Breaking through the ice
The Oden coming in to port...a seal in the bottom right corner.
Some penguins came over to say hi, while we watched the Oden at work.
A seal. You can see his track in the snow going between the two different holes.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Ice breaker, penguins, and a seal
We now have contact with the outside world other than just by plane. The first ship of the season has made it in to port. It is a Sweedish icebreaker, The Oden. It broke the channel out of the ice, so that other vessels can make it into the station. It took quite awhile for the icebreaker to make it through the ice. It had to break its way through the ice for about 30 miles. The icebreaker uses weight to break the ice and not momentum or force. It rides itself up onto the ice, and then it pumps water up to the front of the boat, and the weight pushes down on the ice until it gives way. The boat then backs up a ways, runs up on the ice again, and repeats this over and over and over again. The ice that it broke through is seasonal ice. The seasonal ice doesn't melt away like ice on a lake does. Rather, what happens, is the ice will break apart and will flow out into the open water of the ocean where it will then melt. Depending on the season more or less ice will break out. The last few years the ice has not been breaking out very well, and this is due to very large icebergs clogging up the channel. The Oden has arrived in port and is back out in the ice trying to get the channels as clear as possible before the other ships arrive. There are three more ships yet to arrive. One is the Nathanael B. Palmer a research vessel, a container resupply ship, and a fuel tanker. All of them will come into port over the next two weeks, but one at a time.
Breaking through the ice
The Oden coming in to port...a seal in the bottom right corner.
Some penguins came over to say hi, while we watched the Oden at work.
A seal. You can see his track in the snow going between the two different holes.
Breaking through the ice
The Oden coming in to port...a seal in the bottom right corner.
Some penguins came over to say hi, while we watched the Oden at work.
A seal. You can see his track in the snow going between the two different holes.
The unending daylight...
It may sound fun at first to some of you who are currently in the dark days of winter on the northern hemisphere. However, living in constant daylight takes its toll on you. I'm finding that it feels like time is never ending. No matter when you wake up or go to sleep it is always the same. The only break we get from the continual sunlight is when a storm blows in. I'm definitely looking forward to the natural rhythms of night and day, to darkness, and the moon, and stars....but for now, I guess that I'll just keep working on the tan.
PS -this photo was taken at midnight.
PS -this photo was taken at midnight.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Bowling?
Yes, that's right, there is a bowling alley in Antarctica. Cosmic bowling at that.
How random?
How random?
Ringing in the New Year
For New Years a group of my fellow DA's hiked to the top of Ob Hill, and we rang it in. It was a great time. It had been snowing for the previous two days, and it was quite beautiful.
Happy 2008...I think it is going to be a pretty great year!
Happy 2008...I think it is going to be a pretty great year!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Snowboarding...Antarctica
A day off, fresh powder, a good friend, why not go snowboarding?
On our day off last week my friend Carl and I headed out to go snowboarding. They have a few snowboards here that you can check out. It was a great day. It had been snowing for the previous two days so there was fresh powder awaiting us. We hopped on "Ivan the Terra Bus" the really big bus and rode it out to the ice. From there we hiked over to the 'ski hill.' It is just a small hill, but lots of fun. The Kiwi base has a tow rope there, and we were fortunate enough to be able to use it with them. We helped them dig things out in exchange for a few rides up the hill on it! Good times! Not only that, but we also got a ride back in a pisten bully. The green vehicle you see below.
Snowboarding!
Our shuttle 'Ivan the Terra Bus'...check out the tread depth on those beauties.
Carl in the Pisten Bully
Hiking back at the end of another epic day on "the ice."
On our day off last week my friend Carl and I headed out to go snowboarding. They have a few snowboards here that you can check out. It was a great day. It had been snowing for the previous two days so there was fresh powder awaiting us. We hopped on "Ivan the Terra Bus" the really big bus and rode it out to the ice. From there we hiked over to the 'ski hill.' It is just a small hill, but lots of fun. The Kiwi base has a tow rope there, and we were fortunate enough to be able to use it with them. We helped them dig things out in exchange for a few rides up the hill on it! Good times! Not only that, but we also got a ride back in a pisten bully. The green vehicle you see below.
Snowboarding!
Our shuttle 'Ivan the Terra Bus'...check out the tread depth on those beauties.
Carl in the Pisten Bully
Hiking back at the end of another epic day on "the ice."
Christmas Eve
These are pictures of our chapel, where we held our Christmas Eve service.
Good News, the long awaited one has arrived!!
Good News, the long awaited one has arrived!!
Polar Plunge
Another little 'expedition'... Myself and a few friends hiked out to this little tent on the sea ice, where there is a hole drilled through the ice. The ice is around 14 feet thick here. They use this hole to lower very scientific instruments down into the sea to do research and what now. Well, we figured that we were scientific instruments as well, and we lowered ourselves into the sea. I have now swam in the antarctic 'ocean' as well. I say 'ocean' as there is controversy from time to time as to whether it is an ocean down here, or if it simply the southern part of the others. I vote that it is simply the southern part of the other oceans, and refer to what I swam in as the Ross Sea.
Pressure Ridge
McMurdo Station, where I am, is situated on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf. The Ice Shelf is basically an enormous tidewater glacier. By enormous I mean larger than France. Well, a glacier is basically a very slow moving river. Even though they move very slowly, they are still very dynamic and are constantly changing. At the edge of this huge 'ice shelf' the permanent ice meets up with what is softer, 'seasonal' ice, that is essentially just thick ice over the ocean water (5-30 ft. thick). When these two different types of ice meet up, there is tension and pushing, and pressure ridges are formed. These are some photos from a little hike we got to go on, through them the other day.
PS - These pictures were taken between 12 - 2 am!
These green buildings are our neighbors. This is Scott Base, the New Zealand / Kiwi base.
PS - These pictures were taken between 12 - 2 am!
These green buildings are our neighbors. This is Scott Base, the New Zealand / Kiwi base.
Ob Hill-birthday run
My good friend Carl had a birthday today. What better way to celebrate a birthday than to strip down to your scivies, and run up Ob Hill with five friends. On our way up the hill, which is situated overlooking town, a few firefighters heard us whooping and hollering as we took off out of town. They looked out the window and saw us running up the hill, and they kindly drove the nice heated ambulance over to the base of the hill, just in case we got a little colder up top than we had expected. None of needed the ambulance, but we all did retire straight to the sauna once we got down.
Today Show
Anne Curry and the Today Show came down here to Antarctica. They did a few live broadcasts. If any of you saw the broadcast you may have seen the shots of the band. I was there, although I've not spoken to anyone who saw me. Here is a still shot from where the camera man was. I am in the back left. You can't really see me, but you can see my sign which says, "Severin says HI."
It did seem a little surreal staying up all night long, trying to get on TV, as 6 am in New York is midnight here, but all in all it was pretty fun.
It did seem a little surreal staying up all night long, trying to get on TV, as 6 am in New York is midnight here, but all in all it was pretty fun.
Penguin Ranch
One of the hard things about working here in Antarctica is that while I am in this incredible place of adventure I spend well over 90 percent of my time inside. The vast majority of this time is spent either sleeping or washing dishes. But occasionally we do get to leave the galley and to 'experience' a bit of Antarctica. On this particular day I got to join a guy and head out to the 'Penguin Ranch' in order to help begin to take it apart.
At the penguin ranch, what they do is they get a handful of penguins from the area, emperor penguins. Then they find a big patch of ice with no holes or cracks in it. Then they drill two holes through the ice down into the sea water. They then put up fences around the holes / a corral, and the penguins are now free to come and go out of the holes as they please, but due to the fact that there are no other holes within a reasonable distance, they thus return to the 'ranch.' There is a group of scientists who study the penguins here. They study all sorts of things from the length and depth of their dives, to their food consumption, to water temps, and so on. It is really pretty interesting.
However, once I got there the 'corral' had been taken down, and the penguins had hit the road to freedom. In the second picture you can see a big ol' Caterpillar. We rode out to the ranch in this tractor on the sea ice. Once there, Tom the driver, spent the day bulldozing snow away from the buildings getting them ready to be removed back to the station. I helped out by shoveling snow away from the buildings so that he could bulldoze. But I also got to just hang out.
In the first picture you may be able to see a small green tube sticking up out of the snow. This is the 'ob tube' (observation tube). There is a hole drilled down through the ice, and then the ob tube is lowered down this hole. One can then climb down this tube, and sit underneath the ice and watch the world below the ice, as there are windows at the bottom giving one a 360 degree view. It was pretty neat. It was hard to realize that I was actually under the sea ice in Antarctica and not at a zoo somewhere.
It was pretty slow paced down in the Ob Tube. As I said all the penguins were gone. But you can see the seal I got to see. When we first got there he was hauled out on the ice, and just hanging out, and then in the afternoon, he decided that it was time to get in and go for a swim. I thought of joining him, but figured I would postpone my swim. It was rather surreal watching this seal float/swim in this weightless environment, as on land they are just big slugs. Looking at the ice holes from below looked like one was looking up into 'portals' in the sky.
Sometimes they have to transport the penguins from far away, and when they have to do this they capture them, and put them in boxes like this one. The 'penguin packer.'
Looking down the Ob Tube.
At the penguin ranch, what they do is they get a handful of penguins from the area, emperor penguins. Then they find a big patch of ice with no holes or cracks in it. Then they drill two holes through the ice down into the sea water. They then put up fences around the holes / a corral, and the penguins are now free to come and go out of the holes as they please, but due to the fact that there are no other holes within a reasonable distance, they thus return to the 'ranch.' There is a group of scientists who study the penguins here. They study all sorts of things from the length and depth of their dives, to their food consumption, to water temps, and so on. It is really pretty interesting.
However, once I got there the 'corral' had been taken down, and the penguins had hit the road to freedom. In the second picture you can see a big ol' Caterpillar. We rode out to the ranch in this tractor on the sea ice. Once there, Tom the driver, spent the day bulldozing snow away from the buildings getting them ready to be removed back to the station. I helped out by shoveling snow away from the buildings so that he could bulldoze. But I also got to just hang out.
In the first picture you may be able to see a small green tube sticking up out of the snow. This is the 'ob tube' (observation tube). There is a hole drilled down through the ice, and then the ob tube is lowered down this hole. One can then climb down this tube, and sit underneath the ice and watch the world below the ice, as there are windows at the bottom giving one a 360 degree view. It was pretty neat. It was hard to realize that I was actually under the sea ice in Antarctica and not at a zoo somewhere.
It was pretty slow paced down in the Ob Tube. As I said all the penguins were gone. But you can see the seal I got to see. When we first got there he was hauled out on the ice, and just hanging out, and then in the afternoon, he decided that it was time to get in and go for a swim. I thought of joining him, but figured I would postpone my swim. It was rather surreal watching this seal float/swim in this weightless environment, as on land they are just big slugs. Looking at the ice holes from below looked like one was looking up into 'portals' in the sky.
Sometimes they have to transport the penguins from far away, and when they have to do this they capture them, and put them in boxes like this one. The 'penguin packer.'
Looking down the Ob Tube.
Ice Runway
McMurdo Station and the depth and extent of scientific research in Antarctica, is made possible by the use of airplane. There are two different airplanes which service McMurdo. These planes are flown down here and operated by the Air National Guard of New York. They are C-17's, and ski equipped C-130 Hercules. The C-17's simply fly back and forth between the station and Christchurch. They fly all personnel down, as well as lots of lots of supplies and equipment...including but not limited to mail and fresh fruits and veggies. Whereas the C-130's mainly fly between McMurdo and the South Pole Station as well as to various 'field camps.'
Both planes used to land at the Ice Runway just outside of town. You can see the Ice Runway in an early picture from the top of Ob Hill. However, in early December the ice began becoming unstable, as it does every year around that time, and the runway was then moved further away from town to more stable ice. The different planes now use two different runways.
In oder to keep the runways open and the plains in the air, there is a large crew that works at the runways. Well, it just so happens that they like to eat as well, and so what we do is we load up a truck with food from the main galley, and we drive it down to the runway galley where we serve the various workers down there.
It is a pretty good gig. I enjoy the chance to get out of the main galley for awhile, and to get to ride around in a pick up truck. It generally takes about 40-50 minutes to get to the ice runway, now that it has been moved further away from the station.
One really fun part for me, was that I had the opportunity to do some 4X4'ing (aka mudbogging in the snow) once or twice. When we have warm days, above freezing, the snow at the transition gets really sloppy and slushy. The transition is where the road leaves the land and transitions onto the sea ice. It was a good time. All I was missing was a dog and a shotgun.
The two big vehicles on tracks that you see are Fire vehicles. The Truck with the big whit box on the back of it, is what we drive back and forth between town and the runway. The little orange building we are backed up to is the runway galley.
Both planes used to land at the Ice Runway just outside of town. You can see the Ice Runway in an early picture from the top of Ob Hill. However, in early December the ice began becoming unstable, as it does every year around that time, and the runway was then moved further away from town to more stable ice. The different planes now use two different runways.
In oder to keep the runways open and the plains in the air, there is a large crew that works at the runways. Well, it just so happens that they like to eat as well, and so what we do is we load up a truck with food from the main galley, and we drive it down to the runway galley where we serve the various workers down there.
It is a pretty good gig. I enjoy the chance to get out of the main galley for awhile, and to get to ride around in a pick up truck. It generally takes about 40-50 minutes to get to the ice runway, now that it has been moved further away from the station.
One really fun part for me, was that I had the opportunity to do some 4X4'ing (aka mudbogging in the snow) once or twice. When we have warm days, above freezing, the snow at the transition gets really sloppy and slushy. The transition is where the road leaves the land and transitions onto the sea ice. It was a good time. All I was missing was a dog and a shotgun.
The two big vehicles on tracks that you see are Fire vehicles. The Truck with the big whit box on the back of it, is what we drive back and forth between town and the runway. The little orange building we are backed up to is the runway galley.
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