14 November 2019 Huntin' and Fishin'....

Rock Hunting

Today, the weather reminded us all that we are still in Antarctica.

I was happy that we were staying on base today. I was invited to collect rock samples with Laura Elliot from Environmental. Antarctica was not wanting to give up these samples easily today though. The wind was blowing up to 20 knots as I made my way up the hill to meet with Laura. The air temperature hovered around 10 degrees fahrenheit, driving the wind chill to -18. The sky was throwing down tiny pellets of ice- more compact than snow, but not nearly as big as hail or sleet. Still, I was relatively warm - bundled up from head to toe...literally!

We climbed in the vehicle (just like my mule at home) and headed to the top of McMurdo Station. Laura and I were looking for clean rocks that were originally from the Dry Valleys and nearby. They had been used for scientific analysis and then piled up at the top of the hill after the experiments.

We scavenged the hillside looking for interesting rocks. The problem was that they were all cool. I could just picture my close friend, Donna, ohhing and ahhing over all these rocks. Blacks and reds- porous and solid. So much igneous rock in one place! I guess that's what happens when you are on a volcanic island!

We were also looking for a very special rock called, "Erebus Crystal." It is called an Anorthoclase Crystal. It is an alkali feldspar created under high temperatures in only a few volcanic places on Earth. Unfortunately, we didn't find any today. Much of it has been removed from around McMurdo Station before it was forbidden to be taken. Laura will try to get a sample to show me before I go home.

Then in the afternoon, I spent some time looking through the rock collection in the Library of our Crary Science Lab. They have specimens from all over Antarctica.

This is indeed a great place to see very amazing examples of the variety of rocks that our Earth creates. Just remember that it is illegal (and you will actually get very big fines and get in a lot of trouble!) to collect and take home any rocks from Antarctica! You must have special permits to do so.

Ice Fishing

Yesterday, I got to try ice fishing again. We took little tiny poles out to the Jetty to look for some adult Bernies.

We tried for an hour, but they just weren't biting. We got a few nibbles, but only Andrew landed one. We decided to throw him(the fish, not Andrew) back until he had some company. I guess that's why they call it fishing, not catching. At least it gives us a reason to go out again!

We did get to see snow on the way though!

Shout Out

Today's shout out goes to my McMurdo roomie, Bridgette Ward. She headed north yesterday after being a part of the hard working B-030 seal team. She is the PolarTREC teacher from New York that was working on the baby seal project. Thanks for being a great roomie(and amazing photographer) and have safe travels home! See all of her journals at PolarTREC.com "Growing up on Ice"

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is day 14 of our major fish experiment. We are ready to get started with conducting tests first thing in the morning . This is the equipment that Milica uses to conduct her studies of the mitochondria. Mitochondria are called the "powerhouse" of the cell because they are responsible for converting glucose ond oxygen into energy at the cellular level. These results are a big piece of the puzzle in figuring out the "how" of fish energy budgets. It takes a lot of skill, training and experience to be able to run the tests...and understand the results. Dr. Todgham is grateful to have Milica on the team this year to run this test.

Until tomorrow...

Stay Cool,