Nov 4, 2016 As the temperature rises in the Antarctic Spring, the Weddell Seals chew holes through the sea ice to sun themselves and their pups. On a clear day like today, their tear drop-shaped bodies standout like giant slugs lying on miles and miles of sea ice. They like to recline on their backs,…
Nov 1, 2016 Our team is in a holding pattern. After completing all our survival training last week and double checking our gear this week, we have been waiting for the weather on the Ross Ice Shelf to clear. Once it clears, an advance team will go out to establish the layout of the camp,…
October 30, 2016 Hanging out with scientists is really fun. I spent the afternoon with a team studying sea spiders. They dive under the 8-foot thick ice sheet to observe the behavior of spiders that seem to grow bigger in the cold water than their counterparts do in more temperate and tropical waters. The Antarctic…
Halloween Party in Antarctica Early Halloween Party here at McMurdo last night. It seemed better to have the party on the weekend, with a busy week of science work kicking off on Monday. My two favorite costumes were… Full-body pajamas with a Chicago Cubs logo-I wasn’t sure if the fellow wore it as a Cubs…
Big news yesterday! Cheers erupted after news broke that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources has designated 600,000 square miles of the Southern Ocean as the “Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.” It is the largest marine protected area on the planet.