Gift Exchange

It's Christmas, and tonight we will be doing a little gift exchange. Some people bring presents down, give gift certificates to online stores, make something here, or offer their services (a massage, do your laundry, or take your kitchen cleaning duty for a day).

With help from the carpenter on station, I made a cribbage board of the local boating area. The islands and glaciers are raised up from the water, and the winning hole ends at Palmer Station. Most likely, the gift will end up being donated to the bar.

After the exchange, we'll be playing more Koobs. It's caught on here to the point where we have so many regular players we all need to switch out after each game so everyone can play. Plus, there are people who'd rather not play, but they still love watching from a perch that overlooks what has now come to be the Koob Courtyard. They like to heckle the players.

Sadly, my game is not as hot as I look when I'm playing it.

The King

A few weeks ago, a King penguin showed up on Torgersen Island. It's unusual to see these penguins so far south, so it was a special treat to go out and see him up close- they're a little smaller than Emperor penguins and live in warmer climes. But like Emperors, Kings still have such beautiful colors.

It was really neat to see three different penguins all right there- King, Chinstrap, Adelie.

Holiday Boating

A two-day weekend for the holidays, and the weather delivers with a gorgeous day. Christmas Eve- sunny, calm winds and 42 degrees.

Some friends and I went out in a boat to enjoy the day. We landed at Delaca Island, hiked around a bit and enjoyed the scenery. Antarctic Terns, Wilson Storm Petrels and Skuas all around us as we scrambled our way to the top.

After a nice walk around the island and a short nap in the sun, we loaded back into the boat. Just off shore, a chinstrap penguin porpoised around the boat and then tried to jump in! He launched out of the water and bounced off the side of the boat. He tried three or four times, but never made it in. Perhaps he was trying to get away from a hungry seal.

We headed off towards Humble Island where a leopard seal was spotted on an ice floe. Sure enough, we found it. It probably had had it's big holiday meal because like my Uncle Laverne at every family Christmas, the seal napped in its recliner after the feast. I'm sure if seals wore pants, its belt and button would be undone.

Science Support

Last week, the Birders needed an extra helping hand in the field. As part of the Science Support department, I needed to see what their field work exactly entails- plus, I was available. We left station at 5pm and headed to Shortcut Island. There, I saw the Birders attach transmitters to three Giant Petrels. These birds are very large, soar like eagles, and take turns sitting on the nest when their mate is away feeding.

With the transmitters, this group has been able to track where the birds go to feed when they're away from the nest and how long they stay away. Some birds have flown over 100 miles away at times, traveling below the Antarctic circle. In the picture below, you can see the transmitter mounted on the back of one of the petrels.

Skuas also make nests on the same island, so we continued with nest and egg surveys after the petrels were tagged. We paired off into two groups and walked the entire island to visit every Skua nest we could find. The birders surveyed nest locations earlier this season, and we found a couple new nests.

At each nest, we'd record the tags on the skuas and measure the eggs (length, width, and weight). Sometimes the skuas weren't too happy about it and would fly into the air and dive bomb us. One bounced off my back and another got away with my glove, dropping it about 50 feet away.

Another part of the project was to collect skua poop. Anytime we saw a skua do a bit of business, we'd rush to the spot, soak up the gooey slime with moss and seal it in a bag. We'd record the tag number of the bird, date and island name. Later, this poo will be cleaned and filtered in a sieve, hoping to find the tiny ear bones from fish the skuas have eaten. This helps the research team learn more about the skua's diet.

We were finished a little before 10 that night and headed back to station. I hope to go out again and help them another time.

Another Leopard Seal

A deflated looking leopard seal was hanging out on a bergy bit in Hero Inlet today. It wasn't moving much, but I got to get out on the water and get a good look at it- I watched it for a while just stretch and yawn. Nothing exciting, but awesome to watch.

I watched it through the scope from the galley, and it was yawning a lot. I couldn't get a shot of it opening it's maw wide, even though I saw it plenty. So here's a nice shot of the teeth and pink mouth. I hope to see more of these as the season goes on... from a nice distance. But the natural curiosity of these animals could bring one closer. That would be very cool.

Dirty Bird

So, there are these birds here called Sheathbills. They're scavengers, and not only do they scavenge remains of animals, they also eat seal poop. It's not uncommon to see this pure white bird with a smear of brown on its chest. Yeah, gross.

What's even worse is to see them with this brown streak as they pick and peck around the station's sewage dumping into the water. Hey! That's our waste from the kitchen and toilets! Sick little birds.

But we can laugh about the disgusting nature of our avian friend. The doors of the berthing floor are labeled with the pictures of local birds. I live in the Chinstrap room. I'm sure you can guess the picture on the bathroom door.

And you thought it was illegal to feed the wildlife here. Well, I feed the sheathbills every day around 9 in the morning.

My Favorite Penguin

After work one day last week, I went out with my friend Matt in the boat. We had no goal that evening except to toodle around and take in the sites.



I had been wanting to see my favorite penguin, the Chinstrap. Don't ask me why, but I think they're the cutest of them all- they seem to have a squished face- maybe that's it.

Anyway, there haven't been many in the area (according to the birders). So I didn't have my hopes up that evening.

On our way to check out a big ice berg, we saw some little figures atop a small berg. My dreams came true- Chinstraps!

Views from around station

View from the top of the glacier, looking SE to Mount Williams.

View from my office window (in nice weather) looking into Arthur Harbor and the glacier across the way.

View from my bedroom window looking into Hero Inlet. Most of the time it's just brash ice and water, but this day was an unexpected bonus.

Oooh, that smell

I thought some people might be curious...

Thanksgiving

A couple days before Thanksgiving, we had Pie Day where anyone who wanted to could help bake a pie for the dinner. With 38 people on station, we ended up with 31 different pies for dessert. As hard as we tried, we could not finish them that night. We were eating pie for dessert for days afterwards.

Traditionally, it is the Lab Supervisor's responsibility to make cocktails and bartend at the end of the week before dinner. I have been slowly accumulating the skills to take this duty over. For Thanksgiving, I dressed up a little to make the night special.

Leopard Seal and Ice Arch

On a trip to Old Palmer (where just a foundation remains from the temporary station, constructed for shelter while this one was built), we got a call on the radio from the group ahead of us, "Hey, there are some cute penguins on this berg by Elephant Rocks- you should check it out."

They kept going to Old Palmer, and later we came around the bend- we saw the berg but no penguins. However, we did see a leopard seal munching on some fresh meat in the water next to the berg. Hmmm.

This was amazing to see. The seal writhed around in the water, tossing the carcass in the air a couple times before ripping through it. The gulls in the area swooped down for scraps every time the seal's head went underwater. It's head would pop out as it chewed and swallowed every bite. When its meal was finished, it noticed its audience and swam our way to check us out. "Yeah, no thanks," we said (in not so many words) and started the motor. Puttering away, we lost the seal's interest and it went back towards shore.

(headed at us)

After that exciting encounter, we continued on to Old Palmer and landed. A little hike inland brought us to a glacier and an arch in it caused by running water.

(view of the arch from inside)

There are so many beautiful things to see in the area. I'm so happy to have the opportunities to get out and about in a boat.

Also, the affect of global warming and climate change are so immediate in the area. The glaciers around station (and even farther away) are receding at rates of about 10-30 feet a year. Yes, the glaciers in Antarctica are melting. There are larger changes to come, and they will happen in latitudes closer to home.

Another major change in the area is the amount of krill (Antarctic shrimp, basically). They use the sea ice as a source of food (organisms growing on the ice surface under water) and a place to reproduce. In past years, there has been less and less sea ice forming in the winter because of warmer weather. Less sea ice means less krill. Penguins eat krill, other birds eat krill, fish eat krill, seals eat krill, whales eat krill. Decline in krill population stresses the populations of all these animals and many more. The main food source of the Antarctic is decreasing.

It's interesting to see all this and talk to the science groups working on the research.

That's my two cents.

For better explanations with pictures, charts, and 8 x 10 glossies with an explanation on the back of each one, please check out the December 3rd issue of the Antarctic Sun. As an added bonus, there's a picture of mine on page 5.

Beautiful Weather

Last week we had days on end of the most gorgeous weather. The wind was minimal, the sun shone most of the time, and the temperature got up to 40. This week is much different: rain mixed with snow, blown sideways by the gusts of wind. This is more normal weather for the area now.

However, I took last week's opportunity to get out and explore on foot and in the zodiacs.

(above) This trip was taken with my friends Ryan and Matt (Palmer Station in the background). We started around 9pm and still had plenty of daylight left.

(above) On nearby Torgersen Island, Adelie penguins have made their nests out of rocks and keep their eggs warm.

(above) A Gentoo penguin checks me out after springing out of the water.

(above) After a fun-filled evening, we stop to take in the sunset.

Cruise Ships

Ten cruise ships a year are allowed to visit Palmer Station. They bring tourists from all over the world. As part of their Antarctic adventure, the passengers take a zodiac ride from the ship to shore and get a tour of station. Part of my job as Assistant Lab Supervisor is to visit the ship (prior to the passengers' tours) and present a slide show on the science research that goes on in the area.

We ride out to the ship via zodiac and board through an entrance just above water level. The first ship of the season was the National Geographic Endeavour.

They have nine naturalists on board for the 135 passengers. One of them was Paul Nicklen, the man behind all the leopard seal pictures I posted to my site here from National Geographic. It was so exciting to talk to him about those experiences and others he's had. He autographed a copy of his article for me, and he came over with the Endeavour crew that night to have a good time at the local pub.

Before Paul and the crew came ashore, we were all invited aboard the ship for after-dinner drinks and socializing with the passengers. That was a great time- especially since they were serving my favorite beer, Monteith's Summer Ale (from NZ).

What a wonderful evening.

Kubbin'

It didn't take too long to get rid of my dock rock, get settled in to station life, and play our first game of Kubbs (pronounced "Koobs"). They were a little hard to see, blending into the color of the gravel, but we've painted them now. There are already some regular players.

There is no ice to curl on, and the Bocce balls are all broken from playing on the rocks, so this is the perfect game. We all love throwing sticks at sticks after a long day.

Pictures Related to Previous Posts

Here are some pictures from my roommate Frank. He was able to get shots when I wasn't. He has skills.

Here's a picture of some Commerson's Dolphins we saw riding in the wake of the Gould.

This is a great shot of a wave crashing and getting blasted with the wind while we sat off the shore of Cape Shirreff.

And here is a great shot of one of the bergs we saw coming in. The blues are so pretty down here.

The LMG as we released the lines. It sailed off at 10pm that night.

The day we first arrived, Frank got this shot of the birders heading out to a nearby island to observe the penguin colonies. Cape Renard is in the background.