I volunteered again this morning to run a tour out to the group of 14 molting Emperor penguins near Half Way House on the road to Pegasus. These follow a very long 12-hour shift but it's really gratifying to see how much the people enjoy them. Some people are desk-bound in McMurdo and seldom get out, leading to the question: why bother coming down here? Economic necessity? Wanted by the law? Perversity? It was very, very cold out there and some people retreated early to the heated van. It's not entirely unselfish on my part; I thoroughly enjoy being out there. it's one of the major reasons i came down here.
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| Advanced molting. It looked like you could have grabbed fistfuls of feathers. One website said it took an average of 34 days for an Emperor to molt. |
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| Penguins seem to really fascinate people. Kneeling, laying down or otherwise getting low seem to set them more at ease. |
There are some very talented people down here and it shows in their art: several outdoor metal sculptures; paintings and ceramics displayed in the library; crafts displayed and for sale. Penguins and other birds are a common theme, perhaps because there is so little life on or above the ice. (Below the sea ice and the ice shelf life, it's entirely different. The Ross Sea is wonderfully rich; the algae and bacteria support an unimaginable richness of krill that feed fish, seals, whales, and other life.)
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| This is titled "Skua Wants A Cracker." |
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| "Snow Petrel" |
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| Walking house of Baba Yaga, Russian witch of fairy tales. |
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| One year's worth of food waste for retrograde to Port Hueneme and composting. For scale, each of these Tri-Walls is about one meter on a side. Any food that leaves the kitchen to go to the serving line and is not eaten must be discarded. Leftovers can only be made from food that stayed in the kitchen |
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