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Pages and Posts Tagged ‘Extreme Weather’


A Sea of Icebergs

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– We were in a sea of icebergs -- at least 100 icebergs in the vicinity, and the wind started to blow up to 70 knots and waves reached 30 feet... {Read More »}



Iceberg City

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– We drilled for 18 hours and then had to pull the drill pipe up out of the hole and reposition the ship to avoid a large iceberg that was heading straight for us... {Read More »}



The Scene Outside: Lots of birds

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Our ship is constantly surrounded by Albatrosses, Petrels, and Skuas. Sometimes we see more than 100 birds surrounding the ship. They swoop and dive, looking for food in the water... {Read More »}



Crossing the Antarctic Circle

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Yes, we crossed the Antarctic Circle today! It is perhaps only the 3rd time this ship has ever done so... {Read More »}



The Pegasus Wreck

SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- Soon after we took off I saw something in the snow from the window and I took a photograph of it. When I zoomed in on the photo I discovered that it was a crashed plane!... {Read More »}



A Small Cork in a Big Ocean

ABOARD THE RVIB N. B. PALMER, ON THE SOUTHERN OCEAN-- After leaving Punta Arenas, Chile, on January 4th, 2010, and enjoying the calm waters of the Straits of Magellan and the coast of Argentina on our way to the Weddell Sea we have now reached the dreaded Drake Passage.... {Read More »}



Bad Weather Day

BEACON VALLEY, ANTARCTICA-- The early morning started out with blustery winds and soon snow from the polar plateau started blowing in; it was by far the worst weather we have experienced during this field season... {Read More »}



You Can’t Control the Weather

BARROW, ALASKA-- One afternoon a young adult female polar bear wandered by the ship. She appeared out of the blowing snow and walked past the stern, fairly close to the ship. An hour later she reappeared and approached the ship... {Read More »}



Another Recapture, and Big Seas

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE CHUKCHI SEA– Over the last week we kept the ship in the same general area, in the northern reaches of the Chukchi Sea. Several days of cooler weather allowed the ice to thicken a little, and we had another successful recapture of an adult female with her cub... {Read More »}



Wrapping Up

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Our project is just about over. We flew our last two flights on Sunday and are scheduled to fly back to New… {Read More »}