November 15, 2016 I spent a day with the penguins yesterday. After a short helicopter ride with Elaine and the science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, we arrived at Cape Royds. This is home to another early 20th century hut used by the explorer Ernest Shackleton. It is also home to a penguin rookery of about…
Monday Nov 7, 2016 Elaine Hood, a former History professor gave me an excellent guided tour of the Discovery Hut today. The hut was originally built by Robert Falcon Scott’s team during his 1902 expedition. Shackleton was on that voyage too. Scott sent Shackleton home before they arrived at the South Pole because of sickness….
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,…
Hut Point It is a balmy -4 degrees F today. I never thought I would ever say that I feel warm in this temperature, but after two weeks in much colder temperatures, this feels quite comfortable. I took a walk today to visit two crosses outside of McMurdo. The first cross, found at the end…
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,…