Halloween and other such fun

McMurdo from the top of Observation Hill

We keep so busy that I have such little time to write this blog, I am super sorry I can't keep on top of the blog. This is a bummer because each day here is a neat and unique experience that deserves tons and tons of writing and photographs. We dive almost everyday here, but we have had a few days off from diving this weekend because all our gear is packed up! Yup - tomorrow we take off in a helicopter and fly to New Harbor. This is an established field camp on the other side of McMurdo Sound. I'll be there for a week (maybe two depending on various things). We are supposed to have access to email, but I'm not expecting that to work.

We did a couple great dives at a spot called Cinder Cones - you can see the Tucker (our tracked vehicle) and the dive hut below.


After the dive we walked up the nearby hill to get some great views of McMurdo Sound and goofed off a bit in our dive underwear. All 4 divers are pretty hot eh?

Last night was the big Halloween party. This is a huge deal in McMurdo and some people spend a lot of time making their costumes. Jennifer and I had been working a few hours here and there on our costumes too! You can read about the big night here: http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/antarctic-seafloor-ecology/journals/october-30-2010-halloween-in-mcmurdo

The entire crew of B200

I was a jellyfish - there was even a flashing light that went off into my bell head

If you want to know more about the diving you can read this journal: http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/antarctic-seafloor-ecology/journals/october-28-2010-the-world-under-the-ice-pictures-inf

And if you want more information on the historic huts that I've uploaded tons of photos of you can read this: http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/antarctic-seafloor-ecology/journals/october-26-2010-the-terra-nova-hut-a-refuge-scott-an

Today was our second full day off since we arrived a little over a month ago. We celebrated by sleeping. And then Jennifer, David, and I walked up Observation Hill and slid down the hill like penguins. Then we walked all the way around the hill and almost got blasted off the hill by the super powerful winds. Whew!

Jennifer and David penguin sliding down Ob Hill

Let's hope for good flying weather tomorrow when we take off! New photos can be found here, just scroll to the bottom: http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/AntarcticaOctober#

Terra Nova Hut and Ice Wall Diving

I think I did one of the most incredible dives I've ever done in my life yesterday. We went to Cape Evans on our day "off" for a fun dive on a wall of ice (really a grounded glacier underwater). I am not sure how to explain how cool this dive was. Probably over 1000 ft. visibility, tons of light (the ice is only 4 ft. thick there and there is not a lot of snow) and a wall of ice 150-200 ft. high! We just swam along the wall, watched a big Weddell seal swim, and then came back along a rocky wall next to the ice wall....and looked at soft corals, anemones, carnivorous sponges, sea spiders, and fishes! It was unreal. I hope to paint it one day.... I didn't bring a camera so I could just take in the views. But Stacy had a small video camera, so I may be able to share some underwater photos of this place. Our diving safety officer calls is the best dive in the world. He may be right.

We dove right along the ice wall and rocky wall that extend above the sea ice here

Here is the glacier from above.... I will remember what it looked like below forever I hope

After the dive we all went to visit Scott's hut from the early 1900s called the Terra Nova hut. I dream of having time to research this history more and write a blog about it, but it is 8pm and we are still working so I have to make this a short blog. I haven't even uploaded my photos from this hut, but it was amazing. Everything is intact including seal blubber they used for burning to heat the hut, to penguins, to oatmeal and their reindeer sleeping bags. Amazing.

Here I am in the lab....they came for science and exploration and it was really neat to see the old science tools here.

Underwater in Antarctica

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

I am still adjusting to diving under ice here, but I am getting better and better at diving each day. This is good because we are diving pretty much every day now! Right now we are diving on a spot called Dayton's Plateau. We go through a hole of 10 ft. thick ice (some of the ice is over 20 ft. thick, so this is "thin" ice). Then we head to the bottom at about 60 ft. and swim over to a wall. All along this wall from 60-200 ft. are cages that Paul Dayton put out in the 60s and 70s to exclude predators from eating sponges. He didn't get good results from the predator experiment because ecological processes happen too slowly in this cold water. ut the cages acted like open bottom space and Paul is now studying what species grew on the cages through the decades. The divers can't go to the deeper cages now which is why the team has SCINI (the cool ROV). So SCINI does the dep stuff and the divers go to the cages that are above 130 ft., take photos of the cages, collect interesting species that might not be described yet, and bring it all back to smiling Paul. I don't know of anyone who smiles more than Paul. It is a delight to work for him and bring him treasures (sponges and bryozoans) that make him happy.

See the cage?

Our hole from under the ice

Jennifer looks up at the hole (is there a diver in there or a seal??)

This was grabbed from a video - so it isn't super clear. But you can get an idea of how clear the water is. I've never seen anything like it. It really is like flying through air..... you could forget you were underwater with ease here.

OK marine bio nerds - this is COOL! This is a sponge that has been eaten and this is the remaining spicule skeleton. The sea stars that ate the sponge are still there scooping up the scraps. Yummy. Neat eh?

This is a huge volcano sponge with some anchor ice growing on it (look for long spiky ice)

There are more underwater photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/AntarcticaUnderwater#

Hope everyone is doing well - I really miss Jay and my family and my cats...... but I am also happy to be here in a place I've dreamed of for so long......

Busy!

Mt.Erebus (active volcano)

We work long days here in the Antarctic and every time I think I will have time to write a blog, I don't! So it is late now and I want to go to bed...... I've posted more photos in my Picasa account and those tell stories on their own. Life is good here though, it is gorgeous. I'm slowly getting used to the cold and the diving and enjoying each day more and more!

Yesterday (Sunday) was a treat - we didn't dive or work! So we went for a hike around the base...here are some photos from that!

See how warm I am?

Jennifer and Stacy

Me, chipping ice from a dive hole with a Weddell seal in the background

This is a real treat - this is a huge sea spider (pycnogonid). Normally they are so small you can rarely find them on dives...here they are giant! This one is in a touch tank....

Stacy and her buddy in the hole

Sunset colors on the sea ice

More photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099

More pictures

More pictures are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/AntarcticaOctober#

We are officially done with training now and ready to start some science!

First dive!

I did my first dive in Antarctica today! It was pretty incredible and totally totally freezing. I am, without a doubt, the cold wimp on the team. It sucks being the wimp, but you are what you are and I am not warm under there. That said, I think there are some simple things I can to to keep my body a bit warmer in the 27 degree water. I'll need to dive again (Saturday) to see if that helps! We are working from 7:30am until about 10pm so I am exhausted and will leave these pictures to tell the story so I can go to bed.

My good luck charm - a sweet juvenile Weddell seal was using our dive hole for a breathing hole right before our dive. Damn cute.

Getting geared up (me in blue and black, John in black and purple)

That is my head in the hole! Just about to go down....

This is the TUCKER - the cool tracked truck that we get to drive around on the sea ice. Henry and Jackson - I get to drive this! Am I am cool Aunt or what? =)

First round of photos

Here is the link to the first round of photos from Antarctica!

http://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/AntarcticaOctober#

And here is the web site for the live webcam of McMurdo!

http://www.usap.gov/videoclipsandmaps/mcmwebcam.cfm

Iceaged members Jennifer, David, Kevin, and Tina

Here is a big rig for my nephews!

Once again, I’m a bit short on time to write. Today we had the day “off”! Jennifer and I slept for 12 hours each….wandered to building 155 where we ate a huge breakfast and then headed to the lab. We needed to help out with organizing lab space, setting up computers, finish taking a training course on driving the trucks around here, and organizing dive gear. We spent a lot of time in the dive locker getting things set up and talking to me and Kevin about diving under the ice (Kevin is also new to diving in Antarctica). We learned how to deal with regulators that freeze up (lucky for us, they freeze open and delivering a steady stream of air) and masks that freeze up. I know a bit more about what to expect and I think I’ll be OK, although nervous for the first dive – which is scheduled for Thursday!

So what have we done since we arrived? Well, we have limited time and it is very expensive for us to be here – so we do not waste time! Once we were off the plane we headed straight to the cafeteria for a briefing and then to our lab where we unpacked boxes and boxes of gear. That took the entire day! We crashed fast after dinner, but we did have a little time to unpack! Jennifer and I celebrated our arrival with a beer. Yes, you can buy beer down here.

The next morning we headed straight to the classroom to begin our survival training – called “happy camper” training because, yes, we were learning how to survive on the ice. The training was great – we spent the morning in the classroom and headed out to the sea ice to set up camp around 11pm. We were outside from that point for 24 hours in temperatures ranging from -20F to 13F. I was surprised at how warm I was most of the time. I lost my feet and hands a few times, but jogging in the heavy jacket back and forth along the ice could bring them back and then they would stick around for hours.

We learned how to set up tents on the ice and tie them down for strong winds, we learned how to build walls from the snow (we used a saw to hack out hunks of snow – very cool), and we learned how to fire up stoves in cold temperatures. The course also stuck buckets on our heads to mimic blizzard conditions and sent us wandering around. There was a lot to pack in for the training! The two instructors left us around 6:30pm and we were on our own for the night. I froze at night, but I did a few things wrong that I can correct for future camping.

Now we are back at McMurdo and I’m still a bit sleepy and recovering from jet lag. My team members seem really really great and I’m excited about all the science we will be doing. We will be working hard – but I think it will be really fun!

View of the happy camp