Leaving McMurdo

Yesterday we left McMurdo Station and traveled a short distance to a new experimental station located near beautiful Cape Boyds. The cape is home to an Adelie penguin rookery and mesmerizing scenery. Our transit out of McMurdo towards this location was equally incredible. Soon after leaving the dock, a flockof Adelie penguins began swimming ahead of our boat as if to bow ride our large icebreaker. In the mix were 2 emperor penguins – a rare and very enjoyable sight for us on this trip. The emperors were noticeably larger than the Adelies and altogether more colorful. They were also incredibly fast. Many Weddell seals could also be seen resting on the fast ice. We also encountered several minke whales (one of which swam directly under our ship – what a sight!) and approximately 30 orcas as we made our way toward the open water of McMurdo Sound and the Ross Sea Polynya.

The backdrop for our fourth and latest experiment is stunning. There is a large mountain chain lining the coast which is shadowed here by Mount Erebus, a towering active volcano on Ross Island. Penguin sightings are common as we collect zooplankton samples from their watery world. A new scientific party joined us at McMurdo and so we will soon be leaving this area to accommodate their research needs and to conduct our own experiments in the polynya.

Minke Whale

Even more photos!!! (I have internet at McMurdo :) )

From top to bottom: Orca, Minke whale, Snow petrel, Cape Adare, Antarctica with Adelie penguin in foreground

Hello from McMurdo Base, Antarctica!

We are presently at 77° 50.730 South latitude, the farthest south anyone can travel in the worldby ship. We arrived here yesterday after breaking ice through the channel leading to McMurdo. Thechannel is a narrow stretch of open water and was created by an icebreaker that previously cut through the thick fast ice here for access to the station. McMurdo is home to the United States Antarctic program and currently houses 1100 people during the summer. It is also an active military base. The base is situated next to a historic hut inhabited by Scott and his men in the early 1900’s during an expedition here. The New Zealand (Kiwi) base is also nearby. McMurdo is a strange place for sure. The buildings are built to withstand the strong winds and winter storms and so are not specifically pleasing to the eye. There are many amenities of home here – a store, hospital, dining services, bars, fire department, and even bowling! There are several dorms and laboratories and offices. There is also a post office. Most of the people currently down here spend on average 3-4 weeks here during the Antarctic summer, but a few over-winter, or continue south for the South Pole station (brrrr!).

The whole trip into McMurdo was very exciting for me. One of the mates from the bridge called my stateroom at 6AM to let me know that we were entering the channel. The channel is notoriously occupied by killer whales, or orcas, which feed on the fish, seals and penguins which are plentiful in the open water created by the ice breakers. Almost immediately upon entering the channel, we saw blows from the orcas. Soon, the orcas were everywhere. The channel can be quite narrow and it was easy to get a good look at these beautiful creatures. The orcas typically maintain family units known as pods and indeed I saw males (with their larger dorsal fins), females, juveniles and even a baby! As the orcas drew near, Adelie penguins could be seen fleeing the water en masse from these dangerous predators. Weddell seals could also be seen on the fast ice. As we watched one group of orcas, we were surprised by a large minke whale, which surfaced from under the ice alongside our boat!It was incredible.

As we drew closer toward McMurdo, our ship spent some time breaking through the ice and re-establishing the channel. Orcas could still be spotted swimming through the large chunks of ice and spy-hopping (poking their heads out of the water) to look for the next available breathing hole in the ice. What a wonderful experience.



Once we got to McMurdo, we headed out to the store to stock up on souvenirs and chocolate! Then I had a chance to head over to the science building to look for my friends who I met on my last cruise in the Pacific and who are here now studying pteropods at McMurdo. It was great to see them again, and even cooler to have friends here at the bottom of the world. We exchanged crew and picked up a new scientific party for the second leg of the cruise, which will began soon as we make our way from the dock.

It’s a nice stopping point, as the cruise is half-way through, and we now have half our experiments under our belts. This is certainly a trip that I will not soon forget.

More photos from Antarctica!

Photos from Antarctica!

More from Terra Nova Bay

Yesterday we began our third experiment (our second in Terra Nova Bay) using copepods and juvenile krill. This meant another day outside running plankton nets. Before the day was through, my colleague and I spent 7 hours outside running the nets, but it felt more like 3. The sunlight here is so deceiving – it changes very little as the sun moves along the horizon and never actually sets. By the time mid rats is served (stands for midnight rations, part meal,part midnight snack), the sun is so bright that you feel like your day is just beginning rather than ending.

The zooplankton samples look great –lots of krill, pteropods, juvenile fish, and even a juvenile squid! – I am looking forward to sorting through them. Today we will be breaking down our second experiment and taking samples as we do so. In the meantime, our ship is traveling farther south towards McMurdo stopping a few times beforehand so we can collect water and a few zooplankton samples.

Turns out we will be arriving at McMurdo a couple of days sooner than originally planned, which is a nice change of events.

A couple of days ago, we had a big treat as our icebreaker stopped in some fast ice (the ice which forms against the continent) and lowered the gangway for us to disembark onto the ice! The ice was approximately 6 feet deep and a couple of experienced crew went out beforehand prodding the snow/ice for holes and setting up perimeters for us to maintain.

The scenery was spectacular and many Adelie penguins could be seen running along the ice. A leopard seal could also be seen resting not far from where our ship came to rest. Once we got onto the ice, a curious Adelie penguin made his/her (it’s hard to tell unless you’re a penguin!) way towards a few of us to check us out. Later, a few more followed. It was incredible.

We are now at 76° South latitude, and a day’s steam away from McMurdo Sound, truly at the bottom of the world.

Terra Nova Bay

We are still in beautiful Terra Nova Bay. The scenery is spectacular. There are large snow-covered mountains rising out of the sea and large sheets of ice that lay trapped against the land.

There is an Italian Base here that gives this place the appearance of a small Scandinavian town, only far grander. We sent over a zodiac with a group of scientists to meet with the Italians and to pick up a microscope which was sent to their base for us to intercept. The scientists (who were served espresso upon arriving) describe their base as "very nice" with wine bottles lined up in the dining area!

Those of us who stayed behind began work on our second full-length experiment to study the impact of grazing by select copepods and juvenile krill on the phytoplankton in the area. Because of this, I have been a bit of a lab rat the past few days. However, upon arriving at each station, I am in charge of the quantitative zooplankton tows (collection and preservation of microscopic animals in large plankton nets, which are later counted to determine abundances) so I get to spend a few hours outside enjoying the excellent scenery. I love it.

Today we have been collecting more water and organisms at several locations within the bay to determine which site is best suited for our next experiment, which will begin tomorrow morning. It looks like it will continue to be a busy week, as we steam south towards McMurdo station in the days ahead.

Experiments in the Antarctic

Today we continued to work on samples collected from an experiment we began 2 days ago. Since our previous sampling sites were covered in ice and did not contain enough phytoplankton to conduct our originally-planned experiments, our chief scientist developed an alternative experiment using the algae that develops on the underside of the ice, known as“ice algae”.

As seawater freezes, only the water fraction is converted into ice, while the salts and other elements leach out into the surrounding water as salty brine. In addition to salt, this brine contains nutrients which phytoplankton require to photosynthesize and grow. Sunlight penetrates through the ice and provides the energy for ice algae to convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and carbohydrates.

These algae in turn are an important food source for small microscopic grazers, such as krill. Krill also benefit from the shelter the ‘nooks and crannies’ within the ice provides. Antarctic krill species can live up to 7 years and depend upon the ice cover and ice algae to nourish and protect them, respectively, during this time. Infact, years of low ice coverage have been shown to coincide with years of low krill ‘recruitment’ (the resupply of the next generation). Even penguins and seals depend upon these ice floes for the animals (especially krill and small fish) which inhabit and feed within the small crevices within the ice. For our experiments, we collected‘dirty ice’ (ice containing an abundance of algae, which stains it brown or yellow) by zodiac and water samples using special machinery onboard the ship.

The water samples were run through a series of filters, to establish different size fractions to exclude certain types of zooplankton. Then we added copepods (crustaceous zooplankton) to several experimental containers to determine the impact these grazers have on the microbial community.

The experiments are being conducted in a walk-in freezer set at 0°Celcius for 72 hours. In the meantime, we continue to steam south towards Terra Nova Bay, a relatively ice-free region where we expect to find an abundance of phytoplankton, and where we will conduct our originally-planned experiments.

The waters of Terra Nova Bay are naturally nutrient-rich and support large, ‘juicy’ phytoplankton, which serve as prey for large zooplankton such as krill, which themselves are food for migrating whales, seals and penguins. As such, I had my first whale sighting today –a pod of Antarctic Minke whales! I am hopeful that there will be many more to come in the days ahead.

Officially "in" Antarctica

What an incredible sight – our first view of the Antarctic continent! We reached Cape Adare - a peninsula of Antarctica marking the entrance into the Ross Sea – early yesterday morning. The views were spectacular – snow-capped mountain ranges soaring into the sky and gigantic tabular icebergs lining the coast, each having been stranded by the shallow waters that immediately surround the continent.

Cape Adare has a large population of Adelie penguins, and this was immediately realized by the increased sighting of these birds, which are now frequently seen either resting on ice flows or porpoising (swimming) through the water. A few even appeared to ride the bow of our ice breaker, as dolphins frequently do. Amid the spectacular scenery, our scientific team began our first experiment. It was very special being outside collecting samples and running plankton tows amidst this beautiful backdrop. Having collected many samples in Great South Bay and Peconic Bay on Long Island, it felt unreal to be doing the same in such a far-off place at the bottom of the world. This is a tremendous opportunity, for which I am very grateful.

Entering the Ross Sea

We are now at 70°S in the Southern Ocean, approaching the Antarctic continent to our west and south and entering into the Ross Sea.

The approach has been appropriately celebrated with our first penguin sightings in the Antarctic – a group of Adelie penguins, which curiously watched us as we ran our plankton nets in the water and collected water samples. The Adeliesare frequently seen, as our icebreaker breaks its way through the heavy pack ice, and anytime we stop the ship to take the zodiac out or to gather samples – they are very curious animals, and quite funny, too. Unfortunately, our first water sampling attempts did not yield enough phytoplankton to run our extensive grazing experiments, where we introduce crustaceous zooplankton, such as copepods and krill, into size-fractioned water samples containing different species of phytoplankton. The water here is just too “blue” and not productive enough; largely the result of all the ice that is covering the seawater here. We will try again tonight, and again tomorrow morning, when we will be just several miles from the coast of Antarctica, albeit separately by an extensive ice sheet (so we won’t actually see any land).

It has become an enjoyable hobby of mine to go up to the bridge and keep a watch out for wildlife as our icebreaker moves through the pack ice. I frequently spot Adelie penguins and crabeater seals on the passing ice floes. There is now 24 hours of daylight, which is very interesting to say the least. Although the sightseeing is fun, we are all very anxious to begin our experiments.

Iceburgs and Other Things...

This morning a colleague of mine called me at 6:00AM to alert me that there were 2 iceburgs within “camera range”. I eagerly ran up the 4 flights of stairs to the bridge and saw my very first iceburg(s). These 2 ‘burgs’ were relatively small ones, and soon a large 2-mile wide tabular burg was on the horizon.

We are nearly at 65 degrees latitude, just 60 miles shyof the Antarctic Circle, but there is no doubt that we are in polar waters. The water temperature has dropped to 0.3°C, and the air temperature is -1.0°C with a wind chill of -17°C. It is now daylight for almost the entire day and the only difference between night and day is the intensity of sunlight. We should hit the pack ice within an hour or so at which time our research vessel will begin its task of ice-breaking, leading us into waters in which we can sample and conduct experiments and eventually into an ice-free region – known as a polynya – and to McMurdo Station, where we will disembark for a couple of days before continuing on with our research in the polynya.

Antarctica, here I come!

Almost There...

We’re getting closer! Our ship ispresently at 61°S latitude – the Antarctic circle begins at 66°S, and the ice pack is likely to begin at 65°S. At our present speed, we are likely to cross the Antarctic Circle tonight or tomorrow. The evidence for our advance is accumulating; we now experience daylight through midnight, and once we cross the Antarctic Circle we will experience 24 hours of daylight through February 17th, when the sun will briefly set for the first time. Don’t forget, its summer down here!
This also means that very soon we will begin our experiments, which we are all anxious about. There may also be some opportunities to get out onto the ice to sample some critters along the ice edge, which will provide an excellent vantage point of the location and our research vessel.

We are all very eager to hit the pack ice and begin work, and although we have been at sea now for nearly a week, the realization of being in Antarctica is finally hitting home.

It’s very exciting.

Sailing the Savage Seas...

The seas continue to be very rough and our ship has not traveled very far as a result. Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit the bridge (wheelhouse) and catch a glimpse of the seas which we were battling. The view was magnificent. The seas averaged 25 ft in height, with occasional waves reaching 60 ft! These large waves were truly enormous and the view was very humbling. I have heard from several crew members that this storm was the worst they have ever seen! We are now anticipating another storm tonight, which no one is very happy about. It is very difficult to sleep in these rough seas, and of course it makes eating (and keeping it down) difficult as well. Since we have not yet reached our experimental stations, there is a bit of down time, and I am really looking forward now for the science to begin!

Feeling a Little Green

Today is our second full day at sea.

Yesterday our ship encountered 25 ft. seas with occasional swells of 40 ft. This left most of us feeling a bit green, myself included. Today is calmer and I feel much better, but news is there is worse to come. The seas surrounding Antarctica are notoriously the world’s fiercest – this is because water here travels uninterrupted around the globe and strong winds originating from Antarctica’s deep, cold interior control much of the world’s weather patterns.

We are still several days from Antarctica but it is likely we will meet our first ice pack in a few days and that is where the real fun begins!

On My Way to Antarctica

What an incredible beginning to agreat adventure! I began my travels to Antarctica at JFK airport on Friday, January 4th. The trip down entailed first a flight to L.A. where I connected onto a 13-hour Qantas flight toAuckland, New Zealand, followed by a short flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. From Christchurch,we traveled to Lyttelton where upon we met ourship, the ice-breaker Nathaniel B. Palmer.

I immediately ran into some good fortune when my seat on the Qantas flight was inexplicably changed to business class, which is incredible good fortune for a long, overnight journey overseas (and not an experience a graduate student typically encounters)!

In Christchurch,we went to the U.S. Antarctic Programs clothingdistribution center where they dispensed to usall the necessary cold-weather gear. It was very exciting, especially since the center is located amongst a popular tourist attraction highlighting Antarctica (since Christchurch acts as the connection between McMurdo Station, Antarctica and the rest of the world).

Today we spent our remaining hours on landwalking along the steep hills of Lyttelton before departing on the Nathaniel B. Palmer. As to be expected of New Zealand, it was not long before I spotted some sheep! From the ship, I also spotted a few Hector’s dolphins, a very small species of dolphin limited to this area of New Zealand, and one that is highly endangered from years of bycatch in local gillnet fisheries. Shortly after leaving the dock, I spotted my very first penguin– the white-flippered penguin, a subspecies ofthe little blue penguin! The region is extremely beautiful and I am proud to be in this incredible region of the world.