For the past two weeks we’ve been sailing from the shores of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, to Punta Arenas, South America. We still have several days to go and much of what we’ve crossed (and still look forward to) are rocky [...]]]>

The last two penguins tagged. Photo by Rob Dunbar.

By Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Kooyman

For the past two weeks we’ve been sailing from the shores of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, to Punta Arenas, South America. We still have several days to go and much of what we’ve crossed (and still look forward to) are rocky seas that seem empty of wildlife.

This is not surprising in regards to sea birds. In this most remote sector of the world’s oceans, there are no islands, so only the best of the flying birds may venture out here. This is probably true of penguins as well. With no islands suitable for penguins to breed on between New Zealand and South America, there is little reason for any to be here as far as we know.

There is an exception. We know that emperor penguin juveniles after fledging and departing from their natal colonies in the Ross Sea spend the subsequent three to five months swimming into this area. However, they are so few, perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 each summer and autumn, that they are not likely to be seen in the vastness of this Southern Ocean.

Not that we’ve not been looking for them. Like Captain Ahab I’ve posted a great reward to anyone that sights the first emperor penguin. There have been no takers and the further north we go the less likely one will be spotted. Our present position is 57^o S; 91^oW, which is 723 miles west of the Straits of Magellan. At a roaring surface speed of 11 mph, we will be there in about three days.

During this sojourn from the Antarctic, we’ve gained a much greater appreciation of the vastness of the Pacific Ocean—especially when it took us only 15 hours to span the globe from California to New Zealand when we flew to Antarctica to begin this voyage.

I’ve had much time to reflect upon what an adventure this is. During this trip, we’ve observed emperor penguins at a time when no one else has ever seen them: between molting and returning to the colony. All other scientific observations involve penguins at or near their colonies. Even in the famous movie “March of the Penguins,” filming began during the winter breeding at the colony and ended when they departed.

Our work began soon after that. I think we’ve done a pretty good job with the survey: our observations at Cape Colbeck, the tracking of 21 penguins, and our notes. We’ve watched new ice forming across the Ross Sea in March and noted what the western Ross Sea penguins face in their migration back to those colonies. We’ve tracked some of those birds, and even more birds from the Cape Colbeck colony area.

The data continue to accumulate and we hope all is well with the penguins as winter progresses. We will not be here then, but our transmitters will be, and hopefully they will continue to function and tell us more about the mysteries of the emperor penguin. We will always think of them in a new light now that we have witnessed much of their autumn habitat and how it is likely to develop during the Antarctic winter.

All of us on the cruise, and especially the four of us working with the emperor penguins, are very fortunate, indeed.

Sometimes work can be intense in the ice tower. The watch starts lazily with a sighting once every 10 minutes or so, but then, all of a sudden, the elements align and we have barely enough time to record everything we see.

Last week there were a few hours like that [...]]]>

A pair of orca whales spyhop in Antarctica, on the lookout for seals. Photo by Geoffrey Gearheart.

By Geoffrey Gearheart

Sometimes work can be intense in the ice tower. The watch starts lazily with a sighting once every 10 minutes or so, but then, all of a sudden, the elements align and we have barely enough time to record everything we see.

Last week there were a few hours like that during my shift. The sun was setting (an Antarctic sunset can easily last a full hour) and the ship was steaming through pack ice with few leads. There were lots of small, molting Adelie penguins that kept running away from the RV Palmer with their funny gait. I also saw an emperor penguin on a nice, strong floe, but it was inaccessible because the ice around it was both too thin to walk on and too thick for a zodiac to pass through.

Far ahead, a tall dorsal fin pierced through the water. It didn’t show again, so I recorded it as an “unidentified cetacean.” Fifteen minutes later we saw a pod of about 30 orcas in front of the ship. They were “B”-type orcas, seal eaters. Slapping the water with their tails (maybe to threaten any non-killer whale in the area) and  “spyhopping” (sticking their heads vertically out of the water) to check each floe for seals, the orcas gave a terrifying demonstration of playful power. If any seal had been around, it wouldn’t have lived through the night. The Palmer’s first mate slowed down the ship, and for an hour the ship became a tour vessel, with everyone standing on the bow taking pictures and hooting at each appearance of the orcas.

Crew members of the RV Palmer watch dozens of orcas near the ship. Photo by Geoffrey Gearheart.

In Antarctica, killer whales belong to three different “ecotypes.” Not only do these differ morphologically (the B- and C-types have yellowish dorsal “capes” while the A-types don’t, and the former two are considerably smaller than A-types with larger, white eye patches), but they also have different ecological niches. A-types are found in open waters, mainly near the Antarctic Peninsula and feed primarily on other cetaceans such as minke whales. B-types are seal eaters and occur in the pack ice. They’re also known for occasionally feeding on penguins. The smallest of the lot, the C-types, occur closest to the fast-ice and are frequently seen off McMurdo Station. They are fish eaters and their populations might be in decline due to ongoing fishing of Antarctic toothfish (Chilean seabass). These differences between ecotypes are such that some scientists suspect they may be different species altogether.

A family of orcas swims in Antarctica. Photo by Geoffrey Gearheart.

In 2009, I attended a presentation by Dr. Bob Pitman, a top killer whale expert from NOAA. He showed us footage of a pod of B-types swimming in a row at great speed. They were headed toward a seal hauled out on a floe. Just before reaching the ice they all ducked underneath it, letting the large wake they created wash over the floe, carrying along the unlucky seal. Another orca was conveniently placed on the opposite side to intercept the animal.

Stay tuned for more adventures from the RV Palmer!

Weekly Report: March 11-17

The past week has been one of landmarks. We passed the halfway point of the cruise (28 days), and left the western Ross Sea for the eastern Ross Sea.

On Tuesday, March 12, we sighted the first large group of emperor penguins. As we sailed [...]]]>

Scripps Oceanography scientist Jerry Kooyman captures an emperor penguin before tagging it with a satellite tag. Photo by Andrew Margolin.

By Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Kooyman

Weekly Report: March 11-17

The past week has been one of landmarks. We passed the halfway point of the cruise (28 days), and left the western Ross Sea for the eastern Ross Sea.

On Tuesday, March 12, we sighted the first large group of emperor penguins. As we sailed further east emperor penguins became notably more numerous. It is likely that we were passing through the first wave of penguins that live in colonies of the western Ross Sea and were migrating back from areas where they molt in the eastern Ross Sea.

We celebrated March 14 twice after crossing the International Date Line. On the first 14^th, we arrived at Cape Colbeck. After seeing a few groups of emperor penguins at the ice edge and in the water, we decided to dock the RV Palmer at the fast-ice edge a few miles into Bartlett Inlet. A large colony of emperor penguins breeds here during the Antarctic winter months and we hope the birds present now are a contingent of that group. Presumably those here now have arrived early and continue to feed avidly in preparation for the long winter fast that will begin in April.

Soon after dinner we debarked from the ship and, with snowmobiles, drove to a group of birds at the fast-ice edge about a half-mile from the RV Palmer. We approached some birds that seemed to be settling in for the night. Over a span of a few hours we attached satellite tags to six birds that will transmit location and behavioral data over the next few months.

Researchers Kim Goetz and Gitte McDonald start to herd the penguins. Photo by Rob Dunbar.

On the second 14th day of March, we captured and attached satellite tags to birds in the morning and afternoon. In total we attached 10 more tags for the day and considered it a super successful campaign. This is especially so because emperor penguins have never been studied during the time of year between the molt (February) and the start of breeding in April. Scientists are missing information about this important segment in their annual cycle (learn more: About the Science).

One of the emperor penguins two days after tagging. Photo by Rob Dunbar.

The following day—while everyone on the ship enjoyed a penguin parade as emperor penguins came and went from the ice edge next to the ship—eight of our research team took snowmobiles to the deserted colony. Although completely abandoned for the year, and totally buried under a meter of snow, some coring into the snow confirmed by sight and smell that we were on the colony.

The location closely matched coordinates from previous aerial surveys. Unfortunately due to the snow cover, it was not possible to make any assessment of the previous year’s breeding success based on the number of lost eggs and dead chicks. We returned to the ship and that evening left Cape Colbeck to resume our search for emperor penguins in the pack ice west of the Cape.

The research team returns to the RV Palmer after a successful tagging outing. Photo by Rob Dunbar.

On March 16, while turning back from our western course because of heavy pack ice, we deployed two tags on penguins resting on a large floe with two other birds. All around us most of the floes were occupied with resting birds, presumably settling down for the night, but we decided to continue further into the pack ice to deploy the last satellite tags. In the afternoon of March 17 we came across two emperor penguins in some thin ice and deployed the last satellite tags.

Researchers Geoff Gearheart (left) and Jerry Kooyman with a penguin with the RV Palmer in the background. Photo by Andrew Margolin.

The past week has been most enjoyable for the penguin group, with the icebreaker available to us for several days. In the course of that period, we have deployed a total of 20 tags in addition to the one attached to an emperor penguin in the western Ross Sea. All the satellite tags are transmitting location and diving behavior data, which we will analyze at our home institutions in order to improve our understanding of the foraging behavior of emperor penguins during this important time of year.

The last two tagged penguins continue on their way. Photo by Rob Dunbar.

After our first successful capture and tagging last week, we’ve spent the last several days looking round-the-clock for more emperor penguins. While we’ve found several more, the penguins have either been on ice too thin for us to work, or have gone into the water before we [...]]]>

Larval fish collected for research aboard the RV Palmer. Photo by Kim Goetz.

March 7, 2013
By Kim Goetz

After our first successful capture and tagging last week, we’ve spent the last several days looking round-the-clock for more emperor penguins. While we’ve found several more, the penguins have either been on ice too thin for us to work, or have gone into the water before we could launch a zodiac to the ice floe.

When our team is not on the lookout, we each find our own activities to pass the time. For some of us, this means catching up on emails, working on our dissertations, or writing manuscripts for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. If these tasks seem too daunting, there are plenty of other activities to keep us busy.

Most recently, the ship crew has asked for volunteers to help keep the incubators running. These incubators are used to house several organisms in their natural seawater environment for further experimentation. As such, they are kept in seawater on the outside deck, exposed to ambient conditions. Because it has been so cold (-48 degrees C / -54 degrees F, wind chill, and 40-knot winds), the seawater being pumped into these tubs is freezing and clogging up the system. Volunteers have been working to keep the tubs ice-free at all hours.

I’ve been spending much of my free time helping other scientific teams filter seawater for zooplankton and sample organisms from net tows. During the net tows, the team usually deploys a 700 micrometer net followed by a smaller 300 micrometer net. The two different sized meshes are designed to capture different organisms. Generally, the larger net captures organisms such as krill and larval fish, while the smaller one captures smaller organisms like algae.

This large 700 micrometer net collects organisms such as krill and larval fish. Photo by Cassandra Brooks.

This 300 micrometer net collects smaller animals, such as algae. Photo by Gitte McDonald.

The team in charge of the nets has been very generous in allowing me to collect samples of several krill species, shrimp (also known as mysids), large copepods, amphipods, and juvenile and adult fish for my own research. Seeing these organisms for the first time after the net is brought to the surface has been a highlight for many of us on the ship. The organisms are very interesting and widely diverse—you never know what you’re going to get!

Amphipods collected aboard the RV Palmer for research. Photo by Kim Goetz.

Crystal krill collected aboard the RV Palmer for research. Photo by Kim Goetz.

Mysids (shrimp) collected aboard the RV Palmer for research. Photo by Kim Goetz.

In addition to the penguin work, I am finishing my dissertation on Weddell seal movement and foraging behavior. The samples I’m collecting from the net tows will provide the missing links needed for my analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes, chemical information that should provide a better understanding of the seal’s specific diet and role in the food web.

I will be able to compare the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from seal whiskers to those found in the fish and invertebrate samples to gain a better understanding of not only where Weddell seals are foraging but also which prey species are most important to their diet across the seasons, even when darkness and heavy ice prevails.

Weddel seal. Photo by Patrick Robinson.

March 3, 2013

We’ve just completed another successful week of the cruise, filled with continuing surveys of marine birds and mammals. But the highlight was deploying our first satellite tag on an emperor penguin!

The day (Feb. 25) started with a 5 a.m. wake up call from Jerry Kooyman, who [...]]]>

The research team begins to board their zodiac (far right) after successfully tagging its first penguin. Photo by Jerry Kooyman.

By Gitte McDonald

March 3, 2013

We’ve just completed another successful week of the cruise, filled with continuing surveys of marine birds and mammals. But the highlight was deploying our first satellite tag on an emperor penguin!

The day (Feb. 25) started with a 5 a.m. wake up call from Jerry Kooyman, who had spotted some emperor penguins during his watch. Three penguins were scattered within two kilometers of the ship on some large flat ice floes. There was lots of thin ice between the floes, but it looked soft and we were pretty sure we could navigate the zodiac to one with a penguin, about 300 meters from the ship. After donning our cold weather gear and grabbing our backpacks with field equipment (supplies we’d need to weigh the penguin and attach the data logger), we climbed into the zodiac and were on our way.

Once in the zodiac, we headed toward the penguin, but it was slow going through the ice. Although the bird seemed close, it took us almost an hour to navigate the 300 meters to the floe. Periodically we had to stop and push ice away from under the zodiac or change our direction, looking for more open water. When we reached the floe, we jumped out of the zodiac and started our slow appoarch toward the penguin. Unfortunately, it dove into the water before we were able to capture it. Disappointed, we returned to the zodiac to come up with another plan.

It took the research team nearly an hour to reach the first penguin, despite being only 300 meters from the ship. Photo by Andrew Margolin

When we radioed back to the ship for an update, we were happy to hear that another penguin was on a floe about 1.5 km away. The ice conditions would have caused us a very long trip in the zodiac, so the RV Palmer lead the way, breaking the ice for us to within 100 meters of the floe. We left the path made by the ship and started working our way toward the second penguin.

When we arrived at the floe, we hopped out of the zodiac and slowly approached the penguin, this time resulting in a successful capture! We quickly weighed the bird (21 kg) and attached the satelitte tag  to the feathers on its back. The tag is attached with a special glue that lasts in seawater for weeks or months. Thirty minutes later, we released the penguin with a satellite tag that will provide us its location over the next 10-11 months.

A special tag attached with seawater-resistant glue will provide data about this emperor penguin’s movements for almost a year. Photo by Jerry Kooyman.

This will be one of scientists’ first tracks of an emperor penguin during its post-molt foraging period. Successful foraging during this time of the year is likely critical to the reproductive success of emperor penguins because the birds need to gain a significant amount of weight (specifically fat) to survive the long fasts during the breeding season (females fast for approximately 60 days, while males may go without feeding for close to 110 days).

During the last week, the bird (which is now known as EP1) has traveled 150 km southwest from where it was tagged. Recently it’s been spending time near the Nordenskjöld Ice Tongue (-76.250, 163.000; ~230 kilometers north of McMurdo Station). We are excited to see where the penguin travels over the next few weeks before Antarctica’s autumn breeding season.

The celebratory capture team returns to the ship. Photo by Andrew Margolin.

We’ve continued our search for emperor penguins, but have only seen a few. This is not unexpected , as we are spending most of our time in open water focusing on concurrent oceanographic studies aboard the RV Palmer. Yesterday, another emperor penguin was spotted in the early morning, but unfortunately it decided to go for a swim while we were preparing to launch a capture team.

Fingers crossed that we have the opportunity to instrument a few more birds before heading to the eastern Ross Sea where we plan to deploy the bulk of our data loggers.

The sun set for the first time this year on Feb. 16. This is one of many beautiful sunsets since then. Photo by Gitte McDonald

Feb. 24, 2013
Drygalski Ice Tongue, West-Ross Sea

The RV Palmer is a 300-foot haven of peace floating in a sea of climatic mayhem. We can see white plumes of snow flow off the mountains like waterfalls—the katabatic winds thundering down the glaciers.

While the ship [...]]]>

Scientists prepare to deploy a plankton collection net aboard the RV Palmer.

By Geoffrey Gearheart

Feb. 24, 2013
Drygalski Ice Tongue, West-Ross Sea

The RV Palmer is a 300-foot haven of peace floating in a sea of climatic mayhem. We can see white plumes of snow flow off the mountains like waterfalls—the katabatic winds thundering down the glaciers.

While the ship remains stationary, owing to its “dynamic positioning system,” the sea is a conveyor belt driven by the winds. Long streaks of new ice slush and large floes pass by the Palmer, which every now and then has to dodge one of these behemoths. Meanwhile, inside the ship we are taking hot showers and wondering what gourmet dessert will be served at lunch.

But don’t get me wrong; there is a lot of work going on, too! On the aft deck, powerful cranes and winches lower instruments that our fellow scientists use to sample water at depth, film the seafloor, collect organic carbon, and catch plankton. Their main instrument is the conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) profiler, which measures key characteristics of the water column, enabling scientists to identify our planet’s water masses. It has large “Niskin bottles,” which can be closed remotely to collect water at different depths. Once the CTD surfaces, a group of very competent students from different U.S. universities drain the bottles and work together to analyze the water samples.

A conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) profiler and winch.

A CTD profiler being deployed off the RV Palmer.

In the “wet lab,” they look at biological aspects such as phyto- and zooplankton (which are caught separately in special nets), and also at microbial activity. To measure the latter, Roberta Hansman from University of Vienna (who studied at Scripps Institution of Oceanography!) incorporates radioactive substrates into the water samples and examines how fast these compounds are integrated into organic matter created by bacteria. This gives a measure of how fast bacteria degrade detritus (dead organic matter) in the water column or on the sea floor. Learn why this information is critical on her team’s cruise blog, TRACERS.

A scientist works in the “wet lab” aboard the RV Palmer.

Moving along, we arrive at the “dry labs” that house the computers. Along with the bridge, this is a neural center of the ship. The principal investigators (PIs) gather here to study the latest weather charts, satellite images of chlorophyll a (indicating phytoplankton blooms), and sea ice distribution to plan the next scientific move.

The decisions are communicated to the Captain and his mates on the bridge. Will we stay one more day and hope the wind dies out so we can deploy our instruments? Where shall we go next? Shall we take the short route through the ice or the longer one through open water? We are hoping for the former, as there way more animals to see on the ice!

The “dry lab,” one of the neural centers of the RV Palmer, contains the ship’s computers.

For the last few days, we’ve been chasing a phytoplankton bloom visible on satellite images. The close coordination between the PIs and the Captain have enabled the scientists to sample different parts of the bloom as it matured. One of the key aspects they are trying to address is how carbon (from carbohydrates contained in the phyto- and zooplankton) is “exported” to lower levels of the ocean. This is important because it tells us the capacity of the ocean to absorb and sequester carbon dioxide.

At 11:30 sharp, it’s lunchtime. The galley, or dining room, is in the front of the ship, under the bow. It is spacious and equipped with a modern restaurant kitchen. Complete with our French-Canadian chef, Dany, the Palmer’s galley must be one of the best in the business. Dany prepares gourmet meals that he describes course by course to the diners. The desserts are so sweet and irresistible they have some of us counting how many hours on the treadmill are required to wear off the calories.

Lunch on the RV Palmer.

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been at sea for more than a week— the time has flown by. We are now in full swing with our 24-hour-a-day survey of the local fauna, which means that each team member is responsible for two 3-hour shifts each day.

As [...]]]>

Terra Nova Bay. Photo by Gitte McDonald.

By Gitte McDonald

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been at sea for more than a week— the time has flown by. We are now in full swing with our 24-hour-a-day survey of the local fauna, which means that each team member is responsible for two 3-hour shifts each day.

As we sail between oceanographic stations in the Ross Sea (for more information about the different research projects aboard the RV Palmer, see the TRACERS blog), at least one of our team is up in the ice-observing tower, two stories above the ship’s bridge. The ice tower is a small 8’ x 10’ cozy room surrounded by windows that provide excellent views of the beautiful surroundings. While “on duty” we record the location (GPS coordinates) and behavior of all marine birds and mammals we see.

Ice-Observing Tower aboard the RV Palmer. Photo by Gitte McDonald.

In the first few days we’ve seen Adélie penguins, emperor penguins, snow petrels, skuas, Weddell seals, crabeater seals, minke whales, and even small groups of killer whales. The RV Palmer spent a few days in open water with high winds, so the conditions weren’t great for observations, but since sailing into Terra Nova Bay, we’ve seen lots of ice and calmer seas. I must admit that I’m a big fan of calm seas; in addition to being more pleasant, the surveying is more exciting in the ice because we see more animals.

A Weddell seal. Photo by Geoffrey Gearheart.

A snow Petrel. Photo by Gitte McDonald.

A skua. Photo by Gitte McDonald.

While in Terra Nova Bay, we have the opportunity to try tagging some emperor penguins with data loggers that record their location and diving behavior (learn more about our tagging research).  Early this morning, I received a call from our principal investigator, Jerry Kooyman, telling us to suit up because a few penguins were spotted nearby.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the lab to pack our backpacks and make sure our gear was ready to go. “Suiting up” for research in Antarctica includes a lot of cold-weather gear: two pairs of long underwear, thick fleece pants and jacket, two pairs of socks (with a heat pack between the layers), waterproof overalls, bright orange float coats, and hand warmers that need to be warmed up before going outside. These keep our hands and tagging supplies warm while out in the -10 degree C/14 degree F weather (with a wind chill of approximately -25 C/-13 F).

After a safety meeting with our group and the ship crew (and a quick cup of coffee to help wake up), we headed out in a zodiac.

The research team searches for a way to reach emperor penguins in Terra Nova Bay. Photo by Cassandra Brooks.

Once on the water we could no longer see the penguins, so we searched for a lead of open water that would take us to the ice floe where the penguins were standing. We tried one lead that looked promising from the bridge, but were quickly stopped by newly formed ice too thick for the zodiac to break through. We asked the bridge to suggest other options and made a few more unsuccessful attempts to get to the penguins. After an hour, we decided to head back to the ship.

Back on the ship we went to the bridge to see if there were other penguins nearby that we could get to by zodiac, but only saw the original two we could not reach. I stayed on the bridge for a few hours keeping watch, but as the day went on the winds grew stronger and we did not see any penguins. By lunchtime we knew we were out of luck for the day; the winds were a sustained 40 knots (72 kph) with gusts occasionally over 50  knots(90 kph).

Research team member Kim Goetz searches for marine animals from the RV Palmer. Photo by Gitte McDonald.

So, our first attempt at tagging was not a success, but we have our fingers crossed that weather and ice conditions will be in our favor tomorrow.

Yesterday we made a valiant but futile effort to find emperor penguins in Terra Nova Bay. We knew it was too late in the season for the colony, which was completely gone as well as the sea ice on which they dwell. However, we had hopes there might be some [...]]]> By Jerry Kooyman

Yesterday we made a valiant but futile effort to find emperor penguins in Terra Nova Bay. We knew it was too late in the season for the colony, which was completely gone as well as the sea ice on which they dwell. However, we had hopes there might be some residual fast ice still in the bay where some birds finishing their molt would be found. The ice was there, but the birds were not. One lone penguin was just outside the Bay on a small floe that looked possible to reach; however, the captain wisely scotched that idea because the winds were about 45 miles/hr and too dangerous to launch an inflatable.

The research team aboard the RV Palmer enters Cape Washington on the lookout for emperor penguins.

All was not lost in a morale sense. We saw many Adélie penguins and a few emperor penguins on the way to the Bay, which excited many of the scientists. We also saw a series of ice types as we approached—from newly forming pancake ice about 30 cm in diameter to brash ice. Within the Bay there was a dense collection of first-year ice accumulating against the Cape Washington peninsula. It was this heavy ice that was the deciding factor in turning back as a caution against trapping the ship.

The research team saw several types of ice from the ship including newly formed pancake ice.

Cape Washington has special meaning for me because I established the first long-term sea ice camp for research teams next to the emperor penguin colony many years ago. The birds reside there from April to January of each year, and it is the largest known colony of about 22,000 breeding pairs. It is also the most popular colony for documentaries where footage was obtained for Life in the Freezer, Emperors of the Ice, and so on. This year, Paul Nicklen won the BBC Photographer of the Year award for his underwater photos taken there in 2011. The photos were featured in the September issue of the National Geographic Magazine.      

Finally, the timing of the visit had special meaning for me and my son, Tory. Though we’ve both spent several field seasons at the Cape, on this day and hour, while I was sailing into Washington Bay, Tory was flying over the North Pole en-route from JFK to Seoul, Korea.

So there were Kooymans simultaneously at both poles, by shear coincidence.

On February 10, we finished our last lunch at McMurdo Station and boarded the RV Palmer, our home for the next 54 days. Stopping at the top of the hill to take a quick picture on the walk down, I couldn’t help but notice [...]]]> By Kim Goetz

On February 10, we finished our last lunch at McMurdo Station and boarded the RV Palmer, our home for the next 54 days. Stopping at the top of the hill to take a quick picture on the walk down, I couldn’t help but notice the enormity of this research vessel.

Scripps Oceanography researchers will spend 54 days onboard RV Palmer in the Ross Sea.

Once onboard, we located our luggage and moved into our rooms. I was shocked by the accommodations on the ship. Not only are the rooms modern and comfortable, each room has a private bathroom. Given that my previous ship experience entailed two months in the Bering Sea with one rustic bathroom for everyone onboard, I was thrilled by this discovery. There are bunk beds, a desk, and a television with a DVD player. Curtains on each of the bunk beds allow privacy and shelter from the light when living with roommates who have different work schedules.

Rooms aboard the RV Palmer include bunk beds, a desk, and a DVD player. Wifi is available throughout the ship.

I was fully prepared for 54 days of complete isolation from the outside world—bills set to autopay, email away-messages set, last phone calls made, and hoards of books and PDFs downloaded on my iPad. But not only do we have anytime access to a satellite phone and a ship email account, we also have wireless internet connection. Who would’ve thought it possible to text or access Facebook in the middle of Antarctica’s Ross Sea?!

As I continued to explore the ship, I stumbled upon the galley where we would have access to meals three times a day. Like all items on the ship, everything was bolted to the floor or somehow secured in the event of rough seas. The ship’s cook is amazing, always creating some culinary masterpiece from the limited ingredients on board. Needless to say, most of the passengers are realizing the importance of the gym. While not fancy, the gym provides key workout equipment for weight and cardiovascular training, not to mention a sauna for relaxing after a long day’s work.

The galley aboard RV Palmer welcomes scientists three times a day for meals.

Have I mentioned how accommodating the ship is?

After moving in and getting settled, we were eager to start the cruise, which is set to end in Punta Arenas, Chile, in mid-April. However, we were delayed a few days because of refueling.We briefly left the dock to allow the fuel tanker—which provides fuel to McMurdo Station—to take our place. Our ship was tied to the tanker for refueling.

RV Palmer attaches to a fuel tanker at McMurdo Station before embarking.

Around midnight on Feb. 13, the ship began to move and we were on our way!  The first item on the agenda was to head to our first “station.” The scientists onboard the ship are part of several different scientific projects, most of which are focused on the oceanography of the Ross Sea. As a result, the ship stops at pre-determined “stations” to conduct Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) casts. The CTD is surrounded by a rosette consisting of several grey tubes that contain bottles. It is attached to a winch and lowered into the water.  Once a specific depth is reached, the CTD is towed back toward the surface, stopping at various depths along the way. At  these depths, a computer triggers the opening and closing of specific bottles to collect samples from specific parts of the water column.

Equipment to measure conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) throughout the water column.

While the CTD casts are not part of our research project, we were able to use the opportunity to test the tags that will be deployed on emperor penguins. It is critical to ensure these work properly; once the penguins are tagged, we will be entirely dependent on satellite transmissions for data. Because the tags can record dive depth in addition to location, we simulated a penguin dive by attaching a tag to a CTD lowered to 800 meters. Once it came out of the water, we set it outside, and within a few hours, data was successfully transmitted via satellite and was accessible on our computers.

Scripps researchers test out their emperor penguin tag on a CTD.

Because the ship was headed west for a series of CTD stations, the captain suggested heading to Cape Washington, the location of the largest emperor colony in the Ross Sea, for a chance to deploy a few of our tags. As we made our way through the ice, we sighted several species of birds and mammals: snow petrals, skuas, Weddell seals, minke whales, and adelie and emperor penguins.

A seal seen from the RV Palmer.

A seabird from the RV Palmer.

Adelie penguins seen from the RV Palmer.

At Cape Washington, we saw a few emperor penguins, but were unable to tag them as ice conditions precluded  safe travel by zodiac. Despite our disappointment  everyone was able to take in the amazing site of this magical place!

Cape Washington

Feb. 6, 2013
07:30
Departure from Christchurch, NZ

The U.S. Air Force’s C130 LC “Hercules” took off in the early morning. Built in the 1960’s, the sturdy plane is only one of 10 currently in operation. Specially commissioned by the NSF, [...]]]> By Geoffrey Gearheart

Feb. 6, 2013
07:30
Departure from Christchurch, NZ

The U.S. Air Force’s C130 LC “Hercules” took off in the early morning. Built in the 1960’s, the sturdy plane is only one of 10 currently in operation. Specially commissioned by the NSF, the LC 130 is adapted to operating on snow and ice, with large retractable skis mounted under the nose and wings.

We were 38 onboard:
• Five crewmembers: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, loadmaster, and his assistant (average age: 25)
• Four scientists (Gitte, Kim, Jerry, and me)
• Five VIPs from the National Science Foundation.
• The rest: support personnel for McMurdo and the South Pole stations

The Antarctica-bound scientific team boards U.S. Air Force’s C130 LC “Hercules” in Christchurch, New Zealand.

During the flight, the navigator let me into the cockpit just in time to see the first white mountaintops of Antarctica pop out of the clouds. A magical sight.

The plane has a million anchor points, winches, and rollers in the floor to haul and secure cargo of all sizes. Nothing can move during the flight so the loadmaster’s skills are crucial. I like the sturdiness of the aircraft: the rudder cables running bare under the fuselage’s ceiling (on a modern plane flaps and rudders are hydraulic), the analog dials in the cockpit, and the little flat windows that drape the nose.

The loadmaster and his assistant had us all sit down on rather uncomfortable web-type, side-facing seats. Despite the back pain and the deafening sound of the turboprops (we all wore earplugs), I’d rather travel eight hours in a C130 than on a regular commercial flight, for the feeling of adventure makes up for the lack of comfort.

Feb. 6, 2013
McMurdo Station
Temperature: -13 C (8.6 F) • Windchill: -24 C (-11.2 F) • Wind Speed: 22 km/h (13.6 mph)

First impression upon landing is the biting cold, the whiteness of the landscape, the jagged mountains to the South and East.

The Royal Society Range in Victoria Land, Antarctica.

There’s Mount Erebus, the most southerly volcano on Earth, named after one of James Ross’s ships; Mount Discovery, southwest from McMurdo, and a couple of islands beyond the large expanse of the McMurdo Ice Shelf. These bear the exotic names of Black Island and White Island, testimony of the early adventurer’s focus on survival rather than poetry.

A gigantic, sluggish vehicle with ballooning tires—named “Ivan The Terra Bus”—brought us to McMurdo Station. Located at the southern tip of Ross Island, McMurdo is a collection of buildings that pretty much all look the same. They are more practical than esthetic and are smartly designed to provide safety and comfort.

The research team boards “Ivan the Terra Bus,” a tundra vehicle used to transport personnel to and from McMurdo’s airfield.

Weather is the compass to all activities here. A light system on one of the buildings indicates the current weather condition on a scale of 3 (fine like today) to 1 (wind >100 km/h, visibility <30 m, wind chill temperature <-73 C). During condition 1 (red light), you are not allowed to leave your building.

The South Pole is much colder. A contingent of South Pole staff was on the plane. They are “winterovers” (winter will start at the end of April), a special breed of people it seems to me. The constant daylight is a bit confusing, but I can deal with it. I can’t imagine being trapped in total darkness six months in a row…

In the corridors of the Crary Lab building (McMurdo’s research facility for the advancement of Antarctic science), there is a permanent exhibit that features titbits of McMurdoan scientific history. Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers have made their mark—from Paul Dayton, a colleague of Jerry Kooyman who pioneered benthic Antarctic ecology (Paul and Jerry would dive under the ice with 1960’s equipment… gives you an idea of the risks) to the paleo-climatologists who use the Antarctic’s miles-thick land ice as a time machine to read the Earth’s past climate. Jerry and his group’s research figures prominently with stuffed emperor penguins, extraordinary pictures, and numerous posters.

McMurdo Station from above.

The dining hall (or “galley”), a large blue building in the center of McMurdo, offers surprisingly good food. I totally see how one can gain a lot of weight in Antarctica. We’ve come a long way since Douglas Mawson and his diet of husky liver circa 1900. For the French readers, today’s menu consisted of a casserole of seafood and chicken curry with saffron rice seasoned with New Zealand raisins, and a table-ronde of salads and desserts (but where was the baguette and the plateau de fromâges?).

The galley is large and warm with round tables. Two thirds of McMurdo’s inhabitants are support staff; the rest are scientists. They are responsible for making everyone’s life comfortable. Janitors, electricians, crane operators, and twin otter pilots (a sturdy twin engine aircraft that is used to transport equipment and personnel throughout Antarctica) all call McMurdo home.

This tightly knit community, whose common goal is the advancement of science, gets together during strictly scheduled meal times. Some of the diners are scientists who have returned from remote field camps. With the winter approaching, most research programs are shut down. The men pretty much don the same beards and happy smiles—the latter I imagine for the warm food and the prospect of returning home soon. The women seem just as battle-hardened.

Antarctica is a land where one learns fast.

McMurdo Station

Looking at the live webcam images on the website of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), it seems McMurdo is populated by red dwarves with funny looking shoes. Back in Christchurch, at the USAP’s Clothing Distribution Center, we were all issued standard equipment: a very thick red down parka, black down overalls, thick woolen socks, several pairs of gloves, a fleece balaclava, a ski mask, and oversize snow-white “bunny boots,” which seem more like flotation devices than footwear. Bunny boots are not easy to maneuver in tight corners, but they are truly very warm, and that’s what counts.

Researchers in Antarctica are issued clothing such as parkas, overalls, warm socks, and these oversized “bunny boots.”

Last night (picture a sunny afternoon) we were heading toward our dorm building with our luggage and dressed up as described above. Just as I was congratulating myself for my resistance to this unforgiving climate, a happy-looking (bearded) scientist came strolling down the street in shorts, tennis shoes, and a light sweater.

It was -15 C and I felt like a total failure.

Mount Erebus