Spending a week in New Zealand was great. Christchurch really has a good variety of restaurants to choose from and it was nice to be able to take a shower every day instead of our 2 per week. You also tend to forget how nice humidity is! The South Pole is so cold and dry that it wreaks havoc on the sinuses and skin. Aside from enjoying some showers and food, I was able to meet up with a friend from high school and college in Queenstown. Queenstown is probably one of the most beautiful towns I’ve seen. It’s set right next to The Remarkables mountain range which provides a gorgeous backdrop. I was even able to get a round of golf in at the spectacular Jack’s Point golf course! The R&R definitely did its job and I came back to the Pole feeling refreshed and ready to endure the winter.

When I got back to the Pole, I’m sure my partner at ARO (Atmospheric Research Observatory) was happy. He did not arrive early enough in the summer to take advantage of R&R so he was left to take care of things on his own while I was soaking it up in New Zealand. He must have been busy while I was gone because things looked great when I got back!

A view of Akaroa Harbor.

A paraglider suspended over Queenstown.

A beautiful round of golf in Queenstown!

Another great view from the golf course.

About a week after I returned from R&R I was getting ready to head out to ARO when I sat down and my teeth kind of bumped together. It ended up knocking off a piece of tooth that was repaired last spring. Luckily I was able to grab a quick flight to McMurdo and see the dentist only days before she was leaving the ice! It really would have been annoying having to deal with a broken front tooth for 8 months through the winter. She did a great job on repairing it though and actually looks better than the previous repair job.

It turns out that this broken tooth was a blessing in disguise. On my flight back to McMurdo, I was able to capture some spectacular video of the Transantarctic Mountains. We also went over the Dry Valleys, out over the open water, and then ended with a great fly-by of McMurdo. Well worth the dental work!

A view out of the LC-130 window as we enter the Trans-Antarctic Mountains.

A glacier spilling down through a valley.

Another glacier carving it’s way.

Beautiful blue sky over some peaks and valleys.

The Dry Valleys.

Some broken off sea ice in the Ross Sea.

Mt Erebus.

McMurdo Station Fly-by.

Now as we approach mid-February, people are leaving by the bundles. A little less than 2 weeks ago we had about 250 people on station. Now we are down to about 125. There are 2 more major passenger flights out of here in which we will lose about 80 more people leaving us with about 48 people for the winter. It’s strange having all the open space in the galley during meal times. And it’s only going increase the next several days. Tomorrow is the last day for any outgoing mail, and Monday, February 15th, we have our last flights! The sun is very noticeably lower in the sky and temperatures the past week have been much colder. Today is the coldest day since I arrived here last October at -40F. Hard to believe it’s just about here but it is. Winter!

A few of our several iceberg choices in Bay of Sails.

Icebergs are moved by wind and currents, and when they come in contact with the seafloor, plough across it leaving a swath of destruction. Cape Evans, on the eastern side of McMurdo Sound, is bathed by plankton-rich water from the open Ross Sea, providing a good food resource to benthic communities during the summer months. But at Bay of Sails, on the western side of the sound, the water has spent a long time circulating in darkness under the thick ice of the permanent Ross Ice Shelf, so it is very oligotrophic, or food-poor. I am interested in the differences between how these two communities recover from iceberg disturbances.

Though the benthic communities locally are not eating well, we are!

To start this effort, we did a reconnaissance helicopter flight. Scottie, our pilot for the day, flew us in beautiful loops and spirals over the dozen icebergs scattered in the bay. We were looking for a berg that was grounded on the seafloor, was in about 50 m water depth, and was close enough to other icebergs that we had alternate target options. Since the bathymetry in this area is poorly known, I had to guess at depths based on distance from shore and iceberg height. I selected a moderate-size, tabular-looking berg about 2 km from shore. It was a good choice, but a better one was about a km further offshore, as we discovered from our initial survey with an extremely high tech weight on a tape measure.

Marco and Henry think a better iceberg is that way.

However, the helo landing site is that way.

Okay, I guess we’ll go home for now.

Parallel with selecting the camp location, we have been packing up camp gear. 335 pounds of food, 330 pounds of water, sleeping bags good to minus 40, tents, fuel for the stove and heaters, sleds, safety supplies, another 1485 pounds of stuff. And then there is the science equipment – drills, electronic gear, the ROV itself, power supplies, batteries and generators, all in all 760 pounds of toys. Then there is the 1000 pounds of people. Not to say we are fat, but several of us are up to three desserts per night. Yow!

How much stuff will fit in one helicopter? 1200 lbs in an A-Star, and 2000 lbs in a Bell212.

All of this is sorted into classifications of Can Freeze, Do Not Freeze, and Keep Frozen (some of the food). Bags and boxes are weighed and tagged. Hazardous material is certified as safe to fly. Much of the Can Freeze camp gear has gone already in an overland (well, over-sea-ice) traverse to a fueling depot about 10 km from Bay of Sails. The helicopters will carry it the rest of the way to us.

Like an n-dimensional puzzle, it all unfolds to a full field camp, dwarfed by the landscape.

My bedroom.

It’s a little nerve-wracking, making sure we remember everything, and enough of it. I have lists, and lists of lists, and I wake up in the middle of the night to make more lists. Remembering to bring all the things we needed to Antarctica was bad enough, but the field camp list must be pared to a minimum yet not leave out anything. We will get a resupply flight after a week, to bring us more water, so we do have that opportunity to fix any bads, but it would be very unproductive, not to say embarrassing, to have forgotten the batteries to the joystick to drive the ROV.

Team SCINI at field camp I: Kamille, Dustin, Isabelle, Francois, Stacy and Bob. Doh, Dustin has forgotten his black Antarctic uniform pants!

Tonight as the sun dips to touch the horizon I think that we have all we need to survive. But I am worried about the engineers getting their stuff packed; they are still out doing tests at 10 pm, 12 hours from when it must be on the helo pad. I am beginning to think that procrastination and engineering must go hand in hand. I think a walk up Ob Hill is in order to reduce my stress!

The view of Erebus and Terror from the top of Ob Hill, colored by a midnight sun.

At the top of Observation Hill

I’ve gotten out and done a little hiking up Observation Hill, and Hut Point. Observation Hill provided some great views of the scenery around McMurdo including Mt Erebus and Mt Discovery.

Sun shining on Mt Erebus

There was also a cross at the top erected by Capt Scott’s rescue team after finding the remaining men of the expedition frozen in a tent only about 10 mi south of one of their placed food and fuel depots.

Cross dedicated to Capt. Scott

Down at Hut Point, I was able to go inside the Discovery Hut which was one of their staging areas during the winter. It was extremely well preserved because there really is nothing down here to eat away at the wood structure. It’s just too cold. Inside there where tons of crates of biscuits for, some seal carcasses, and a lot of other supplies labeled for “Capt Scott’s Antarctic Expedition.” Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the inside because I left my memory card for my camera in my laptop (oops).

Discovery Hut

There is one more trail I would like to do before I go but I might save it for another time. There is a Castle Rock loop trail that is suppose to be very good but not all of it is open yet and it is a little more extensive hike. I have already dragged my checked bags up to cargo so all I have is a carry on as I wait for my flight. Otherwise, there is not a whole lot for me to do here during the day. I’m ready to get to the Pole, settle in and start working.

The trip was a roughly one hour ride over the sea ice in a dual-tracked vehicle called a MATTRAX.

Mount Erebus from the sea ice.

John Weller, our guide Peggy Malloy, Ron Hipschman and the MATTRAX.

During the trip we could see a few icebergs which were trapped in the sea ice.

What they do at the Penguin Ranch is study emperor penguins. They take a small number of emperor penguins from the coast and put them in a fenced in area on the sea ice. A couple of holes are cut in the ice for the penguins, and the penguins are then able to go swimming any time they want to (they catch their own food). The penguins apparently go diving around once an hour. There are no holes in the ice nearby, so the penguins always come back to the Penguin Ranch when they are done swimming.

Penguin Ranch.

The very beautiful emperor penguins.

A penguin at the start of a dive…

… and jumping back on top of the ice.

The best part of the Penguin Ranch was the observation tube. You can climb down in a narrow tube about 15 feet under the ice and look out some windows. The colors under the ice are amazing, as you can see! It was incredible to be under the ice and also to watch the penguins swimming.

Emperors swimming.

Thanks John and Ron and Peggy for a great day!

The Christchurch Botanic Gardens, New Zealand.

The Croquet Club, Christchurch.

On Dec 9 we were scheduled to take a South African Hercules to McMurdo but ended up flying on the massive C17 “Globemaster” instead. The C17 was going to make an aidrop to “AGAP” after it dropped us off in McMurdo. You can see that the air-drop cargo was all ready to go (there is a parachute on top of each piece of cargo).

The C-17 ready for Airdrop.

During the flight I saw a lot of pack ice, and also got a nice photograph of the Antarctic coastline. We landed at Willy field (a runway on the sea ice). It was a nice day and you could see Mount Erebus in the distance (an active volcano).

Pack ice from the air.

The Antarctic coastline.

The C-17 ‘Globemaster.’

After being debriefed and getting our room assignments I took the Terrabus over to Scott Base (the New Zealand station). From there I could see the pressure ridges, and also the Happy Camper (Antarctic survival training) folks in the distance.

Having landed at McMurdo Station with Mt. Erebus in the background.

Scott Base pressure ridges, Terrabus and Happy Camper at foot of Mt. Erebus.

I knew that Mary Miller and Lisa Strong from the Exploratorium were standing there next to the two Scott Tents. The Happy Camper school was taking place at the foot of Mount Erebus. In the photo above, you can see the Terrabus between the pressure ridges and the Happy Camper school.

View of Cape Royds.

As a backdrop to our camp and the colony is Mt Erebus, a true living, breathing, belching, active volcano whose plume is only visible when the atmospheric conditions are just right.

View of Mt Erebus form Cape Royds.

Days will pass and we will not see another human being nor hear any sound other than our own and the birds. No, I do not get lonely, and I look forward all year to this two month time frame when I am given the gift of living at the edge of world with these remarkable creatures who adapted themselves to this harsh environment so they could have the place to themselves.

It is all about the science, and my job is connecting it to classrooms across the US and around the world, sharing the experience of Antarctica and the lives of these birds with children and others who may only see penguins in zoos. Many people do not have a sense of Antarctica and do not understand the role this large continent plays in our ocean and climate systems. Most will never set foot on this, the most remote place on Earth.

Many people do not realize how pristine and unspoiled the entire continent is. It is the only continent that has never been continuously populated by people, and except for the northern tip of the Antarctica peninsula, there are no land plants or animals above the micro level. The southern ocean that surrounds Antarctica is the last unspoiled ocean on the planet. If we are to maintain the unspoiled, untouched nature of this extraordinary place, people must have a connection to it and care about it. Our project reaches out to children and adults in an effort to create that connection and sense of stewardship.

Teachers in classrooms all across the country use our website to engage students about Antarctica. We have developed classroom activities, an educational DVD, webisodes, background information for teachers, and many activities designed to engage children in penguins, Antarctica and global climate change. One of our projects is about postcards. Many children have never received a piece of mail let alone a postcard from a foreign country, let alone a postcard from Antarctica. We have received and sent back over 10000 handmade penguin postcards from children around the world. Here are some examples.

Penguin postcards made by children.

Every year we select 6 breeding pairs (one from each pair is a banded bird) to follow along on a daily basis allowing children in classrooms a chance to be field biologists. They keep a field journal, recording the dates the eggs are laid, when the chicks hatch, how long the female or male is on the nest, how long the foraging trips are and other factors effecting the chicks growth. We hope some of these young biologists will make education and career choices that will propel them into the science and engineering fields. Here is an example of these nests from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.

Penguins on nests and chicks.

Other students connect with us by making a flag to fly at the research station.

This flag from students in Maine serves as a wind speed and direction indicator for our penguin cam.

A flag designed by a student flew on our research hut last year.

Some send us questions about penguins, Antarctica and the Polar regions, we have answered thousands.

We have also produced an educational DVD about how penguins are coping with global climate change. You can order a copy from our website penguinscience.com.

Yes it is about the science, and my job is to share that science with the world.
To see the webisodes visit http://www.penguinscience.com/media/video/webisodes.php.
To learn more about the postcard project, design a flag or other classroom activities visit http://www.penguinscience.com/classroom_home.php.

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– The Hagglund awaited us as we prepared to depart for sea ice training. This was a requirement since our expedition is to be based on the ice that forms over the ocean of McMurdo Sound every austral winter. We had to learn how to identify cracks and do thickness profiles of the ice across them, how to determine if a crack was safe to cross depending on what type of vehicle we were traveling in, and how to make ice anchors to secure things like our tents or equipment to the ice.

The Hagglund that brought us out to the sea ice.

The first introduction was looking at the tide crack just off from McMurdo Station. This forms between the fast ice which is attached to land and doesn’t move and the sea ice which succumbs to the rising and falling of the tides. A tide crack forms everywhere where there is sea ice meeting land. We poked at it with bamboo poles to check for snow thickness and competency to make sure where we were walking was secure.

The tide crack at the transition between the fast ice near McMurdo Station and the sea ice.

We hopped back into the Hagglund and drove north along the flagged Cape Evans Road in search of cracks between plates of sea ice. We drove past the Erebus Glacial Tongue, through the Dellbridge Islands which are actually the high points of a former volcanic mountain that is buried beneath the ice. Soon we came up on the crack we were looking for.

Driving along Cape Evans Road.

We pulled up to some flags marking a crack that crossed the roadway. Now we would learn how to travel safely across the sea ice. Most first-year sea ice is about 2-meters thick (or about 6.5 feet), but the minimum thickness of ice to travel on is 30 inches, so in most cases we would be okay. The gap that forms in a crack is of critical importance to determine whether or not you can ride across it, and the minimum width is dependent on the length of how much of the vehicle is in contact with the surface. A crack is considered safe to cross if it is 1/3 or less of the length of the vehicle treads.

Flags marking a crack crossing the Cape Evans Road.

First thing when approaching a crack is to identify the edges of it by poking a bamboo pole into the snow. The snow should be excavated across the crack down to the ice surface. Then you drill to penetrate through the ice into the underlying water. This is done on either edge of the crack and in the gap. The thickness of the ice is measured through the drilled hole and recorded. The profile of the crack is then complete. The ice around the crack we analyzed was more than 30 inches and the width of the crack was less than 1/3 of the length of the vehicle, so it was determined that it was safe to cross and we carried on.

Profiling a crack in the sea ice – drilling to determine ice thickness.

One of the more important things we learned was how to make a V-thread ice anchor. Being out on the sea ice there is very little snow cover. V-threads are used to secure things to the ice. The wind can be very strong in Antarctica, and anything not secured will surely blow away. V-thread ice anchors are constructed by drilling into the ice either with ice screws, as pictured below, or by using a drill.

Making a V-thread ice anchor.

Two holes are drilled at about 45-degree angles that intersect each other. A piece of strong rope is passed through these, knotted together, and anything that needs to be secured is lashed to the anchor line. The ice is quite strong, and when the wind blows powerfully, the ice anchors will make sure nothing blows away.

Once we were finished with our training we turned and headed back toward McMurdo Station with a steaming Mt. Erebus looming above us amid a picturesque swirling wispy sky.

Mt. Erebus steaming in the distance.

We could see the remains of an iceberg nearby that became locked within the sea ice when it froze during the earlier winter.

Remains of an iceberg frozen in the sea ice.

We passed through the Dellbridge Islands that we came through on our outbound journey.

Tent Island (left) and Inaccessible Island (right) of the Dellbridge Islands.

Yet what was in store was the highlight of the day. We found out that our next destination was an ice cave…

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– The last couple of days have been really busy down here at McMurdo. I’ve been going through a lot of training sessions and have had many meetings with our Team. We’ve been trying to get all of our equipment together for the long journey across the sea ice to New Harbor. It’s a really long process to make sure we have everything we’re going to need at the field camp.

But today I had some free time in the morning. The weather was incredibly clear and crisp. I took the opportunity to climb up Observation Hill.

Observation Hill.

Observation Hill is a large hill that is 750 feet tall next to McMurdo Station. It is commonly called “Ob Hill” by the people who live and work here. It is the most climbed peak in Antarctica. The hill was named by Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition when they explored this area of Antarctica between 1901 and 1904. Members of Scott’s team would climb to the top to make weather observations.

The further I got up on Ob Hill, the better the views became. I could see all the way across McMurdo Sound. I could see Mt. Discovery (right), Black Island (left), Brown Peninsula (low, and in the middle), and the Royal Society Range of mountains (not shown) as they stretched to the north as far as the eye could see. The straight line on the ice was the roadway that I traveled on from Pegasus Field just a few days before.

Southwest view across McMurdo Sound looking at Mt. Discovery (right), Black Island (left), and Brown Peninsula (low, in the middle). The straight line across the ice is the road to Pegasus Field where we landed.

As I climbed higher and higher, it became windier and colder. Snow was blowing around and I was glad I brought my thick insulated gloves and my ski goggles with me. With the cloudless blue sunny sky above, I bundled up and continued up to the summit.

Almost to the top.

Finally I got to the top of Ob Hill. I gazed down on McMurdo Station 750 feet below me. It looked like a tiny town. There are fewer than 1000 people here now, with more on the way. The population will grow to nearly 2000 during the height of the summer season. I’m amazed at how efficiently this small community runs to support the lives and activities of the people who venture down to the white continent. Looking down at McMurdo Station from this vantage point reminded me just how isolated we truly are down here.

McMurdo Station from the summit of Observation Hill.

There’s a giant cross that was erected on the top of Observation Hill to honor Captain Robert Falcon Scott and the members of his expedition who died on their return traverse from the South Pole during their Terra Nova expedition between 1910 and 1913.

Observation Hill Cross.

Scott and his men got trapped in their tent on the Ross Ice Shelf during an unusually long storm. They were already very weak and they ran out of food. When they got trapped, they were only 11 miles from a depot where they had enough food to get back to their camp on Ross Island. On the cross that Scott’s men built is an inscription from “Ulysses” by Alfred Tennyson which reads: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” These words are inspiring to me. I will try to not cease my own efforts to understand future climate change. To do this, I am in pursuit of knowledge of the past climate on the continent of Antarctica.

This place is so stunningly beautiful. Everywhere I look away from McMurdo Station I see various shapes of dark grey rocky peaks covered with white snow and ice. That or the smooth, flat ice of the Ross Ice Shelf and the lumpy sea ice floating on the surface of the Ross Sea in McMurdo Sound. It’s easy to get lost in the sheer expanse and isolation of this wilderness. But focusing on the details of the shapes, the way snow blows over a mountaintop, or how the sun moves around the sky in a circle gives perspective on singular aspects of the beauty of Antarctica. I can’t wait to get out into the field, to be away from “civilization” in town, to see new views of this other world.

Looking northeast across the summit of Ob Hill to Mt. Erebus.

There are constant reminders here of past exploration. Looking to the north from the summit of Ob Hill I could see Hut Point at the end of Hut Point Peninsula. The peninsula sticks out 15 miles to the southwest like a little finger off of the side of Mt. Erebus. There, a cross memorializing another fallen explorer and Scott’s Discovery Hut.

Looking north to Hut Point and Scott’s Discovery Hut.

As I descended Ob Hill to get back into the warmth of my room, I snapped one more photo of the wind-swept Mt. Erebus. The smoke and vapor coming out of the top of the volcano, and the snow and ice crystals being blown across the landscape show me how dynamic this environment is.

A windswept Mt. Erebus.

The glorious day turned into an amazing night. Seeing the sun dip behind the Royal Society Range around 11pm was a rare picturesque treat. Our last sunset here will be on October 21st. After that we’ll just watch the sun circle around the sky, neither rising nor setting. It will just roll around the heavens all day.

Sun setting across the Royal Society Range.

Tonight’s vivid scenery was accentuated by thin wispy clouds illuminated by the setting sun behind Mt. Discovery. I had to go outside and take some photographs. I could get used to this place!

Sunset behind Mt. Discovery.

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– After an early start for breakfast in Christchurch, New Zealand, I went to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) before most of the Team to turn in my excess baggage: the camera equipment provided by the Exploratorium for Ice Stories. This gave me quite a bit of time to repack my personal belongings in the orange bags the U.S. Antarctic Program provided.

My ‘Big Red’.

I didn’t have to rush and was able to take it easy. I had the opportunity to explore around the International Antarctic Centre. It was a lot of fun to walk around this museum of Antarctic exploration and see how things have changed over time. On display were old style sleds that the explorers used to transport their gear and supplies. What was really interesting was to see the clothing Polar explorers of the past used to wear and then compare it to what was provided to me and everyone going down to the Ice.

The International Antarctic Centre.

There’s even an indoor replica of an Antarctic scene to give people the sense of what life on the Ice is like. There’s real snow and it’s kept really cold, but the children looked like they were having fun. I think some were even having a snow ball fight!

Kids playing in ‘Antarctica’.

Finally it was time to check in and weigh our bags because we were getting close to when we were supposed to board the plane and take off. This is handled by New Zealand military. We all had to weigh our checked luggage and our “boomerang bags,” the bags that would be returned to us if we couldn’t land at McMurdo Station and had to come back to New Zealand. We all had to step on the scales ourselves while holding our carry-on bags. Every pound on the plane gets accounted for to make sure it’s not too heavy.

Lining up to check and weigh luggage.

Shakira Brown and Andrea Balbas checking in.

We all had to watch a video before we boarded the plane that covered various safety issues and protecting the fragile environment while down in Antarctica. Afterward, we all got on buses that took us to the C-17….our chariot awaits!

Our chariot awaits: the C-17.

I was really happy to get on the plane. It was such an exciting moment because I knew (hoping we didn’t get boomeranged) that I would be stepping out onto the continent of Antarctica the next time the plane door opened!

Me boarding.

The inside of the plane was nothing like I’ve ever seen. It certainly didn’t look like the commercial flights I’ve been on before. All of the parts of the plane were exposed and the seating was quite different than I’m used to, with only the front and the rear of the plane having actual airplane seats. Most of the seats were along the sides facing into the middle. The rest were in the middle facing out.

Inside the plane.

Here’s a picture of Marv Speece (middle), the geophysicist who is charge of the generating the imagery of the sediments below the sea floor. On either side are his students David (left) and Brian (right).

Marv Speece (center), and his students David (left) and Brian
(right) strapped in.

I even had the chance to get up into the cockpit for a few minutes to talk with the flight crew and to see what it was like up there!

Sitting in the cockpit.

When we boarded the plane I asked one of the lieutenants if it would be okay to use my handheld GPS to track the flight path of the plane from Christchurch to Pegasus landing field at McMurdo Station. He asked the ranking officer and it was agreed that it was okay.

On-board GPS flight information.

Pegasus is an ice runway about a 45-minute drive from McMurdo Station. As you can see from the GPS, we were flying pretty high, and at the time of the photo (NZ time), were already pretty far south after being in the air for only about 1 ½ hours. The GPS also showed me that we were traveling at a little over 500 miles per hour!

There were only a few windows in the plane, but once we had made it below about 70 degrees south latitude, everybody got really excited and word spread that there was something other than water or clouds to see. The line grew longer and longer, but I finally made it to the front and had a peak out the window….my first view of Antarctica!

My first view of Antarctica.

The flight crew instructed everyone to get all of our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear on and to buckle into our seats. We began our descent to the white continent. Words can’t really explain how I felt at the time. I knew we weren’t getting boomeranged. I knew that I would breathe in the icy, dry air in just a short while. I was bubbling over with excitement, and Shakira was too! We were finally arriving in Antarctica.

Shakira Brown and me geared up and ready to land.

I’ll never forget my first steps onto the Ice. Mt. Erebus was in plain view, sending its smoke and vapor into the air a distance off. The moon was high above (don’t forget that it was about 9:30 at night!), and I felt like I was meeting a long-lost friend, a friend that I’ve known for a very long time.

My first steps on the continent – Mt. Erebus with the moon – 9:30pm.

It was with that comfortable feeling and exhilaration that I boarded “Ivan” the Terra Bus for the most scenic drive in the world, the drive on the ice over McMurdo Sound.

‘Ivan’ the Terra Bus.