27 October--Emperor Penguins!

The biggest event for me today was getting to see 4 Emperor penguins walking and sliding on their bellies across the ice runway.  The were about 200 yards away and past the "Stop--Entering Active Runway" sign.  I had heard that you could attract their attention and perhaps get them to approach by waving your arms like a bird flying, but they were very intent of going their way.  I could have gotten closer but would have had to radio the control tower for permission to enter the controlled space.  I would not have had a very justifiable reason for doing so--obviously.  They were heading south and away from the zone of open water.

Within an hour of this, Shuttle Jen and some others were back out at the Ice Runway and a group of Emperor penguins came right up to them.  They (the humans) got down on their knees and the penguins, being curious, came to within 2 feet of them!  Penguins have been known to enter aircraft and need to be shooed away.

Later today the first LC-130 that I've seen landed on the Ice Runway.  They are the snow version of the C-130, but they have retractable skis for take-off and landing.  They can land on either wheels or on skis.  If they land on skis, they can then retract the skis and taxi on the wheels.  This one and the others to follow are from an Air National Guard unit in upstate New York and they fly people and supplies to the Pole and to remote field camps.



You can see the retractable front ski in front of the person standing near the door and below the cockpit.  Pretty cool piece of technology.