18 January--Emperors Rule! The Ships Arrive!

For the last few days there have been a group of 3 Emperor penguins hanging out at Half Way House on the road out to Pegasus Field.  I'm told it's common for molting penguins to stay in one place during the molting season.  I was able to get within 5 or 6 meters of them without causing them any anxiety, but I think if I had had more time and could have gone down on my knees or--better yet--slithered along the snow, I could have gotten within 2 or 3 meters. 

There are stories going around about how to get close to penguins by arousing their natural curiosity, which they are are full of.  One reputed way is to waddle about on your knees.  Depending on your height, this might just put you at about eye level for an Emperor penguin.  A second way is to slither along on your belly the way Adelies and perhaps Emperors do.  Another way is to wave your arms like they flap their stubby little wings.  There is one story of a person who was able to get so close to an unidentified penguin that he reached his hand out to touch the penguin's wing.  The penguin swatted it away so forcefully that it broke his hand.  Don't mess with a penguin!

The two expected ships also came in a few days ago.  The Swedish icebreaker/research vessel Oden arrived first, forcing a way through the thicker than expected sea ice.  The Nathaniel B. Palmer, a NSF chartered ship, was not far behind  The Oden continues to keep the way open and the Palmer is docked at the floating ice pier.  Many of the scientists aboard both vessels flew out early this morning for Christchurch and are being replaced by others who flew in yesterday.  The Oden will be around until after the tanker and the freighter arrive in two weeks or so.  The Palmer will be leaving tomorrow at some time for a 2 week research trip, then return to McMurdo for refueling, and go immediately out for another two weeks.



The Oden rounding Hut Point and coming in to the floating ice pier.



The Oden further out in the Sound.



The Oden.



The most pleasant thing about getting the ships here was getting to see my good friend George Aukon.  He's been working on the ships for the last 3 years, but has worked for Raytheon now for 6 or 7 years as an electronics technician. George and I met down in Costa Rica in 1991 at a Project R.A.F.T. ("Russians and Americans for Teamwork") international whitewater competition.  We helped him and his family move to Flagstaff and they all became American citizens.  One of the years down here, the American icebreaker apparently broke a prop and couldn't continue.  A Russian icebreaker was hurriedly contracted to clear the way.  George was lateraled over to be the Russian and English speaking liaison aboard the ship.  On board were a number of people that he knew from his Arctic service in the Soviet navy. 

The Nathaniel B. Palmer docked at the ice pier, McMurdo station.

Here are a few more miscellaneous photos that I did not take, but wish I had:



A launch from the Long Duration Balloon facility on the way to Pegasus Field.  An aerial jelly fish?



16 January--Icebreaker in Sight; the Adelie Lives!

The last few days have been a blur, filled with rumors of the icebreaker coming, forecasts for a Herbie, and the reappearance of that Adelie penguin.

If you have followed this from the beginning, you may recall that a Herbie is a blizzard with hurricane force winds.  They blow in from the South and can be tracked as they come over White and Black Islands.  By the time they are upon those islands we have only a few hours until they hit here.   Some people say only 45 minutes.  They can bump the condition from the normal Condition 3 (travel unrestricted) to Condition 2 (travel must be coordinated with the Fire House) or even Condition 1.  Condition 1 means that if you are in a building, you are restricted from leaving it until the All Clear is given.  If you are in a vehicle, say out on the Ice Shelf, you must stop where you are and report in to the Fire House, waiting either for it to clear or for the Search and Rescue Squad to come to your aid.  So a Herbie is a big deal and a forecast for one is not taken lightly.  We carry our complete ECW bag (extreme cold weather) on every run out to Pegasus.

In this picture you can see 6 flags out ahead of you (there are also others from adjoining lanes).  When you can see only two, you must stop, even if a Condition 1 has not been declared.

We haven't had one since I've been here, so I was feeling a bit of both excitement and concern.  It was supposed to be hitting at around midnight, the middle of my shift, during a run out to Pegasus field.  The weather was very dramatic with wind, snow, fog, wonderful breaks in the clouds. The road became difficult with drifts that threatened to bog us down or rocked and rolled us.  But the timing of the Herbie kept getting pushed further and further back to 0200, to 0600, and finally to 0800 before it was cancelled entirely.  It had swerved and mostly missed us.

The icebreaker was one of the other big deals of the last few days.  There is an excitement about it that's hard to explain.  If you've read Jurassic Park, at the end the surviving velociraptors congregate on the beach looking for the ship (I don't remember if that is in the movie).  The road down to Hut Point has taken on that quality.  Lots of people have been walking down there to see if they can see the icebreaker, the penguin and the seals.  I've been part of that pilgrimage myself.

The floating ice pier for the icebreaker Oden, the Nathaniel B. Palmer research vessel, the tanker and the freighter.

Four days days ago there were rumors that you could see the Oden.  Nothing.  Three days ago someone had seen it briefly from Ob Hill before the clouds swirled in and hid it again.  Another person saw it from Arrival Heights at about the same time.  Then nothing as the storm blew through.  I walked down to Hut Point twice two days ago and again twice yesterday and was finally rewarded with a good view of it in the far distance.  By the early evening yesterday it was visibly closer, but you could see them going forward and then back, widening the channel and pulverizing the ice.  I'm up for the night and will check it in the morning before going to bed.  I think it'll be here by early morning, maybe by 0800.  It might even be docked at the floating Ice Pier.

The other excitement was seeing the solitary Adelie pinguino back at its accustomed spot on the new sea ice.  Yesterday I got within 40 feet of it, sitting there preening its new feathers, completely oblivious of my presence.  How do I know it was the same one?  Because it had the same sort of banding on its left wing as the other.  It seems unlikely to be a coincidence.

I never realized what beautiful eyes and plumage they have.

31 December--New Year's in Antarctica

Panorama of Mt. Erebus crater

Brilliant days...

...alternate with cloudy ones.

The cloudy ones are the hardest to drive in.  The light is "flat" making it difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to see the road features.  You drive blind and hit the bumps and holes. 

Ob Hill



There is a whole series of newer Cases with Red themed names.  Think of how many you can guess.



Known as Apples or Tomatoes, these emergency shelters are scattered around the base and on hiking trails and are stocked with sleeping gear, food, and a stove.





This is the floating ice pier.  When the Swedish icebreaker arrives here in 2 weeks, it'll dock here, as will the fuel tanker and the supply ship when they arrive about 2 weeks later.  It floats to adjust to the tides in the Sound.

This is a photo of the Swedish icebreaker in dock last year.

This is the broken route in from the open water to McMurdo Station.  While here, the icebreaker opens up a wide turning basin.

Readers may remember an earlier posting about the Russian cruise ship in the area and some of their passengers visiting town.  Wild rumors said that the passengers had paid huge sums to come down here.  A Google search showed that corner cabins with a view went for just over $55,000 and rooms without a view for $35,000.  This is actually even slightly more than what the rumor had said.

The big doing tonight, New year's Eve, is Ice Stock.  It's an outdoor concert featuring all of the many bands active down here.  Lots of talent, but the ones I listened to as of 2100 were still garage bands.  It's supposed to get better as the night wears on and it did.