Out and About

 

Can you spot all 14 sheathbills??There have been a lot of sheathbills around this season. I think it is because there is a dead seal not too far away and the pickings are easy off that buffet. 

I went for a ski, probably the only one I will get in this year because the snow is melting very fast this year. The snow is currently at end of December levels (e.i. not much left of the glacier at all). This is a moderately sized elephant seal track, with skis for scale.  

There is still some sea ice present in the very protected coves, like here under the Point 8 cave. The skylight has gotten bigger, I think it may collapse this year, or at least get very very thin. 

Nice ice on one of the Point 8 beaches. 

Kelp Gull for scale. 

A pair of elephant seal pups making the cutest noises on Amsler Island. 

Who's around?

Besides the new elephant seal pups, there are only a few other critters around right now. While getting trained on the operation of small boats a few sheathbills came to say hello. 

We have also had a large number of cormorants around station this season, possibly due to their high fledge rate last season. 

There have been several occasions where a large group of 20-30 individuals will land on Gamage point and hang out for 20 minutes or so. 

The Gentoos over on Point 8 are also back, and look like they are preparing to nest there again. This is a band new nesting location for this species which is a pretty special thing to witness the colonization of a new area by these sub-polar penguins. 

And the ever present elephant seals. There seem to be more with developed noses this year. 
 

The Gathering of the Penguins

There are at least five brand new elephant seal nursing on elephant rocks. They are hard to take photos of from a boat, but we could hear them making silly baby seal noises. 

The bird scientists won't be able to come down this season because the construction crew will need all the beds available. Because they are missing so much data this year they decided to set up game cameras to take hourly photos of the penguins season while the scientists are away. I had to go out and change the batteries in preparation for the summer season. 

They are just starting to group up and gather rocks for their nests. There colony sites are still mostly covered in snow and ice. It's not quite egg laying time yet. 

There is a fun arch on the glacier, so far it's held for a week, we'll see how much longer it lasts!

 

Arrival to the Peninsula

We left the sun in the open ocean and entered the clouds that were clinging to the Antarctic Peninsula. 

The clouds conveniently lifted for a few scenic hours before a thick fog, heavy snow, and high winds made for a very rocky last night at sea. 

Cool shapes.

Big berg in the fog.

All the mountains still have their winter rime, it's not quite spring here yet. 

This is a slushy snow ice mixture that was starting to form baby pancake ice. This forced the ship to slow down to 3 knots (down from our top speed of 10 knots). The ship needs to go slow so the water intakes for cooling the engines don't get full of ice and seize up. 

The wind calmed down. The ice, fog, and glassy water made for an eerie evening. 

The wind moves the new sea ice faster than the larger chunks of ice. These chunks are referred to as "ice of land origin" meaning they fell off a glacier somewhere. 

An island with bands of aptly named "grease ice" in the fore ground.

A lovey ice berg. 

This is Dayne, it's one of my favorite mountains in the area. IT is 2395 feet high and was first climbed in 2000. 
 

Engine Room and Departure

I have crossed the Drake nine times now, and this is the first time I have been able to get a tour of the engine room! 

It was very interesting to get a look at a whole new section of the ship, especially the section that makes it go!

Here is the crank style phone, so that the bridge and the engine room can talk to each other in the event of a power outage.

The silver clamshell labeled number two to one of the two flash desalinators that the ship using to make fresh water. 

After two weeks in port, we are finally under way!

Exiting the west side of the straights of Magellan is more scenic than the east side, but we hit the open ocean sooner, and stay in rough seas almost a day longer. But the pilot doesn't need to guide the ship for as long, keeping our bubble safe.

The southern most tip of the contiguous Americas continent.  

Here is the bridge. This is where I spend most of my time during the crossing, knitting, listening to books, and talking with the mate on duty. Best views on the ship. 

 

September: The long Migration

 The journey down to the ice remains extra complicated due to the pandemic. After four days and two COVID tests in San Francisco we boarded the  charter flight to Punta Arenas, wit ha stop in Dallas for refueling. 

Four days with a fun view of the runway from the airport hotel pictured above.

The social distanced flight 14ish hour charter flight is an airline which was showing it's age (my seat recliner broke and wouldn't come back up to it full and upright position). 

Nice views over the Chile and Argentina's Southern Ice field, it will be fun one day to get back to traveling. Hopefully soon. 

A terrible zoomed in photo of a large group of flamingos getting ready for summer in the southern hemisphere.

An old ship wreck on approach to the Punta Arenas airport. 

After another COVID test in the airport upon arrival we boarded a bus for a three hour ride to Puerto Natales for our two week Chilean mandated quarantine.  

The hotel was fairly new. There was a field for wandering about and interesting birds to watch. We saw condors, ibis, lawings, several types of cara cara, an owl, and lots of song birds. 

The internet was slow, if you could connect to it, but the clouds were always fun to watch. 

After two weeks and two more COVID tests and a lot more paperwork we got back on the bus and drove the three hours back to Punta Arenas to get on board the LMG. The LMG is 210 feet long and is nearing the end of it's contract serving Palmer. Once the new pier has been built the NBP, the larger of the programs science vessels will be able to dock at Palmer. This may be our last trip across the Drake on the LMG. We are still in port, waiting on delayed cargo before we can head south. We 

The NBP is 282 feet long, 30 years old, and will be going into dry dock this year to be retrofitted with a fuel system addition to be able to fuel Palmer Station. This will be the future resupplying vessel for Palmer Station.

This year on station will be much different than past seasons. The 50+ year old (temporary) pier that was built by the SeaBees is going to be replaced with a new and larger pier. This means that there will be no scientists on station, just me maintaining the long term land based science while the rest of the station will be in low personal maintenance mode supporting the 20-30 pier builders that will be on station working 12 hours days, 7 days a week, starting in a couple months. It is going to be a busy, crazy, exciting year to be on station. Sadly there will be less science, less boating, and less opportunities for wildlife viewing but that is the price of progress that is sorely needed.