Antarctica - 2009-2010

February 1, 2010

2010-02-02T17:16:00.001-08:00

Vessel

The resupply vessel arrived this Monday via Port Hueneme, CA, USA to Lytellton, NZ to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The vessel has supplies for the next year. It returns to the USA with among other things waste generated on station and in field camps. This includes but is not limited to food waste (ends up being composted), recyclables (plastics, aluminum cans, bottles, metals), human waste (from field camps), hazardous waste, items to be auctioned off, etc. It actually goes back to Port Hueneme and Washington. Approximately 65% of waste is recycled from the station.

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Vessel arrival signals dramatic changes int town. NZ Army and US Navy Chaps are brought in to help with unloading/loading the vessel of millvans. Certain roads and parts of town have limited access for the large trucks and loaders rumbling through town. This is for safety reasons and to expediate the process. I heard that it is approximately $45,000 for every day that the vessel is in port (not sure what that encompasses/does not encompass). Lots of dust is kicked up with all the vehicular traffic and with the drier conditions. The town also becomes a dry town - no bars are open and no alcoholic beverages are sold in the store while unloading/loading is happening. It usually takes 7-9 days. Large parts of town also go on 24-hr operations with 12-hr worker shifts. I've heard from multiple people that have been here all season, that this is the only time that they lock their doors during the season- I'm guessing with a large surge in people that are here for just a week or two there are security concerns or there has been events in the past that led to this worry. Although I haven't seen anything to say I understand where the concern is. Possibly once they finish or when they first got here and the town was not dry yet...
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Note: This year has been the largest amount of open water in front of the station in many years. The water is not open all the way to the open ocean, but is in front of station and then goes to a slushy-looking, ice floes created by the icebreaker and the tanker and vessel that just arrived. One thing that comes with the open water is more common sightings of whales (meinkes and orcas) and sometimes penguins.
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Vessel outside of Mcmurdo, with Icebreaker in background.

Vessel is just outside of docking in McMurdo.

January 27, 2010

2010-02-02T13:15:00.000-08:00

Blood Falls Trip

So, went out on a debris recovery trip to Blood Falls, which is in the Dry Valleys Antarctica Specially Managed Area (ASMA). It is also considered a more strictly managed area or special feature within the ASMA. This is due to the glacial feature of a distinctive red-orange color caused by a saline, iron rich water in the Taylor glacier - from hence its name came. Its more distinct at other times or in other years but you can still see it clearly (as in the picture above).

I was able to visit this area earlier in the year as part of an environmental audit, but this trip we made to recover some sampling equipment left by a science group. This area is likely to recieve additional protection by being named an Antarctica Specially Protected Area (ASPA) in the near future and the NSF wanted us to remove this old equipment in the area. The science equipment was a stream weir to the south of Blood Falls (and the Taylor glacier) in a stream running adjacent to the glacier.

Here's just an assortment of pictures from the trip.

Mummified seal buried in debris near the stream weir.

Mass of icicles dripping off the Rhone Glacier. You can see Calkin Glacier flowing into the valley from the mountainous background and the Taylor Glacier in the valley.

An ice falls coming off the Rhone glacier. Appears to me to be where glacier melt accumulates and flows off glacier. Dirty with sediment blown/deposited in/on glacier.

View of dry valley area from helo.

During our return trip from the Valleys to McMurdo, we got delayed on the ground for 3-4 hours. Although the weather in the Valleys was beautiful - not windy, sunny, warm, weather at McMurdo was stormy - windy and snowing. Thus we were not going to head back until the weather cleared enough. It was even possible we might overnite at Marble Point in the Valleys.
Marble Point is a field camp with buildings and bunks and food - so it would have been no problem, but we got word that the weather cleared and we headed back.

On the way, the weather was cloudy, but it didn't look horrible. Then we entered this really foggy area and the Viz (that's short for visibility for you who don't know Helo talk- J/K) was horrible. I took the following picture...It is washed out, but the visibility was bad.

The pilot and helo tech did not seem overly concerned, but I'm not sure if that was just the face they put on or if they had the situation completely under control or some of both. But it was a little disconcerting being able to see nothing and having no frames of reference - it probably didn't help that I was sitting facing away from our direction of travel. It cleared quickly though and we made it back without incident.

January 16, 2010

2010-01-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

Byrd Surface Camp - Extra Notes

Here's a picture of me setting up tent and rainfly at Byrd. Outhouse in the back right.

Me bundled up awaiting flight home from Byrd. All ECW (extreme cold weather gear on). Insulated carhartt parka and overalls, insulated FDX boots, as well as underlayers.

Loading the Hercules (LC-130) from the rear.

Wearing ECW gear when boarding the plane is required in case of any emergency, you'll have it with you or on. But usually people take their gear partially off in the plane because its warm on the plane. But this trip we had a "cold deck" because we were transporting ice cores as well as passengers and other cargo back to McMurdo as well. Let me tell you this flight was horrible. Horrible (capital H). It was alright during the first hour of the three hour flight, the second hour was uncomfortable, but during the last hour I was so freezing. My hands and feet felt like they were going to have frostbite - it was that cold. I got up and walked around for the last 45 minutes but I was still freezing. It sucked. After landing and going outside it was nicer. Usually things seem better after you do them. But that sucked all around - I remember how painful that was.

This picture isn't of me, but it was how I was bundled up.

January 12-16, 2010

2010-01-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

Jamesway before recovery/retrieving begins

Byrd Surface Camp - Jamesway Recovery

Flew out on a LC-130, Herc out to Byrd Surface Camp, which is on the continent - somewhat in the deep field. I'll try and find a picture of its location.

Its definitely on the plateau - meaning its flat white out there. However, there was a place they actually called Byrd Mountain out there, but that is just a hill that was formed over the years from drift accumulation due to the old station. There is actually a fairly large station abandoned in 1972 that is completely buried there - I'm guessing its in the size range of a Costco - (not including the parking lot or the $1.50 hot dogs and a coke). But its between 5-30 meters under snow.

The reason I went out there (with a crew of 3 others) was too retrieve a structure called a Jamesway that was part of another camp that was partially buried since 2003-2004. By the Antarctic Treaty we are not supposed to leave old unused structures out in the snow. We are supposed to minimize our footprint and our short and long-term effects when possible. Jamesway are cool structures but they are definitely old- from the -40s and -50s. They are strong, but the blankets covering them are torn and kind of old. They are made to be portable shelters. I heard that these just have been approved recently as being architecturally very strong by engineers, but now they are kind of the dying breed. A newer, very similiar design called a RAC-tent is now being used.

It was tough work b/c we had to shovel and use picks to dig and cut thru a large portion of snow and ice. What happens is that as the Jamesway is heated or during summer months and the snow melts on the roof or condensation forms on the top of the tent and then drips down under and along the floorboards they freeze in over time.

We ended salvaging a few sections of the Jamesway but a lot of it was just old and will get disposed of or reused some other way.

One of the interesting things out here was that i got to spend 4 days sleeping in a tent on the snow. Was actually quite warm (surprsingly). was on a sleeping pad, inflatable pad and in a sleeping bag with a liner. Was actually rather toasty, except for the first few minutes when my feet were cold climbing into the sleeping bag.

Its even harder to estimate the time though - cause you know when you are camping and you don't have an alarm and you can't really tell what time it is b/c your sleeping somewhat in a foreign place... Its the same way here but worse because of the constant light. I woke up at 2 am and then 4 am one night, thinking it was 6:30 am.

The following are pics of the Jamesway Recovery.

Blanket Removal

Frame of Jamesway. Purlins and blankets are made to fit into two floor sections (that form a box). Arches stored separately.

Arches folded up for storage.

Floor Section. Two of these form a box.

Random Things

2010-01-24T01:24:00.000-08:00

Just thought these were some good, or at least interesting pictures.
Top: Tracked Motorcycle. My new ride.
Bottom: Me at base of glacier in the Dry Valleys (I'm the small black speck in the very bottom middle)

Welcome Sign to McMurdo on Sea Ice (and in front of large ice chunk)

Route 66 - A road out to the Pegasus Skiway (runway for all fixed wing traffic)

Picture of Gym (3-on-3 soccer). I'm not in the picture, but I thought it was a good shot. Also available for volleyball, basketball, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, etc. in this space.

Late January 2010 - Icebreaker and Tanker Arrival

2010-01-24T00:35:00.000-08:00

In late January - The Swiss Icebreaker Oden first shows up on the horizon and makes its way to the Pier. The Pier is simply a flattened out, compacted dirt area slightly above sea level that is partially protected in the cove in the Northwest end of McMurdo Station. Ballards, or large pilings are sunk into the ground for the boat to tie off on. The Odin showed up about a week and a half to two weeks before the Tanker arrived. The Oden breaks up the ice pack and creates a path for vessels to reach McMurdo. I believe there are three main vessels -

-The Icebreaker - to break the ice

-The Tanker - for fuel for the station

-Vessel - brings cargo/supplies (leaves with solid, liquid, and haz wastes, etc. - arrives later)

Here is a picture of the Oden just outside of the pier. You can see the broken up ice pack in front of and behind it.

Here some time later is the tanker easing into the pier. The Odin is in the background. It goes out to meet the tanker in open waterand escort it into McMurdo. The tanker arrived around the 18th of January.

On Saturday, January 23, The Oil Spill team was called given the order to boom the boat. This hasn't been done in years, but is a precautionary measure and also a training exercise in the case of an actual spill. The Environmental Group that I am a part of is on the Oil Spill team.

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Here is a picture of the deployment of our skiff off of the pier. This skiff has never seen the water, so their was some anxiousness as it was dropped off into the water. There wasn't much of a launch ramp!
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Here is a picture of the oil spill crew ferrying boom into the water, while the skiff drags the boom around the tanker. It was attached to the opposite side of the tanker using magnets and then formed a semicirclish holding area for a possible fuel spill. The yellow boom has a float on the top and a chain on the bottom - this serves to hold the boom upright in the water column and to contain any fuel from exiting out of the cove and into McMurdo Sound.

This is the final product - boom around the south west section of the boat.
The mountain in the middle backround of the picture is Observation Hill.

Close-up of skiff, tanker and helicopter in the background.

January 2, 2010

2010-01-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

The New Year

December 31, 2009 - January 1, 2010

New Years day fell on Friday out here on the Ice. We were given an extra day off for the week, but it wasn't until Saturday. So, on the actual New Years Eve I went to the bar with a couple of my roommates and made it about half an hour into the New Year. There were actual a good amount of people our for it being a work nite...

January 2, 2010

The New Years celebration was pushed into the weekend and on Saturday the big event occurred: ICESTOCK. This is one of the larger events for sure - people turned out to let loose, drink, party, and have fun. Its all outside from 12pm - 6pm with live bands and free schwag: face-painting, hoola-hooping, tie-dye-your-own scarf or shirt, chili, bbq brats and burgers, and H1N1 shots. (I already got mine the week before) There's even a $15 official ICESTOCK tie-dye shirt and of course $2 beers. The festivities continued after 6pm with acoustic music at the coffeehouse and bands at Gallagher's (one of the two bars).

Here's pictures of two of the bands-

One of the highlights of the show was in between bands a bunch of robots showed up and started dancing... It definitely pumped up the atmosphere after a couple of more mellow bands.

And then sonme ninjas showed up and they started battling...

Not dance battling, but fighting...

All were vanquished except for one robot and one ninja and they became friends or more than friends?
My only thoughts were I should've been a robot. Missed the boat on that one.

Here's a picture of the ICESTOCK venue, the day after.

January 3, 2010

This morning was the 10K run. Got up grudgingly and ran...Course was a little short. I was a little sick - congested, sore throat. I was tired. Time looked good, but course was definitely short. There was a strong wind going one direction as well - I was cold.

Post-December 25, 2009

2010-01-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

So does not feel like much has happened since Xmas...

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Xmas - vacation weekend. On the second day off from Xmas weekend, I played in a 3-on-3 volleyball tourney. 4-teams, double elimination. My team won... My second championship here. Second championship on a continent. Booyah.

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The hoped for snow (white) Xmas, did not show up. But it started to snow afterwards. Since then it seems the weather pattern has been 2-3 days of solid snow, 2-3 days of sun, repeated.

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The snow is sometimes quite nice, because unless there is a strong wind, its often not that cold...But the warming up after causes snow melt and water starts puddling and freezing over, Sometimes there are some large icicles (0-4 ft) forming off ledges and roofs.

Here are some pics (about 24 hours apart depicting the snow-coverage around town and then just a day after the difference)

December 24 and 25, 2009

2009-12-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

December 24, 2009 - Christmas Eve....

The picture is me with my two friends and Santa C. We are sitting on the back of a vehicle. This was at the town Christmas Party. From left to right, Me, Laura E., the big man himself, and Craig W.

Party was alright - spirits, a little dancing, slideshow, and hobknobbing.

After the festivities, for a late night snack I ate 6 lobster tails. (Leftovers from lunch - that they would throw away, due to health regulations). This was definitely a two-day holiday (actually one normal day off and one holiday day) of massive eating and some drinking... Very filling but not very healthy feeling afterwards.

December 25, 2009 - Christmas

Christmas day

Slept in.

Had a small brunch.

Shot some hoops.

Went to dinner at 1500.

-Lobster, Prime Rib, Mashed potatoes (these were pretty awesome), duck breast chunks (pretty good as well). I went easy on the lobster (only had 1), but had a big piece of Prime Rib and lots of pieces of duck - GORGED!! I actually only had a little bit room left for desserts.

Played board games with some friends and had some drinks (Yes it was Settlers)

Went to bar and played some shuffleboard.

Late Dinner at 0100.

-2 pieces of lobster and a big piece of prime rib.

Bed.

Happy Holidays...

December 24, 2009

2009-12-23T18:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Day

Well its gettin into the Holiday Season... It is kind of strange being down here during this time of year. Can't believe tomorrow is Xmas. Especially since a lot of my family is actually going to be in San Diego at my parents this year. Most definitely Wish I could be there.

Hoping the camera I bought to replace the broken one arrives next week.

By the way - If I didn't send you a postcard from Antarctica - send me your address (I didn't bring an address book, so I don't have addresses- although I did bring a dress for my Halloween costume)

Today (Thursday the 24th) is still a work day. Friday (Christmas Day) and Saturday are days off and Sunday is a work day, as opposed to the normal one day off a week (Sunday). We also get an extra day off next week for New Years (Saturday the 2nd) and the normal Sunday off as well.

Lots of events this week. Tuesday there was the acoustic show - Great assortment of live music, including some Xmas songs. Wednesday night was the Charlie Brown Christmas Play (short half-hour play that was funny). Today - went to a nearby field camp to enjoy in their Xmas lunch - which was really served and eaten like a dinner (lobster, crab, steak, fresh fruit and salad, egg nog, cider) - was delicious and did put me into the post-lunch coma. There is a town party tonite, so we'll see how that goes. Friday - there is a the special dinner in the galley on Station (I heard its goin to be duck, crab, prime rib among other things). It stopped snowing yesterday, but there is a forecast of a chance of rain this evening - which would be really cool (I'll let you know if it happens).

December 21, 2009

2009-12-20T11:54:00.001-08:00

Weather
Since October, when I arrived the weather at McMurdo has varied a lot. It was really cold when I got here, I'm guessing in the -20s to -30s degrees C average and then it has slowly warmed. we've gotten some pretty warm days recently with temps closer to -10 to 0 degrees C averages. With the warmer weather a lot of the snow banks and snow accumulation on station have disappeared slowly to the point that they are almost completely gone, it was muddy for about 2-3 weeks and now has gotten quite dusty, and water flows through the roads and in culverts has gone from a trickle to fairly strong flows.

The weather the last two days has been pretty beautiful... snow!! Not just old snow blown off the surrounding mountains, but actual snow. It was just a light fall all day yesterday, but now is coming down fairly thick.

Activities
So- I'm not sure what else to write or what people are interested in so I'm just going to start writing about some facets of life here...there are a lot of off-work/free time activites that are planned or are available for people to do. Although, maybe it just feels that way to me because its my first time here.

Here's some thrown together classification of some of the activities:
Partying
-In people's rooms, lounges at the dorms, at the two bars (Southern Exposure and Gallagher's), and at the Coffeehouse (a coffee and wine bar)
-Wine and beer sold at the Store
-Parties sometimes advertised to all or just to some at work centers
Sports
-basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, soccer, climbing wall (all at the indoor gym) - pickup and/or leagues
Training classes
-light-weights/heavy-repitition classes, weight class, boxing class, zumba, abs, yoga, bellydancing, country dancing
-24-hr open weight room and cardio room
Other
-board games and musical instruments that people own and also available for free rental
-Music room (for bands, whoever to practice)
-Arts and crafts room (for arts and craft obviously)
-Stich-n-Bitch (knitting/sewing and gossip group)
-Cribbage group
-Chapel (supported by two priests but open to all donominations)
-Radio show
-Movie nites
-Travelogue presentations
-Science lectures (by researchers on station usually)
Outdoor
-Skiing, skate skiing, mountain bikes, running, hiking (~4-5 trails), swimming (just kidding, I wish), frisbee golf (A lot of the this equipment is available for free rental, but people also bring their own gear)
Events
-Women's Soiree (kind of talent show, variety show)
-Softball Tourney (was yesterday - 6 teams)
-Rugby Match (US Station vs NZ Station)
-Art and Crafts Fair (homemade crafts for sale)
-Bar and Coffeehouse Events (Burger Bar, Live Music, Themed Parties, Acoustic Nite, Open-Mic Nite, Karaoke Nite)
-Theres always attached events to the holidays as well (Thanksgiving, Xmas, New Years)
-Icestock (big music festival)
-Marathon
-5K Turkey Trot
-Runup Ob Hill (short uphill run)
-MAAG (McMurdo Alt Art Gallery) show

-Snoopy Christmas Play

-Xmas Acoustic Show (waste barn sponsored)

-Xmas Party

-Halloween Party

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of now.

Some of my recent activities
Recently I did the Ob Hill run...about 20 people showed up for it. Its a 1 mile or less run up a steep mountain. Everyone had to hike/run up parts of it due to the difficulty and the terrain (skree slope). I took third, but was about a minute behind first and second finishers. (8:11, I believe was my time). Pretty rigorous short run.

Also recently finished a volleyball league. We made it to the finals and went through an intense and crazy few games. The team that I was playin with had gone all season without losing a match...It takes two matches to win a game. So we went into the finals of a double-elimination tourney having beat our opponent already once in the tourney in the first round. We took the first match and then lost the next two to take our first lost game. But being a double elimination tourney we had to play again. This time we lost the first two, but beforehand it had been decided to be a best-of-5 instead of a best-of-3 final game. So we had one more chance...and we pulled it out by winning three straight matches in a do-or-die situation. It was awesome!!! Was definitely dragged out, brutal, intense, adrenaline-filled 2-hours of volleyball...

Over the season, I've been watching a lot of movies. There are two stations on our TV that run movies all day and there are also free rentals from the store. So I've definitely been watching a lot of movies, probably more here than in the past couple of years combined....

Here's a list of some of the ones I've seen:

Movie List

300
Adventureland
Australia
Borat
Breaking Away
Defiance
Himalaya
Into the Wild
Dexter (Season 1)
Flight of the Conchords (Season 1)
Road to Perdition
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
Shanghai Kiss
Star Trek
The Science of Sleep
The Darjeeling Limited
The Magnificent Seven
The Wire (Season 4)
The Simpsons Movie
The Sand Pebbles
Terminator Salvation
Transformers 2
Zack and Miri make a Porno
Straw Dogs
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
UP
Valkyrie

December 12, 2009

2009-12-20T11:40:00.001-08:00

Dry Valleys - Sand Dunes trip

Went on a day trip to get a view of the Sand Dunes in the dry Valleys and an idea of how to set boundaries for it. Possibly use river as a natural boundary...

Pictured above: Landing site at area with good vantage point for sand dunes (special feature) and Lake Vanda in the Dry Valleys.

Pictured below: Sand Dunes at bottom of picture (a unique habitat in Dry Valleys). Classified as a special feature. Glacier on the left mountain.

Helo ride over the sea ice edge...
ICEBERG!!!

Sea Ice Floes

On the ride we saw penguins in the water and on the sea ice edge...

There were seals laying out as well.

We were hoping to spot some orcas, but had no luck this time. Although we probably just missed some because there was some V's that disturbed the water surface indicating some whales had just dived down under the sea ice.

December 7, 2009

2009-12-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

New Harbor and Explorer's Cove Trip

I took a short day trip out to the Dry Valleys - to do a camp environmental audit at New Harbor and to assist two subcontractors in their mapping of the adjacent special feature at Explorer's Cove. The Dry Valleys are an Anarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA), that is subject to higher envt protections because of its unique habitats and biological and geological importance. Special Features are within the ASMA and are subject to even more envt. protection. We took a helo out to the site, and had about 8-9 hours of ground time before we were to be picked up and returned back home to McMurdo.

For the first couple of hours I worked alone and did an environmental audit - which includes, but is not limited to, checking if there was the appropriate storage and secondary containment for fuels, greywater, human waste; proper receptacles for trash and sorting trash; pre-season camp construction plans were followed; followup of any past issues; any noticeable new problems; stocked and available spill kits; correct storage of chemicals; camp and camp equipment is properly secured; any signs of environmental disturbance; ways to decrease the footprint and disturbance of the camp.

After my audit, I ate lunch at the camp with the two subcontractors and then we mapped the special feature tidepools at Explorer's Cove. The tidepools here are a unique habitat and the existing maps of the tidepools were somewhat ambiguous. Thus the subcontractors were here such that they could hike the area utilizing highly accurate GPS and groundtruthing to certain characteristics from aerial maps. From their mapping and field observations of the boundaries of the tidepools a better map and boundaries can be established for this protected area.

This was a great trip...views were spectacular and it was interesting being next to frozen coastline rather than a frozen lake for the first time.

The picture below is a picture facing north. You can see a glacier coming down in the background.

This is a picture of the intersection of small streams (snow and glacier melt I guess) that were feeding into the coastline. Mount Erebus is in the background and the white layer in front of it is the frozen sea ice that is starting to melt and has buckled up from winds, melt, etc. Facing east in the picture.

This is another picture of the intersection of some small streams and the frozen coastal waters. Facing south in the picture.

A skua (seagull-like bird) egg that I happened upon while hiking around and mapping. It was the size of a very large chicken egg, I don't remember the US classifications A, AA, AAA, or is it just extra large, large, medium that describes the size.

November 28, 2009

2009-11-29T01:35:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

Although Thanksgiving was on the 26th, McMurdo Station did not celebrate it until the 28th. We actually received an extra day off for Thanksgiving, also on the 28th. WooHoo, two days off this week.

Saturday morning there was the annual 5K Turkey Trot. I participated in this. It was a little chilly out and on the run out I was definitely on the cold side, especially my hands. My legs were cold too, but that was probably on account of the shorts I was wearing. Just me and one other guy were only wearing shorts on and not shorts with tights or a baselayer at least. It was a fun run though and a fair amount of people turned out. I still need to find out my time...I think I may have made the top 10 finishers.

Thanksgiving meal was great...Best overall meal yet. Funny thing was that the Turkey was maybe the worst part. For the main meal, We had green bean casserole (with fried onions on top), biscuits with honey butter, mashed potatoes and gravy, potatoes and yams, corn casserole/pudding, beef roast, turkey, cranberry sauce, okra, and King Crab. The King Crab was delicious...

The turkey was a combination of pieces from a whole turkey they cooked but also what is called turkey loaf...which is kind of halfway between turkey lunch meat and the regular whole turkey. It is basically turkey smashed and formed into a loaf form and then cut into big slices. Its not bad, but its not the real thing. Consistency is different.

Desserts were all out as well- Parfaits, truffles, pumpkin pie, chocolate-covered strawberries, some kind of mousse, etc.

We had to sign up for a meal time, because there are not enough seats for everyone to eat at once, so they spread the attendees at 3, 5, and 7 PM. I ate at 3 PM with my roommates. After I volunteered to help in the kitchen. I thought for sure I would be washing dishes, but I got lucky and was put in to help in the bakery. I helped kneed and something else bread that was to be baked for sanwich bread for the week, roll dough for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and prepare parfaits for the Thanksgiving desserts.

Then later at midnite there was a meal primarily for the night shift workers, but also after the first half hour for anyone else. I went back for meal 2 and had some turkey and King Crab again... "Today was a good (meal) day." [Ice Cube, I think]

Happy Late Thanksgiving All!

November 25 and November 27, 2009

2009-11-29T00:13:00.000-08:00

This week was Wildlife Week. After seeing my fill of dead animals (mummified seals and the penguin skeleton), this week was the week for seeing some Antarctica wildlife. And No, there are no polar bears in Antarctica.

November 25
On November 25, we took a trip to Cape Royds to do some planning for informational signs marking the Specially Protected Areas for some penguin colonies in the area. We also had a team of subcontractors with us that were using very accurate GPS tools to mark the coordinates for locations of interest for a future management plan for the area.

Cape Royds was a good 2-3 hour ride in a Piston Bulley from McMurdo Station. And the ride was more than worth it. Finally I got to see open ocean!!! (other than the blue horizon that I was able to see during the helicopter rides two weeks ago). For some reason it was comforting to see the ocean - I'm not sure how long I could live in a landlocked area...

Here's the view we first saw upon arriving at Cape Royds.

There were two researchers at the Field Camp at Cape Royds. One that has been doing research for the past 20 years or so on these colonies, that had continued from research started by his college advisor resulting in data going back 40-50 years or so... Quite a good set of long term population data.

The other researcher has been involved at this field camp for 4-5 years, but of interest was that she runs an educational outreach program that involves schools back in the States. The program among other things has a webcam, Q and A sessions, will fly a flag designed by the students at the site, has a website, and will send pre addressed postcards to the students postmarked from Antarctica. Most of the students are in grade school. There is no cost to join the program...

Check out penguinscience.com for more info or let me know if you have any questions.

Heres the outhouse door at the camp...with an appropriate cutout in the door. My only question is how do you tell if that is male or female?

This is a picture of our piston bulley and its tracks...parked at Cape Royds. We had to walk up some mini bluffs to get to the Camp and to the penguin colonies.

Picture of a skua...

We actually saw a lot of snowy petrals at Cape Royds as well. The skua resembles a large brownish seagull.

Penguin!!! Adelie.

Here's a picture of an Adelie colony spread out over the bluffs.

Adelie penguins are the primary penguin species found here, but we were lucky to have seen some Emperor penguins at Cape Royds as well. Here they are moving along the sea ice out towards the open ocean. Emperors are much larger and have a colorful band along their neck.

In this picture you can see both species of penguins heading out towards the ocean on the sea ice. The larger ones are the Emperors and the smaller ones are the Adelies.

This is a pic of a Adelie penguin egg that was just captured and began to be feasted on by some skuas. It is larger than chicken eggs, I would say it is closer to the size of a softball.

The penguins were simply awesome. Very curious towards our, the human presence. The Adelies are quite small, I want to say maybe 3 feet tall. The belly slide is funny... The Emperors are more magnificent looking. But both were so interesting to watch. Have to say this may be one of my favorite visits.

Heres a couple of videos I took of some Adelies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bVjnKfMjLo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZXljMoNtLA

At Cape Royds there is also a hut of Historic Importance that early Antarctic explorers utilized. Here's just a few random pics from inside:

Ummm, sounds tasty....

Boots.

Greens...

Piston-Bulley on the ride home.

As the summer season gets further underway, more of the sea ice has started to melt and more holes in the ice have popped up and thus the presence of Weddell seals has been much more frequent. Here's a pic of one we passed on our way home. You'll just see black logs that are just on the white snow that can't be anything other than seals, because there are no other features on the flat ice...

November 27

Wildlife Week continues. On the 27th, we took a trip out to Big Razorback Island, which was approximately 1-1.5 hours from McMurdo Station.

Here's a picture of the end of the island. The camp was out here, maybe a quarter mile from the rock/ice interchange. It was interesting to find out that there are a set of islands (Big Razorback included), that are all different shaped but are the remants of the outer ring of a former volcano...

The rock/ice interchange causes a lot of cracks and openings to form and thus a large population of Weddell seals can be found in this area. The group of scientists out here have also been involved in long term research on the population. They tag and weigh the seals here among other things.

We had attempted to make a visit out to this site earlier in the season, maybe 3-4 weeks ago, but had run into issues with our vehicle halfway there and had to turn around. So we missed when the seal pups were just being born, but we were still able to see moms and there pups...

A pup feeding.

Pup, with some of its newborn fur still scratching his/her back on the ice.

With the researchers we were able to get pretty close to the seals...The seals were very interested in us, but did not appear to feel threatened and did not threaten us. We were in the vicinity of probably 40 seals at this colony. Some of the research they are looking at is if seals from older mothers have a better survival rate. We heard males and females making sounds, calls. Its funny because some of the sounds were what you would imagine coming from a seal, but some were sounds that were quite electronic-sounding and not very natural.

It was pretty freakin' awesome this week to see the penguins and seals. Very unique experience. Only other time I can remember something like this was seeing/touching the gray whales in Baja. Being this close to sort of rare animals that are not in a zoo or a cage. Crazy, crazy, crazy...

It did remind me of how much I do miss the ocean.

November 16, 2009

2009-11-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

South Pole!!!

I fell into some fortunate circumstances and got scheduled to go to South Pole for about a week. The Pole, as it is shorthandedly referred to/as, is about a 3-hour plane ride on the LC-130 aka Hercs. Here is some more pics of the Hercs:

The purpose of my trip was to get cross trained in taking drinking water and wastewater samples. This involved testing them and sending some back to Christchurch, NZ for laboratory analyses. We also visited some areas where solid wastes have been stored for the past few years to examine/plan for logisitics and removal. Another part of the trip was to get acquainted with the staff and the facilities, including understanding some of the science that is being conducted.

So the Pole is around 9,000 ft elevation, but because of certain atmospheric conditions it can physiologically be the equivalent between 9,ooo - 11,000 ft feet. Because we are basically going from sea level to these higher elevations, the medical staff highly suggest that people take altitude medicine. There is concern of altitude-related pulmonary and brain edema (there are more scientific names for these, that I'll look up later), which can ultimately result in death. Commonly people have some symptoms such as shortness of breath while at rest, headaches, and sleep apnia. I ended up taking the Diamox drug, that I believe increases your respiration rate so that you can attain more oxygen.

In the two weeks leading up to the trip I took, there had been a case of someone not taking one of the two available prescribed drugs and they had to be put in this pressurized bag that is kind of like a portable hyperbaric chamber - it is called a GAMOW bag. This person recovered, but had to go through a nasty experience and were sent back to McMurdo ASAP (shortening their Pole trip). The GAMOW bag is basically a large duffel bag that is airtight and that you can fit in with maybe a foot of space radially around you. The bag is kept at pressure and provided fresh oxygen by a manual pump (the same kind of pumps used to inflate air mattresses). This would not be a fun experience.

The Old Station

This is a picture of me in front of the Geodesic Dome- which was the signature of the last USAP South Pole base. It is somewhat the symbol of the South Pole Station. It is currently being decommissioned/deconstructed at this time. So I was lucky that I got to see this before it is comletely gone. Supposedly one of the problems with this dome was that is would constantly have to be dug out. I heard that the large tractors basically have to operate 24/7 to keep removing snow from around the structure. (This seemed definitely true, while I was there.

Inside of the Dome...I believe people used to sleep in Millvans under the Dome at one time.

The new South Pole Station...Elevated Station. At the time of my visit there was till construction going on, but the main part of the station was done...including berthing, galley, gym, science labs, computer labs, offices, etc. It is constructed for about 200 occupants. Although currently there are more people stationed at the Pole, but some are stationed in "Summer Camp" in Jamesway tents.

My impressions of the Pole...The new elevated station is real nice. I was very lucky and was housed in the station during my one week stay. I actually had my own room and had internet available in my room as well (quite a luxury vs. McMurdo with my 3 roommates and internet only available in the computer lab). It is pretty darn cold here, while I was in town it averaged negative 30 degrees C and with wind chill negative 50 degrees C. I can't imagine what the winter would be like. Although The Southern Lights would be awesome to see.

Heading down the stairs in a building located outside of the Station that will be deconstructed...(Skylab)

Random Frozen fish...

We were able at one point to walk through the ice tunnels. The ice tunnels were carved under the station and have pipes that carry drinking water and wastewater to and from the station. The tunnels are not at all supported by any infrastructure and are pretty far underground and travel a long ways from the station. The walls are somewhat bulging inwards, which is a little scary..but nonetheless very interesting.

The drinking water that is melted from the ice here is very old. Supposedly some of the best water around though.

This is a pic of the green house at the new station...I was able to help out at the greenhouse for an hour or so and harvest the remainder of the plants for consumption as well as clean up the hydroponic system to prepare it for the next planting. They had romaine, arugula, zuchinni, and chard going at the time. It was pretty cool to see Green plants that were still alive....

Picture of a fuel arch. Contains about forty-five 10,000 gallon tanks of diesel... Has an additive to prevent freezing.

Some Science

Science- the reason we are here - to support the research.

Ice Cube. Ice Cube is a project that examines Neutrinos. The building in the picture is the processing center for data that comes from a huge grid of maybe 60 or so modules that each go down a mile or a half into the ground and have sensors that detect light/neutrinos as they go through the ice. It works well here because of the clarity/cleanliness of the ice. The mile and a half is almost to bedrock...(That is some thick ass ice!)

10-m telescope. 10-m diameter dish with what I believe is supposedly less than a 10 micron error in construction. Used to examine big-bang theories. Looking at some kind of energy and light remanants from that event. Definitely something a little (more like a lot) over my head.

Opposite of me, out of the picture, is the BICEPS telescope that is examining related events. Supposedly is on the verge of the "smoking gun" confirming the big bang.

Other science that is being conducted here includes atmospheric research...there are sectors away from the station that have limited access and have certain provisions for entering. This includes a clean air sector, a dark sector, and a quiet sector. The Clean air sector has supposedly the cleanest air in the world.

Not science, but a picture of what is dubbed "SpoolHenge." Leftover spool from cables...

The South Pole

Obligatory "Hero" Shot. At geographic Pole....Bottom of the World.

Ceremonial Pole. Surrounded by Flags of Treaty Nations.

The Pole was pretty sweet for me to get to. I was really lucky and appreciate the chance to have gotten down there. Its interesting that it is so flat other than the human influence. There seems to be a lot less activities to do outside when compared to McMurdo, but there is a different aura here as well. The population is much smaller...250 vs 1000 and theres some sense of pride/bordering on standoffishness that some of the polies seem to have. Not necessarily bad, but there is definitely a different feelin when compared to the aura at McMurdo. Don't get me wrong, everyone there was nice that I ran into, but they almost seem to look at McMurdo residents and the station with disdain. I guess in some ways I understand the Pole is a lot harsher - Colder, Drier, Higher, and more isolated. Someone explained to me that the socially the Pole is better because there is way less people, but at McMurdo there is much more to do and see (on and off base), which I think I can agree to (so far).

November 6-7, 2009

2009-11-24T00:13:00.000-08:00

(Picture from the A-star of Lake Hoare and Canada Glacier)

Camping in the Antarctica Dry Valleys

Scenic and beautiful - Frozen lakes situated along the bottom of the dry valleys with glaciers seemingly feeding and flowing into the lakes from the surrounding mountains.

On my second visit to the dry valleys my coworker (the other envt. tech) and I visited two field camps - Lake Bonney and Lake Hoare. We accessed the camps by the A-star helicopter again. The purpose of these visits was to do an environmental audit, but also to familiarize us (it's also her first time down here), with how a field camp is run, what to look for in our envt. audits, and to learn more about the dry valleys.

Here's a few highlights:

This is an ATV that the camp uses to drive around on the frozen Lake to transport equipment and to collect drinking water. It is not permitted to be driven on the dry lands due to the envt. damage it could cause. Notice the chains on the middle set of tires.

Renewable Energy!!! Here's a picture of solar panels that are used to supplement the energy needs for the camp.

This is a picture of another helicopter transporting a sling load over a glacier. (Seuss Glacier) This was taken while I was sitting in another A-star, hovering above and adjacent to the subject. I think they can haul up to 8000 pounds or something ridiculous in a sling load...(I'll have to check)

My coworker and I spent a night in the dry valleys at the Lake Hoare camp. The camp was occupied by the camp manager and the assistant camp manager. They run the camp and provide oversight, logistics, and just basically run the camp. This includes among other things- a majority of the cooking duties, organization, ordering supplies, and providing any needed support for the scientists conducting their research. At this camp the ideal max capacity is for 12 people. During our visit , it was just 4 of us total at the camp.

One of the tasks that we learned at camp was collecting drinking water. This was done by heading over to the glacier and collecting chunks of ice from sections of ice that have "calved" off the glacier. These were hauled back to camp in the bed of the ATV and in the sled attached to its end. Sometimes a large bar with a flathead tip is used to break/crack up large pieces into smaller pieces. The sizes ranged from football sized to the size of a milk crate. They are called “glacier berries.” Here is a sequence of pictures of my coworker demonstrating the technique...

Here's a good overview shot of the ATV with glacier berries in tow and the site of the "calving"

The glacier berries are taken back to camp and are melting in a stock pot (see pic below) and then filtered for drinking water. This ice is really old...how old? Older than Jesus...seriously. Because its so old, it is kind of a novelty for some people and they like to use it as ice in a cold drink. It's somewhat interesting because there are a lot of gas bubbles in the ice that fizzes and bubbles as it melts.

My first penguin sighting!!!

Here’s a picture of the Scott tent at Lake Hoare Camp that we slept in flanked by Canada Glacier. You can see a calving in the background.

Driving on the lake and walking on the lake, especially along the frozen moat, or outside edges (before it melts later in the summer) is encouraged because it reduces the footprint on the dry land... My coworker and I were able to take an awesome little hike around the area and walk along the Lake. One interesting part of the hike was while walking on the frozen lake surface, every few minutes or so you would here pops as the ice beneath you cracked. It wasn't going to break through or anything, but it was quite startling the first few times. Here's a pic of the lake ice. Notice all the bubbles frozen in it.

Here’s a few pics from our little hike.

Coworker Laura on the Lake as the sun drops behind Seuss Glacier.

Walking along the Glacier.

Ventifacts - rocks formed by the winds…Dry Valleys are characterized by the dryness, lakc of precipitation, and winds among other things.

These are stabil-icers that are worn on the outside of your boots to provide traction on the lake ice.

This is a picture of Lake Hoare with Canada glacier in the foreground and another lake to the right side of the picture, behind Canada glacier and another glacier sitting in the back left.

Me in front of Seuss Glacier to give a little bit of size perspective...And it's actually quite taller further back.

Me, surfing the Seuss Glacier...

Lake.

This area is very, very beautiful...

November 4, 2009

2009-11-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

My new Ride

This week I finally finished the training for proper safety for riding in the helicopters and now am able to travel to some field camps that are a little further away. Today I took my first ride and it was awesome! Flyin in these things are pretty damn cool. There's two main types of helicopters we fly around in down here, the A-star and one they call the 212 (which is bigger - it can carry more cargo and passengers). The A-star fits maybe 6 people total, but probably only 4 comfortably (including the pilot). The A-star is pictured above.

Me in my helmet:

Today we flew to two different sites in the dry valleys. The dry valleys are actually on the mainland of Antarctica (not on an island - McMurdo Station is on Ross Island). The dry valleys have stricter environmental rules because they are protected areas and are classified as an Antarctically Specially Managed Area (ASMA).

A brief description of them is that the Dry Valleys "are the largest expanse of ice-free ground in Antarctica. They contain cold desert soils millions of years old, unusual biological communities, special geological features and minerals and spectacular scenery...The region encompasses a cold desert ecosystem, whose climate is not only cold and extremely arid, but also windy. The landscape of the Area contains glaciers, mountain ranges, ice-covered lakes, meltwater streams, arid patterened soils and permafrost, sand dunes, and interconnected watershed systems...thirty percent of the ground surface is largely free of snow and ice."

Our (meaning the envt. group that I am working with) purpose for visiting was to do an envt. evaluation of two field camps in the dry valleys. To make sure they have the proper secondary containment around fuels and waste, are dealing with solid and liquid wastes appropriately, to test the drinking water supply, to look at camp footprint, to document any issues regarding camp life, to follow-up with any past issues, etc. We visited Blood Falls and Lake Joyce camps.

Here's a picture of our ride flanked by mountain ranges and a frozen lake. The A-star landed next to the first camp, Blood Falls, that we visited. Near Lake Bonney and Taylor Glacier.

Here's the same setting, but from a different angle with the frozen lake, glacier, and mountain ranges in the background.

This is a picture near the next camp we visited. Taylor Glacier is in the background and the foreground is actually Lake Joyce, frozen over. Portions of the Lake melt at different rates as can be seen somewhat in the picture. The lake in the foreground is melting quicker, partially because there is soils and rocks that have blown onto that part of the ice. The white area in the background that abutts up to the glacier and is smoother is actually still the frozen lake. Actually I believe the lake never (rarely?) completely melts but is generally characterized as having a thin overall surface layer with a watery moat that forms on the outer edges later in the summer season.

This is the A-star landing at the Lake Joyce site.

Here's a panoramic video taken from Lake Joyce-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJD9p8czRI

Some of the research that was being conducted at one of the camps (Blood Falls) involved cutting an ice tunnel into Taylor Glacier using chainsaws. This is a picture of my coworkers outside the ice tunnel:

This is a picture of the tunnel into the glacier:

This is the back end of the ice tunnel that opened up into a little room, where the researchers cut out chunks of ice to take back for research. I believe this group was looking at the living organisms in the ice. The brownish band in the wall is the soil and rocks.

Here's a pic from the heli flying above Taylor glacier, looking towards Lake Bonney.

These are cold shot glasses that the researchers made out of chunks of glacier ice.

This is a picture of some other modes of transport. The first one is of the Baslars. I think they were brought in mainly to try and get flights to the South Pole from McMurdo earlier in the season. The second picture are the LC-130s Hercs that are used later in the season, and I guess maybe they are harder to land logistically at the Pole until later in the season. Maybe because of plane weight and/or landing gear and ice conditions?

Here's a picture of "Home" or McMurdo Station...

November 2, 2009 - Discovery Hut and My First Seal

2009-11-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

So after the last post of Halloween- here's a more serious post.
Some Antarctic History.

Went for a hike/tour of Discovery Hut, which is a ~15 minute walk from McMurdo. Discovery Hut was used by the early explorers of Antarctica (erected in 1901 by Robert Scott and the Discovery party) and many remnants of these expeditions still remain. See the date imprinted on the crate in the first picture above. Here's some pics.

Boxes of food stuffs:

This is a toilet... (FG and CH would be screwed!):

I bet they probably ate these at points:

This is the stove they had with a kettle of seal blubber chunks still in it - I believe they ate these as well as used them for heating/fuel:

My first seal! Kind of, but not really. Mummified. Was right outside of the Hut:

One interesting thing about the hut was that there was anthrax cultured from it. This was not considered a serious health threat, but warning was given and we weren't allowed to touch anything and must clean out boots when entering/exiting the hut.

October 31, 2009 - Halloween

2009-11-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

So I am admittedly about a week or so behind in the posts...I have a plethora of excuses of why, but hopefully will do som catching up in the next few days.

Halloween - Fell on a Saturday nite, which was nice because Sunday is most people's one day off per week. Although either way I think they would have had a big party on Saturday nite. I had been given notice that Halloween is a big party down here. And it was. A lot of people came out some with very creative, some with very elaborate, and some with very simple costumes...

Here is mine-
Full Name: Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking
Short: Pippi Longstocking

There was a couple of really great group costumes. One group made little cars out of cardboard boxes that they wore over their shoulders and dressed up like Mario Kart (only thing missing was the Tupac)... Here's the X-men:

Here's MC Hammer complete with lines in his hair, Ghost (? something from cartoon network's Adult Swim), and a vampire. The first two I play volleyball with and the vampire is my coworker.

Here's a Banana (he's missing his peel) breakin' it down. His costume was actually really good, he fashioned some cardboard into a peel and wore it over his head. I need to learn his dance moves.

The party was a good time. There was a costume contest, dancing, socializing, and drinking.

October 26, 2009 - Day 18

2009-10-27T11:21:00.001-07:00

Sea Ice Training
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Random Pics
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An Iceberg (first one I've seen - beautiful blueish tones)

Me in front of iceberg - to give some perspective on size

Some island.

Me in front of Mount Erebus (still active). You can see it smoking/steaming.

Went to my last major training - “Sea Ice.” So today I really learned what sea ice is. With the exception of the sea ice runway, what I probably referred to as sea ice before was not in fact sea ice. For example, the “Happy Camper” course was not on sea ice as I previously thought, but on the frozen Ross Ice Shelf – basically frozen water and snow on the Ross island shelf. Sea Ice is actually frozen ocean or sea water. McMurdo Station is located on Ross Island and is completely surrounded by sea ice and the frozen ice shelf. The sea ice and the ice shelf melt, but dependent on conditions only certain portions may melt.

We learned how to identify and assess cracks in the sea ice, such that when we travel over sea ice we can determine if they are safe to cross. Cracks are caused by tidal forces, temperature, winds, radiation, etc.

Identification of cracks are mostly visual. Assessment involves assessing the depth (thickness) of sea ice and how wide the crack is at the crossing point. The general guidelines for assessment are: To clear the snow off the ice to visualize the crack Auger holes through the sea ice over the width of the crack and at the ends of the crack Put these holes in approximately 18 inches apart With the type of vehicle we were using a crack could be 24 inches wide and it would be safe to cross (determined by track length on vehicle).

Taking a measurement of sea ice thickness/depth after hole was augered through to ocean water.

A line of auguered holes taken on the edges of a crack and in the crack.

Two picture of cracks:

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If the sea ice is thicker than 20 feet that particular section is considered safe and not part of the width of the crack.

Here’s a pic of the Haaglund that we rode in.

Hope to add a video here of us augering into the sea ice and pushing through to the ocean water.

(Part of assessing safety of crossing crack)

We also learned how to make anchors (i.e., tents) in the ice and visited an ice cave. Here is a video of the ice cave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-makL6iaiY

October 2009 - Happy Camper Videos

2009-10-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

The video was too big to post here - so check it out. Hope it works.

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The squeaking in the video is the sound of the ice/snow as one walks or moves around. First you'll see the outside of the Kwinzi (or Quinzie -spelling?) that I helped build and slept in for a night with 3 others, then the camp. Surrounding area, Mountain tents, cooking area/galley, Scott tents, and then me entering and exiting the Kwinzi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0OADBPCZQI

This video was taken by a fellow camper on the morning after we camped out on the ice. I am the third of three people that you see wearing a black jacket appearing around :10-:11 seconds in. I'm not sure if the video does the actual scene justice, but it'll give you an idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da15DU53ccY

Day 12-13

2009-10-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

October 20-21

HAPPY CAMPER

FYI- time zone. We are 4 hours behind California time, but one day ahead OR 20 hours ahead - however you want to look at it.

So Tuesday and Wednesday were very interesting days. Starting Tuesday morning and going to Wednesday afternoon I attended a course called Snowcraft I, or better known by its nickname "Happy Camper." This course is sort of a survival course in which students are taught safety and awareness of working and being at locales that are not near McMurdo Base. Thus if we are caught in harsh conditions, we have the knowledge, experience, tools of how to survive and how to stay warm. Some of things that we were shown:

MSR Whisperlite Stove (a backpacking stove, how-to-use, how-to-maintain)
Safety/Awareness/Ways to Prevent being cold-frostnip-frostbite
Proper personal gear to wear (PPE of sorts)
How-to-build shelters in the ice and how-to-erect mountain tents and Scott tents (more on this later)
Use of VHF and HF (like a Ham radio) radios
Went over some safety videos for boarding/deboarding helicopters

Me personal geared out.

Three instructors led the twenty students in the class to an area maybe 30 minutes from McMurdo. This area was on the sea ice, i'm guessing 3-4 miles from the base. Sort of seemed like a valley amid mountains, although in the late morning when we arrived the visibility was poor and we couldn't see any of the surrounding mountains. (wikipedia defn of Sea ice - is largely formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about -1.8 °C (28.8 °F). Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs, which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean. Icebergs are compacted snow and hence fresh water.). When we got there, we had lunch...which consisted of stiff sandwiches and hard candy bars. We then were prepped for camping out the night on the ice - thus "Happy Camper." The instructors gave us some directions and showed us some techniques for creating shelters and a camp and then left us to our own devices while they went over to stay in an enclosed tarped "Jamesway" type shelter that was heated - this was maybe a half mile from where our camp was.

Things we did/learned how to do...

More traditional shelters:

Put up Scott tents - Teepee like shelters but with 4 corners, fairly large. Put up Mountain tents - Normal 4-season backpacking type tent

Less traditional shelters:

Create a Kwinzi - Native american origin, sort of ice cave, igloo-like, shelter Create ice trenches - trench/passageway underground to try and stay out of wind/trap hot air. (You could get creative with these, but were a lot of work digging.) Create ice blocks - simple to do, but a decent amount of work. For use in shelter construction and creation of walls for wind blocking. Hand saw and a shovel are only tools needed.

Other things:

Hold water bottle inside jacket and upside down to help prevent freeezing
Best methods for cooking
Best methods for staying warm (minimizing sweating, layering, moving around, looking out for each other, Sleep with a hot water bottle, fit as many people as possible into shelter, venting tent to prevent ice crystals from forming inside, not consuming alcohol contrary to popular belief) Changing socks to avoid trench foot
Safety plans
Pee bottle - a nalgene that you can pee in so you don't have to go outside. For women there is some sort of attachment or funnel that you can use. Is awesome for not having to go out in cold. I haven't had need to use yet though. Clearly Marked with a P on the lid and PEE written on the outside so not to get confused with drinking bottle.

I slept in the Kwinzi with four other people. I have a video of the overall camp that I'm trying to post but it hasn't worked yet...

Night
So, the night. Went to sleep early around 8:30ish, although I wasn't tired, but unless I was moving around my feet and hands would get real cold. So decided to go to sleep - I climbed into the Kwinzi, tucked into a fleece blanket and then into a mummy bag that was sitting on two mats (for insulation), wearing just my baselayers, switched to clean, dry socks, pulled on my beanie and tried to go to sleep. In the Kwinzi, i had one of the spots that was close to the wall so the walls of the cave were a little tight on me. I few times I tried to sit up and adjust my laying down position and my head would scrape the top of the wall and chunks of ice would fall on me. It actually was decently warm in the bag, it was in no way comfortable though. But passable. I don't feel like I slept at all, but had my eyes closed for many hours. At least two of my Kwinzi-mates slept well though, b/c I could hear their light snores within 10-15 minutes.

Morning

The morning. Upon wake up, the camp plan was to make and boil water for hot drinks and oatmeal and then pack up camp. But upon exit of the Kwinzi we found that the visibility was really bad, it was crazy windy, and really, really cold. So alternate plans- everyone starting just packing up camp - there wasn't really anything else you could do. This was a mess. Things were blowing around, vis sucked, there were all kinds of little potholes in the ground from our camp that people would step in and fall, and it was really, really cold (did I already say this?). One of the worse parts was trying to remove the rainflys from the mountain tents. These were attached by little black plastic clips that have to be squeezed on both sides and then slid out (normal type of clips on backpacks and tents). With big gloves on this was impossible, so you would have to remove your big gloves and then just wearing liners try to do this. But this was hard to do even with just liners on. I tried to squeeze one and I had to take multiple tries and had to use lots of effort just to pop off this small little clip. This was b/c the coldness had stiffened up my hands really bad. It was really, really cold. Clothes, neck gaiter, gloves, etc. would stiffen if they were wet at all. Chunks of ice would get stuck on your eyelashes. It was quite a scene and a mess. But we managed to get it all packed together and put away into the storage units adjacent to the campsite. During this morning fiasco, I wasn't wearing goggles because they had gotten a little condensation on them and then the condensation had froze making the visibility thru them horrible. But I was wearing a full balaclava that covered my nose and mouth and head (with the exception of some breathing/vent holes) to protect my face. Near the end of the cleanup someone noticed that I had some whiteness on my cheeks (an early sign of frostnip), and I was given someone else's goggles to don for a while. My cheeks were definitely cold, but there had been no other signs that caused me much concern. The ice chunks on my eyelashes sucked and the winds blowing in your face sucked, but I wasn't losing any sensation or anything. But my feet and hands hurt a lot from the cold. (Note: the next day, the tips of two of my fingers are a little hard and kind of numb - some light frostnip effects I guess)

Here's a pee block (Urinal for the males) that is outside and next to the outhouse. Kind of disgusting.

Anyways we got it all done and completed our training, but here's a picture of my frostnip/windburn (it's actually a lot darker then it looks in the pic):

No one else really had this problem...and as if I didn't stand out enough already (being asian and with long hair). HA! It sort of just feels like a sunburn right now (dry, tight skin, and a little sore). Happy Camper was an awesome experience...

If I can get the video to post...First you can see the mountain tents and some people cooking in the established kitchen and eating area and then the two tall (teepeeish) Scott tents and then me entering and then exiting the Kwinzi that I slept in.

Day 10

2009-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

First Week of Work on the Books
So finished my first week of work last week. Work week is Mon-Sat, 0730 to 1730. We get two 15-minute breaks and a 1-hr lunch. The days don't feel so long, its that additional day that makes the week seem much longer. The week included lots of trainings for vehicle usage and for traveling to restricted areas. Ski-doo (snowmobile) training was definitely the funnest. After a 45-min to 1-hour classroom safety and maintenance training, we got to drive the ski-doos around for 40 minutes.

Food
Food here is pretty good. Some meals are really good, others are mediocore. Although there seems to be only "freshies" - meaning fresh fruit and vegetables only 2-3 days of the week so far. When there are freshies, there is usually a big rush and longer lines. People often take extra food when there are meals that they really like - they'll either saran wrap a plate or bring in tupperware. Everyone has a refrigerator in there room to store drinks and or food. Meals are at set times: 0500-0730 for breakfast, 1200-1300 for lunch, 1730-1930 for dinner, and a 2400-0100 midnight meal called "midrats" (this meal is for nite shift workers, but is open to everyone after 2430). PB and J sandwich making materials and cereal are available at any time.

Pictures
Here's some more pics:

The Logo. The crosshairs near the middle of the continent is the South Pole.

Map to help show positioning in world with pen pointing to where McMurdo is.

Overview of most of McMurdo Station. Taken from Observation Hill.

Here's a plane on the sea ice runway, if you look close you can see a red-orangish speck in the top left of the picture, that's a helicopter. We are scheduled to fly in the helis later. The runway supports C-5, C-17, C-141, C-130, LC-130, and Twin Otter aircraft.

Here's some pics of some of the vehicles out here. There are many vehicles out here that look really fun to operate/drive. I kind of feel like a kid in the sandbox playing with my tonka trucks, looking at all of them and thinking how cool they are. I think I'll be limited to the piston bully, ski-doos (snowmobiles), ATVs, and trucks. (Although I don't have one complaint - these all are going to be sweet to use, with the exception of the truck being the norm)

This is Ivan the Terra Bus. Its used as a shuttle to and from the airfields. Its huge, there isn't really a frame of the reference in the picture, but the tires are very close to my height 5-6 feet tall.

This is a Piston Bully.

This is a Challenger. Its mostly used for transporting cargo. Two pictures.

Day 2 - Day 4

2009-10-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

Day 2

In the US Antarctic Program (USAP), everyone that comes down is issued clothing. This consists of a variety of fleece, thermal, wind, and insulated baselayers, underlayers, jackets, coveralls, gloves, and boots. I think the point is that you have at least one set of Extreme Clothing Wear (ECW) - in case you get stuck outside during a major storm or want/need them while working in the cold. People often wear their own technical gear, but most seem to wear a combination of their own gear and the issued clothing. I have heard that later in the summer it'll warm up and you can wear shorts when heading to the gym. Other issued clothing and gear is work clothing that is usually pretty heavy duty, may be insulated, and can be particular to the job you are doing on the ice. These items are loaned to you for the duration of your stay and then are returned.

Some of the general gear that I have is:

Insulated Carhartt Parka

Insulated Carhartt Jacket and Coveralls

Wind Jacket (Shell)

Balaclava

Leather Gloves

Ski Gloves

Glove Liners

Wool Socks

Blue FDX Boots

Observation on the People - a lot of facial hair on the guys (beards, 'staches) and long hair. Ha - one way that I'll fit in (at least with the long hair, not so much the facial hair). Because everyone is issued the same type of gear, it makes it a lot harder to determine who is who, especially outside. Even when people wear their own things, its always some technical patagonia, north face, and/or mountain hardwear gear that doesn't really help with distinguishing anybody. Ratio is probably 3:1 - guys to girls, there are a large range of ages from one kid I met that is 19 (although most are older) to people that are easily in their 50s. At the peak, there is approximately ~1100 people at McMurdo Station with ~75% of them support staff and the rest researchers.

Day 4

Some of the activities that I've done on station so far (besides work)- is gone to "Gerbil Gym" (treadmills, stationary bikes, etc.), weight room (free weights and machines), and the climbing wall, and participated in pick-up basketball and a yoga class. There seems to be quite a lot of activities going on, but there is also a lot of free time b/c you don't have to spend much time cooking or cleaning and there are limited places to travel to. Just found out today too that you can check out up to two dvd movies from the store for free to watch on your computer.

But, actually the best activity so far was a hike that I did tonite around midnight with a couple of fellas I met up to what I believe is Observation Point. It was a 25 minute hike from my dorm and had a beautiful lookout over McMurdo Station, the New Zealand (Kiwi) Station (also called Scotts Base), Mount Erebus (an active volcano), and the mountain ranges to the Southwest. The cross in the picture is the memorial cross constructed of Australian jarrah, dedicated to Robert Cross and his polar party.

Finally!

2009-10-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

October 9, 2009

Arrival

After about a week of orientations, trainings, briefings, some downtime, checkpoints, layovers, and flights - FINALLY arrived at Antarctica, also known as the ice.

Flight pattern:
Departed 10/3 and Arrived 10/9
San Diego, USA - Denver, USA - Los Angeles, USA - Sydney, AUS - Christchurch, NZ - McMurdo Station, Antartica

Interesting note: Actually landed on the ice shelf and not on land, so technically didn't actually arrive on Antarctica until some time into the 45-minute ride to McMurdo station. It was -30 degrees on arrival.

First Oh-yeah-I'm-in-Antartica Experience

On the flight down, we flew in this massive C-170 US Air Force Plane. My first experience on the ice took place on the plane: with 45 minutes left until landing, the flight crew announced that anyone who needed to use the lavoratory should use it now. Now, on this plane there was only one lavoratory for approximately 100 people and since the time it was allowed to use the lavoratory, there had been a constant line of 3-15 people. So at this last call, immediately a long line formed and I decided to wait until it dwindled down to try and urinate one last time (I didn't need to go that bad at this time). Anyways, the line dwindled but before I could get up and go, the air crew announced that everyone needed to be in there seats with seatbelts fastened. So I just decided to hold it, thinking there was 15 minutes left on the flight. But when they announced 5 minutes later that there was 25 minutes left I started to get antsy and was worried I wouldn't be able to hold it. So I asked a crew member if I could use the lavatory and he said I'd have to wait. Anyways once we landed and had finished taxiing, I beelined for lavoratory and made it. As I was urinating - I noticed that I was peeing onto a little frozen toilet water lake. It didn't even melt with my urine. So that was my first on ice experience.

Arrival (continued)

First Thought on arrival: Wow! Really have No Words though. Part of me is just relieved to finally have made it, other part is just trying to orient myself. Very picturesque. I snapped a few photos right after landing, but then my hands got really, really cold - especially my fingers. May not take as many photos as I would like until later in the summer, when it warms up a little more.

Definitely a different feeling being somewhere where you are completely new, don't really know too many people, don't know where anything is, not sure how everything works.

Really reminds of freshmen year in college: dorm, cafeteria, community-life, different social scenes, etc.

My second Oh-yeah-I'm-in-Antartica experience - after yet another orientation and briefing, grabbing my bags, picking up my dorm keys, picking up my linens, and then having dinner in the cafeteria I went to my room to unpack. At 8:30 pm I went to meet some coworkers at a place called the coffeehouse that was having open mic nite and serves coffee, whiskey, wine, and Baileys. As I walked out of the building I was expecting darkness, but yet it was light outside - which I know happens, but I just unconciously was expecting darkness. So far it seems to be kind of an overcast late morning light all day.