab our immersion suits and life preservers and head for the conference room on the third deck.
As we waited in the conference room we overheard radio communications between crew members. It was soon clear to us that the fire was in one of the lab...
Location: Straits of MagellanLatitude: 55° 15.818′Longitude: 76° 41.2399′ Temperature: 5.6 °C (42.08 °F) Wind chill: -0.7 °C (33.3 °F)Barometer: 985.6 mBarRelative Humidity: 68.9%
Antarctic trivia question (answer at end of this journal entry):Who was the first person to reach the South Pole?
A full day at sea…we worked our way westward through the Straits of Magellan and out into the open ocean. The most important activity of the day was our ship safety meeting where we were briefed on shipboard safety and what to do in case of emergency.
Looks like Victor needs to attend safety training class again!
Everyone on board has a life vest and an immersion suit in their cabin. We all tried on our immersion suits during safety training to make sure we knew how to use them. The immersion suits...
Location: Punta Arenas, Chile and the Straits of Magellan
Latitude: 53° 10.449′Longitude: 70° 53.460′Temperature: 12.2 °C (54 °F)Wind chill: 6.2 °C (43 °F)Barometer: 989.6 mBarRelative Humidity: 67.2%
We pulled away from the dock this morning, but didn’t go very far! We’re anchored approximately 300 yards from shore waiting for some last-minute supplies. A vial of biological stain was damaged in transit, so we’re waiting for a new supply to be flown in from the U.S. today.
Pulling away from the dock at Punta Arenas.
The large ship in the picture is a commercial fishing operation. They catch the fish and then process the fish on board. We watched them unload thousands of boxes of fish and fish meal while we were in port.
Sharon mixing chemicals under a hood.
Meanwhile, the scientists are...
August 31, 2007
Punta Arenas, Chile
Latitude: 53° 10.217 SLongitude: 70° 54.392 WTemperature 8.8° C (47.8° F)Windchill: -1.1 ° CRelative Humidity: 67.7%Barometer: 998.1 mBar
Its a warm (relatively) and sunny day in Punta Arenas. I arrived in Punta Arenas two days ago, and I've spent my time finding my way around the ship, meeting everyone, and learning more about the science activities that will take place during the cruise.
RV Nathaniel B. Palmer - home for two months
Punta Arenas is a busy town, even in winter. We've enjoyed walking around town and meeting the local people. Those of us who don't speak much Spanish have had fun trying to speak the language!
Punta Arenas from the Palmer
We've found a mix of architecture in the city - newly built bright colored buildings and...
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
This quote inspires me to see beyond hardships and adversity and allows me to look ahead to the promise of the future. It helped me train for a marathon and got me through a long hike in the Utah desert this summer. It seems especially suited to my current adventure – a two-month research expedition to Antarctica.
As I write this I have taken that “single step” on my great adventure. I am waiting in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport to board my overnight flight to Santiago, Chile. I lucked out on my flight from San Antonio – a seat in the exit row! Hopefully the other legs of my journey will be as comfortable. Our school term started Monday, so over the past two days I was able to meet my 170 students, tell them about the project,...
I received my airline reservations this week - panic set in shortly thereafter when I realized how much I had to do before leaving.
First the house - hard to think of all the things you need to do when you'll be gone this long (more than two months). I think my cats are getting suspicious that changes are on the way for them! An abundance of early summer rain (unusual for south-central Texas) has turned my yard into a jungle, so I've spent many a morning mowing and weed-whacking. Hope we don't get too much rain this fall or it'll be jungle time again when I return.
It's hard to pack when there's a cat in your suitcase!
School - teacher inservice begins Friday and school starts August 27. I'll only have one class with each of my students before I leave. I hope my students will be as...