Wolfpack in Antarctica

Bad Weather Blues!

2009-03-09T19:48:00.004-04:00

The past 24 hours have been slow in terms of collecting samples, as the weather has taken a turn for the worst. Having accomplished the majority of the sampling at this station, Station B, the drifting sediment traps were the last piece of equipment we were able to deploy . The drifters were supposed to stay in the water for 2 days, but the weather turned foul before we could recover them. The drifter traps are new equipment for this cruise, as Andrew McDonnell from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has joined our team to study particles settling from the sea surface to the sea floor. They communicate to him remotely by sending latitudes and longitudes so we can find them and collect them from the water. Unfortunately, the winds have been too strong and the seas too big to recover them, so we are hanging tight in their vicinity until we can pull them from the water. We are currently experiencing 12 foot seas and 50 knot winds, which makes the back deck too dangerous to conduct any operations. Most of the scientists are antsy to get the wrap up the last science operation, and are hoping for a break from this weather system soon. On a positive note, we have finished analyzing all our samples in the lab and have begun packing away our lab equipment for the last time. We are all very happy for all of our accomplishments over these three cruises, but are also quite sad to see it come to an end.

Field Camp Offloads on Livingston Island and James Ross Island

2009-02-23T09:43:00.002-05:00

February 15-18th

During our first three days down on the Antarctic Peninsula we helped set up two geology field camps, one on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands (west side of the Antarctic Peninsula) and the other on James Ross Island (east side of the Antarctic Peninsula in the Weddell Sea). The Livingston Island field team is mainly looking for the bones of early mammals in deposits that are as old as 120 million years. The James Ross Island group is a combination of scientists who examine the magnetism in the rocks to establish accurate ages for the geological deposits, whereas other researchers are looking for the environmental conditions that lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs, as well as evidence documenting Antarctic climate change (both past and present).

Dr. Ross McPhee of the Natural History Museum of New York is heading up the Livingston Island team.

Dr. Joe Kirschvink (California Inst. Of Technology), Dr. Peter Ward (Univ. of Washington) and Dr. Eric Steig (Univ. of Washington) are leading the efforts on James Ross Island.

We transported gear and personnel about 1.5 miles each way using rubber boats with outboard motors called zodiacs. It took about a dozen zodiac trips at each of the two bases.

The accommodations for the field scientists were tents with a central office/kitchen tent being the only heated area at the field site. The field teams have a logistics coordinator, who makes certain that they have sufficient tents, food, water, and clothing to survive for 4 weeks of field operations. The field teams do have satellite phone that keep them in touch with our ship and the local US Antarctic base (Palmer Station).

As for wildlife we have seen a number of elephant seals, Adelie and Chin-strap penguins and a pretty large assembly of cormorants, sitting on a large iceberg. The surrounding scenery is breath taking, with massive glaciers carving into the extensive rock outcrops as the ice sheets move toward the ocean.

We found out this morning (18th) that 40-50 knot winds have destroyed 2 of the field tents on Livingston Island, and that the kitchen/office tent has been nearly demolished by the strong winds as well. The field scientists were going to try and make their lunch in a nearby cave for protection from the unusually strong winds. We are heading back to Livingston Island at the moment to pick up the field camp whose field season is now over, but the winds and seas look terrible for the next day or so, which will certainly inhibit any zodiac transfer activities. Zodiacs can take on water pretty easily, especially when loaded with gear and personnel. It is certainly a huge disappointment for these geologists on Livingston Island to come half way around the world and have their field season end in a matter of a couple days. The other field camp is doing fine, but they had 3 inches of snow last night (preventing their rock hunting activities for at least the next couple of days).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2009-02-23T09:40:00.001-05:00

February 14, 2009

It’s been a lovely day here on the Gould. The skies have cleared, the seas are tame, and the ship has been adorned by the Valentine’s Day Elf! Top to bottom the the halls and galley were covered in streamers, hearts line the hallways, and the folks in the galley even cooked up a special Valentine’s Day cake! Candy and gifts have also been changing hands today as we try to make this day just as special as if we were on land.

But there is of course still work to be done. Dave has been collecting seawater samples as we cross the Drake and Kim has been diligently tending to the nutrient analyzer to make sure they are analyzed as quickly.

Tomorrow is a big day for us all. At approximately 0800 GMT, or 0500 Gould time, we will reach Livingston Island and will spend the day putting in the field camp for Dr. Ross MacPhee and his group. It will be hard work but we are grateful for every chance we get to be on land.

Fair winds…
Latitude: 62 38.407 South
Longitude: 62.00.183 West
Temp: 2.8°C
Winds NE 15-20 knots

Ciao Chile, Aloha Antarctica

2009-02-23T09:35:00.003-05:00

February 12, 2009

Greetings to our readers and thanks for tuning in for one more round! After traveling from all corners of the globe to return from our various adventures, all of the NCSU gang is present and accounted for. Kim and Brian had successful presentations at ASLO and saw the countryside of Europe. Rebecca and Alyssa toured the Torres del Paine area of Patagonia from the view of their kayak on the Serrano River. Linda visited previous FOODBANCS participant Karin in Sao Paulo. Dave was diligently teaching and coordinating with Carrie back at NC State to make sure everything for this final FOODBANCS excursion goes as smoothly as possible.

After a flurry of loading, packing, and securing equipment we left Chile yesterday. It was a busy day in port, and not only were there military and fishing vessels docked, but we woke up this morning to find a cruise ship outside our windows. These ships also visit Antarctica, carrying with them a few more people and providing a few more amenities than the L.M. Gould.

Caption: The Gould to the left with port officials close by to inspect the newly arrived cruise liner on the right.

Right now we have come around the horn of Argentina and are enjoying a fairly comfortable ride in the Drake Passage. We have completed our vessel security, lab safety, and back deck orientations, and have even had time to squeeze in an abandon ship drill and a field camp meeting. As we mentioned earlier, we will be dropping off two field camps on this voyage. We will be dropping Ross MacPhee at Livingston Island and Joe Kirshvinck at James Ross Island in the Weddell Sea. Setting up camps for a month long stay for these teams requires all hands on deck. Last February and March the FOODBANCS crew helped take out the Copa and Petermann camps so we have a lot of seasoned veterans who are willing and able to help.

More updates to come as we transit to the islands, m'on.

Science Update - The Final Countdown

2008-12-17T12:34:00.007-05:00

Greetings to our faithful readers. Things are finally winding down here at NCSU after a busy semester. Carrie and Dave have been immersed in a flurry of emails coordinating with Raytheon and Craig at the University of Hawaii to make sure the science goes smoothly, and everything is coming together. Here is an update of what is going on with our group and what we'll be up to on the next cruise!

Everyone is making big plans. Brian and Kim will be presenting their research at the ASLO meeting (American Society of Limnology and Oceanography) in Nice France in January. Rebecca and I will be heading to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine to do some kayaking and hiking, and will hopefully run in to the Hawaii group which will be hiking the infamous Patagonia "W" at the same time.

There will also be some exciting new science on this next trip. We will be leaving one of our own, Rebecca, at Palmer Station to do feeding experiments at the end of our cruise in March. She will be there for three weeks trying to fatten up Holothurians with some yummy diatoms and ooey-gooey Phaeocystis. Ken Buessler from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute will be leaving one of his students with us to investigate particulate transport along our stations. This will be a welcomed supplement to our Thorium and phytoplankton analyses. And on the way to our stations we will be dropping off two other science parties:

1) We will be leaving Dr. Ross MacPhee, a research scientist at the Natural Museum of Natural History and once Duke University associate professor, and his team on Livingston Island to look for fossil evidence of mammalian inhabitance as far back as 100 million years. A link to an article about his research is posted below:

The Antarctic Sun - Ross MacPhee fossil investigation

2) We will also be going to the eastern side of the peninsula in the Weddell Sea to drop off geobiologist Joseph Kirschvink at James Ross Island. His group is trying to solve the 65 million year old murder mystery, 'what killed the dinosaurs?' You might think this would be classified as a "Cold Case" but geologically speaking, this question is still hot!

The Antarcitc Sun - Joseph Kirschvink and the Dinosaurs

T-minus 56 days and counting until we shove off on the Gould for the final leg of our research! So kick back.. and stayed tuned for updates!

Christmas in July.. er, August.

2008-08-04T00:48:00.000-04:00

Today was quite a day for visits. Santa Claus took a few days from his vacationing in Patagonia to some visit the good boys and girls on the N.B. Palmer. With all the wintery weather we have been having, a little Christmas in July celebration was certainly in order (belated though... we had work to do, so it got put off till August. Whoops!)

It was really great. We decorated the tree with ornaments maritime, gifts were swapped, and we even busted out the liquid nitrogen for a little homemade ice cream. The evening was full of cheer and yuletide glee as we transited north towards home. All is well aboard the Palmer tonight...

Alyssa sports the most X-mas like sweater

Ice Cream!! Liquid Nitrogen boils off at -196*C, so it freezes the mixture and harmlessly escapes into the atmosphere. Science is sweet!

King Neptune

2008-08-04T00:33:00.000-04:00

Again, the weather broke for close to 12 hours and allowed us to get a small amount of sampling done at Station N. The sediment was a slightly sandy mud underlain by a rather dense clay layer that prevented much our cores from getting great penetration. Still, we were able to get a few megacores, and a blake trawl to study the benthos in this northern locale.

With such a successful cruise, it is no surprise that King Neptune, the legendary ruler of the seas, graced us with a brief visit. Very little is known of the rituals and customs of his royal court, but some tales are whispered among sailors and scientists alike in hushed tones. I can share only this tattered and blurred photo...

Ice Ice Baby

2008-08-03T00:26:00.000-04:00

Sea spray from the bow as ship pitches in heavy seas.

We have found a suitable site for station N, but the weather and seas are proving to be far too rough for sediment sampling. Add to that the falling temperatures (-11*C and wind chill down to -32*C) and we have an icy situation on deck. Seawater doesn't freeze until it reaches -1.85*C or so. The back deck of the N.B. Palmer is heated, so no ice tends to form there. Our sampling gear sitting on the deck - not heated. So after taking a lot of water and sea spray, all of our equipment has approx. 2-3 inches of ice covering every crevice and cranny.

Boxcorer encased in ice.

Unless weather improves, we may not be able to sample much here at our new station. At least it's making for some pretty photos.

King George Island

2008-08-01T00:17:00.000-04:00

Weather has been fairly poor, and the hunt for Station N, our new-fangled northern station has been unsuccessful. A nice flat area near Elephant Island looked promising, but a survey with the Mud SCUD benthic video camera showed the site to be quite rocky and unsuitable for sampling.

With weather flaky and the crew in need of a bit of rest, today we made a morale stop at Maxwell Cove on King George Island. Any chance to get off the boat for a little time on land is likely to be the most memorable and exciting part of a cruise. This was no exception, with a flock(?) of penguins near our landing site to entertain with their curious cuteness. (Actually, what is a group of penguins called? Not having Google on the boat is painful!)

Chief Scientist, Dr. Craig Smith and Dr. Dave DeMaster posing nearby a small colony of gentoo penguins on King George Is.

Testing the waters.

We had a rather close encounter with a leopard seal. These guys are one of the major predators of these waters. The zodiac offers relative safety, but leopard seals are known to attack humans. This particular seal was very curious and swam under the zodiac a few times before deeming us a little to hard to eat.

And of course, what trip on land would be complete without a little winter sport. Our landing location had a great hill that might have been great for skiing if we had skis.

However, we make due with what we have, and we all have butts. Most of us tired ourselves out sliding down the hill on our fannies as many times as we could.

We really had a great time out there, and smiles were contagious.

Great Day!

Station's done!

2008-07-30T12:14:00.000-04:00

With a brief break in the weather, we were able to complete all operations at station B. This marked the completion of all of our planned stations and samples, with a whopping 48 hours of science time left in our cruise. This is actually pretty remarkable, as weather delays and equipment failure are commonplace. The early finish is a testament to the skill and professionalism of the science and technical staff here on the N.B.Palmer. We rock! Oh, and the spell of great weather helped out too.

With the usual stations complete, we get to go home early, right? Wrong! Dave and Craig have ideas for a new station to sample along the northern end of the peninsula near the South Shetland Islands. We are transiting there now to survey sites near King George Is. The weather is marginal at best, with 30 knot winds and fairly heavy seas. We may be able to expect some protection on the lee side of an island, but we won't know till we get there...

Wind and Waves

2008-07-30T10:29:00.005-04:00

The days of sunny skies, gorgeous sunsets, scenic sea ice, and no sea or
swell are long gone and only a distant memory. Currently, science
operations have ceased because the winds are 35-45 knots (40-50 mph) with waves and swell on the order of 12-16 feet.

When the weather gets this bad, some of the scientists retreat to the Foosball table
in the helo hanger for consolation.

There are still a few operations that we can do under heavy seas. Almy is
taking a rest on the kasten corer prior to deployment. We use about 900
pounds of lead on the top of this corer to push it into the seabed, such
that it returns with a core that is 3-8 feet long. The sediments at the
bottom of these cores are thousands of years old, and they tell us what
oceanographic conditions were like in these frigid waters over centuries to
millennia

To collect bottom-dwelling animals we use either a Blake Trawl (shown here
with Almy riding the sled) or an Otter Trawl.

The animals come up, usually in a ball of mud, which needs to be rinsed down, and
then the various species of animals are sorted into buckets prior to dissection.

We are trying to understand the feeding strategies of these creatures living at the
bottom of the ocean in a pretty hostile environment. For example, do some
of the animals hibernate during the winter, when there is little or no
fresh plankton falling from the surface ocean (because of the low light and
ice conditions)? The bottom dwelling animals feed year-round at our
northern stations, but we don't know, what is happening at the southern
stations -- YET!.

We are hoping for better weather so that we can collect megacores. Due to
the need for undisturbed sediment, the ship needs to be pretty stable. We
are in between fronts, and the winds (we hope) should start calming. If
all goes well, we will get our window and complete station B.

Gettin' 'er done

2008-07-28T14:43:00.003-04:00

With the sea ice keeping the ship so stable, we have had a very good
success rate with our sampling. Aside from the occasional rock in the
boxcore and an issue with the Tucker trawl, we have had textbook perfect
samples. We've been super busy getting all of the sediment seived and
jarred, the animals dissected and sorted, and the flux chambers fluxing.
We finished station F in a mere 40 hours and should be done with station E
by early tomorrow morning.

Right now at station E (-65* 56.686' ; -067* 18.706') We are at the edge of
the sea ice extent. We still have patches of pancake ice, but we are in
mostly open water. Still, we are surrounded by ice on 3 sides, and the
wind is low, so the seas are dead calm. It's a balmy -2*C outside, and
everything is going fine.

There really isn't a whole lot new to report, but there are some great
pretty photos, so we'll end this post with a few. Be sure to write us,
either by leaving comments on the blog or using our @nbp.usap.gov
addresses. We'd love to hear from you!

Megacorer being deployed into a hole in the sea ice.

Shadows of the boxcorer. Dr. Dave gives the thumbs up.

Spectacular sunset at Station F. The sunsets last almost an
hour at these high latitudes. Every 10 minutes renews the thought, "That's
the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen!"

Same sunset, 15 minutes later. The colors are no trick of the
camera.

Station F blake trawl got us a whole lot of Protelpedia sp.,
endearingly known to this group as Sea Pigs.

Dr. Paulo Sumida meets a rogue sea spider. Both parties were
stunned by the event, but seem to be getting better.

The ladies in the lab are usually running samples at a dizzying
pace, but you just gotta take a break for ice cream cake!

Brrr!

2008-07-28T14:38:00.002-04:00

As mentioned in the last post, the sea ice eliminates many of the
complications involved in deploying instrumentation in heavy weather. We
have been fortunate to have a very high success rate with our megacores,
box cores, and kasten cores since the ship is very stable in the ice.

A picture perfect box core. Note the two burrow
holes, which actually is one u-shaped burrow. The picture doesn't show it
clearly, but there are little piles of Protelpedia sp. poop.

However...

In order for sea ice to form, the temperature must be quite a bit below
freezing. The problem arises when we bring equipment up out of the water
(water temp is around -1.7 *C) into the approx. -11*C air. The wet gear
begins to freeze almost immediately.

Icicles on the catch-plate of the megacorer. The megacore has
many small moving parts, so ice is a real problem.

We have had to improvise sampling a little, mostly involving a quick unload
of the samples and moving them inside where it's a little warmer.
Strangely, a blow dryer has become one of our most important tool.

Dr. Paulo Sumida uses a hot air gun to get thaw and dry a
mecacore tube before deployment.

Still, morale is high and most of us are enjoying being busy. The scenery
is spectacular, though it has clouded over a little today. We plan on
being done with Station G either late tonight, or early in the morning.
We should have more time to blog during the transit.

Boxcore Bonzai

2008-07-19T16:25:00.002-04:00

The boxcorer is one of out most important sampling devices. It allows us
to get a large amount of undisturbed sediment in one cast. It's big, heavy
and looks mighty sturdy. However, it's not meant to break up rocks.

A couple of rocks were lodged where the spade meets the faceplace. In
other words, a part of the box was literally between a rock and a
hardplace. The force sheared the screws in half and pretty much ruined the
faceplate. Luckily, the box was intact and we have a few extra faceplates.
This slowed us down a little, but we have plenty to do in the meantime
while it's being repaired. And of course some comic relief was in order.

In other news, the scenery is still unreal.. it's like we're on the moon
with the ice and the mountains around us. The sea ice satellite images
show the ice front moving northward, so we may be in ice for the next one
or two stations. Cold but beautiful!!

Satellite infrared image of ice cover. Purple to blue is open
water, where yellows to red are increasing ice coverage. Ship's track and
position in red.

Sea Ice!!

2008-07-15T14:15:00.001-04:00

I noticed Sunday evening that the sound of the water splashing against the
side of the ship was a little different. We had finally hit a large patch
of sea ice! It was truly a gorgeous evening. The skies were clear, and
the moon and stars were shining brightly. Unfortunately, the darkness did
not lend to good photography, but here is a long exposure image that looks
kind of cool.

The morning came clear and beautiful. We were still moving through patches
of pancake ice. Pancake ice is the first stage of ocean freezing. As the
water gets colder, little pancakes freeze together to form bigger pancakes,
and eventually form sheets. On a clear morning, it's absolutely stunning.

Since we are below the Antarctic circle, the sun is only up for a very
short period of time. The sun only makes it up around a finger's width
from the horizon, even at noon. The following was taken after lunch
around 12:30:

We are still in transit to Station G, with an ETA of 6:00 AM on the 15th.
Most of us are chomping at the bit to get some work started. Luckily, with
the ice and the good weather, the sea state is very calm. This is
important, because many of our sampling procedures go much quicker and
easier in calm seas.

67*32.964 S, 70*23.407W
Air Temp: -8.8*C
Wind Chill: -20*C
SeaWater Temp: -1.79*C

Drake Passage: AKA, Are we there yet??

2008-07-15T14:03:00.007-04:00

We are in transit to Station G (our southernmost station) from Punta
Arenas. In order to get to the Antarctic Peninsula, we must cross the
Drake Passage, the stretch of sea that formed when S. America separated
from Antarctica millions of years ago. Transit time is expected to be
close to 5 days, depending on sea ice conditions. Since most of us have
our lab space pretty much prepared, many of us seem to be suffering from a
strange and new emotion - boredom.

Kim preparing standards for the Lachat nutrient analyzer.
We are collecting samples of surface waters in the Drake Passage for basic
oceanographic parameters.

Believe it or not, we are discussing science here. Really.

While almost as cool, but not quite, Dr. Rhian Waller is
organizing sample vials. The Palmer has a light table in the forward dry
lab, and is most excellent for making us look like we're in an episode of
CSI.

The Marine Techs (MT's) are keeping busy building sampling
equipment. In this photo they are machining a 'messenger' - basically a
plug of metal that runs down the wire and triggers a sampler, in this case
a Tucker trawl. These ships have fully stocked metal and carpentry shops,
and the skilled staff to take care of almost any fabrication or repair
imaginable.

The Marine Science Techs (MST's) are responsible for keeping
the labs safe and running smooth.

And it just wouldn't be a transit worth speaking of if there
weren't a little foozball tourney!

Guest Star: Almy

2008-07-14T15:45:00.004-04:00

We have one extra crew member who has come along with us to Antarctica.
You might have been able to call him a stowaway, but he is such a hard
worker that we had to make him one of the crew. Almy is a bear
provided by a middle school in Chapel Hill, NC so that the students can
learn science and geography.

In this picture Almy is rubbing the
toe of a large statue in the main square of Punta Arenas, Chile which
brings good luck for those crossing the high seas of the Drake Passage
(south of South America). We'll see if the toe rubbing works during our
crossing in the next couple of days.

Almy is strapped in with duct tape to the rail of the ship saying
goodbye to Punta Arenas, Chile as we head south toward the Antarctic. Duct
tape is an essential supply on all science cruises and is used for dozens
of different applications

Almy, the science bear, is taking part in the safety meeting in
which emersion suits are worn and all life vests and life boats tested.

As for the rest of the crew, we are spending most of our time making last
minute preparations to some of the sampling equipment, enjoying the
surprisingly good meals that our galley crew is whipping up for us, and
just getting to know this really, really big ship. We are now in the Drake
Passage, and the seas have gotten a little bigger than they were in the
Straits of Magellan, but this boat is big and stable enough to keep the
ride quite smooth. Be sure to check out the cruise track at the sail.wx
link at the top right of this blog. We are headed to the southernmost
station first (Sta. G), and are due to arrive there on the afternoon of the
15th.

The Research Vessel Ice Breaker Nathaniel B. Palmer. This will
be home for the next 25 days. It is a large scientific research vessel,
longer than a football field. The big bow is to limit waves from breaking
over the ship during the open ocean transit across the Drake Passage (one
of the windiest and waviest places in the world).

57* 51.43' S; 66* 04.78'W
Air Temp: 3,0*C
Surface Seawater Temp: 4.54*C
Wind Chill: -14*C

Day 1: The R/V NB Palmer

2008-07-14T15:29:00.004-04:00

NBP departing dock with the LMG in background.

No news is good news. We had a very calm, ordered departure yesterday at
12:05. Lab spaces were prepped, gear strapped down, last minute shopping
and internet checking complete, and fingers and toes warm and accounted
for. Here's to having our poop in a pile!

Safety orientations were next, and we got to don life vests and exposure
suits (known as gumby suits) and strap ourselves into the lifeboat to make
sure that we are comfy doing this in an emergency. While our science is
performed in the safest manner possible, we have to do it very remote,
often harsh seas, and this kind of gear can save a life.

Right now, we are steaming south along the eastern tip of South America.
The seas a calm and, while most of us are a little drowsy from the light
rocky motion, everyone seems to be feeling fine. Seasickness can be pretty
miserable. Luckily there are medications that can help (sometimes).

Wolfpack Antics

2008-07-09T16:22:00.001-04:00

We are leaving the dock tomorrow, and most of our preparations have been made. The box core is waiting patiently for it's first mud sample, and the Blake trawls (we have three.. apparently they lost a few on recent cruises) are chomping at the bit for collecting critters. Soon my friends, soon.

As for personnel, we are all here and accounted for. Many friendly familiar faces have arrived, and many festivities have ensued. The locals have a beverage known as pisco, and it is enjoyed by most, if not all, of our group. This is the fun stuff that we squeeze in when we aren't working.

We have moved onto the boat today, and, if all goes well, we will be departing on noon of the 10th. During the transit, we will try to get some posts up of the lab spaces and the rest of the R/V N.B. Palmer.

Day T-minus-3: Still cold, but with more layers

2008-07-07T18:53:00.000-04:00

Punta Arenas, Chile

3 Days before departure aboard N.B. Palmer

Destination: Antarctica

We had a great day of varied activities. Clothing issue, always fun, was this morning, and is probably the most important thing to be done before leaving. These clothes are the only thing between us and the elements. Get something that doesn't fit quite right, and it could be a mighty uncomfortable trip! So trying each piece on, changing it out for something better, and making sure to get extra gloves is key. There was even some time for a little modeling...

The weather was off and on. The sun rose beautifully clear at around 9 am. At 13:00 it started snowing pretty hard, and then at 13:30 the sun was shining again. We got most of the gear from the last cruise loaded, and can spend tomorrow getting the labs setup. The N.B. Palmer is a much bigger boat, and the labs are much roomier. We'll try to get some photos of the space up as we go along...

Punta Arenas is colder than we left it...

2008-07-06T21:17:00.000-04:00

We have arrived in Punta Arenas safe and sound, luggage in hand, and the ship in port. Most of us brought extra warm clothing, but I was personally surprised at how cold it is here at the southern tip of Chile. The temperature is probably a few degrees over freezing, but the wind is howling at times which just steals every ounce of body heat you have. Clothing issue is tomorrow, and I can't wait for the extra pile of clothes.

Until then, we had a great dinner tonight. I ordered a traditional Chilean dish that is only available on Sundays. We decided it is a dish for those who choose to only eat once a week... the plate was enormous!!

Both Ari and I ordered this, and neither of us was able to put more than a mere dent into it. Still, it does feel nice after a long, somewhat arduous journey halfway around the world - and with a frigid wind blowing around - to have a full belly of food to keep you steady.

Stay tuned for clothing issue, and loading and setup of the labs on the ship.

Chile or bust

2008-07-03T21:36:00.001-04:00

We are at it again.

The second installment of the FOODBANCS2 field expedition is soon to be underway. Most of us have spent the last few weeks making final preparations for the cruise, not to mention soaking in some of the hot summer sun. The weather in Punta Arenas is looking quite wintry (It's the equivalent of New Year's Day there now.. in Belgium!). Time to get out the fleece!

Here's a comparison of the forecasts between departure and destination:

So keep this site bookmarked and check in often, as things will start getting exciting soon. We plan on posting at least once every couple of days while in Chile and on the ship. Have a great 4th!

News: Icequakes

2008-06-04T14:55:00.002-04:00

Interesting article from New Scientist on ice shelf dynamics in West Antarctica. Link.

Yes, we're still alive..

2008-04-25T11:35:00.005-04:00

Shore life is back again, and I think I can speak for most when I say that it is a two-edged sword. It is great to be back in familiar territory where you can choose what you eat, see some of the people you love and sit under a tree in the sunshine with a cool glass of kool-aid. However, there is something about the adventure, the frenetic schedule, and the mystique of the sea that makes me yearn to be back in the Antarctic. The experience was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime adventure... and we get to go back two more times!!

For now, most of us are busy with classes, which are wrapping up this week. Lab work has consumed some of us, and I (Brian) have been in the lab waaayy more than I would like to admit. Thorium-234 is a short-lived tracer, which requires a lot of lab work in a short period of time. My sanity is mostly what's at risk, though I seem to be pushing through it okay (though some of my colleagues may disagree...)

The balloons are not for a party, but to add a little positive pressure to some of the ion exchange columns behind me. Sometimes they get a little slow and need some help. The hood gets a little novel looking sometimes, but they really do work.

Another bit of news is that we have a new crew member who will be coming with us in July (and hopefully next February), Arianne Balsom. She is a marine ecologist who has done lots of continental shelf work in the Arctic and is looking to get bi-polar with a couple of trips down south. We welcome her and look forward to some good, productive times in the southern hemisphere.

Blogging will probably continue to be a little sporadic as the summer starts. Most of us need a little break and have other project work to consume us. Look for more periodic updates as we get closer to our next departure date in early July.

Fair winds...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-18T19:00:00.002-04:00

We've just docked in Punta Arenas and are waiting for customs to clear us.
We've got a full day of offloading ahead of us and then the end of the
cruise dinner. Everybody is chomping at the bit to eat food of their own
choosing. We'll post again from the US.

The Ideas of March

2008-03-16T23:06:00.001-04:00

We have around 30 hours left in our trip. When we wake up tomorrow we
should be in sight of land again. The seas have been good to us again.
It’s not quite as nice as the ride down; there have been a few moments
we’ve had to use the hand rails in the hallways or wait for the roll to be
able to open doors.

We’ve had a busy crossing. Most of us are finishing up packing all our
lab equipment today. Tomorrow we clean. Quite a bit of mud and seawater
gets tracked into the lab, so a lot of scrubbing will be in order. It’s
not been all work. We’ve also had enough time for a double feature in the
lounge and for folks to cram in a novel before we are back to reality.

Everybody is looking forward to an end of the cruise dinner our first
night in Punta Arenas. Many of us fly out the next day; a few will stay a
day or two longer.

Position: 57 degrees 08.907 minutes South; 64 degrees 17.969 minutes West
Heading: 351.9 degrees
Speed over ground: 11.3 knots
Air temp. 6.6 degrees C; Water temp. 5.835 degrees C

We’re coming home.

2008-03-15T11:19:00.001-04:00

March 13, 2008

The visit to Palmer was fun. Dinner was Mexican food- enchiladas, nachos
and tacos- delicious! Then we enjoyed the science talk and a party. This
morning folks hiked out to Bonaparte Point in the fresh snow to see
elephant seals. They really stink. We left the station around 2:00 for
Punta Arenas.

Our posts will be less frequent now that the cruise is winding down.
We’ll check in and let you know how the transit across the Drake Passage
is going. Once we are back in our labs, we’ll also post occasionally as
we analyze our samples and get ready for the cruise in July.

Position: 64 degrees 23.908 minutes South; 62 degrees 09.080 minutes West
Heading: 042.2 degrees
Speed over ground: 12.4 knots
Air temp. 1.1 degrees C; Water temp. 0.875 degrees C

Peterman pick-up

2008-03-15T11:09:00.003-04:00

March 12, 2008

Penguin in the snow.

Hey, where's my ride?

It started as a day only a penguin could love. We reached the Peterman
pick-up shortly before 6:00 a.m., and it was cold and pouring rain.
Fortunately for us, the rain turned to snow as we boarded the zodiacs. We
spent a couple of hours carrying gear from a small hut to the shoreline
and loading it onto the boats. The marine techs then ferried it back to
the ship. While we waited for the zodiacs to return for another load, we
were entertained by penguins, and then by a more gruesome glimpse of
nature. A leopard seal began hunting at the mouth of the small bay where
we had landed. It grabbed a penguin in the water and quickly skinned and
devoured it. Sea birds flocked to take bits of the leftovers for
themselves.

Next stop is Palmer Station. We are looking forward to another chance to
stretch our legs. Dave, Carrie and Craig have been invited to give the
Science Wednesday talk this evening. After that, we expect to relax in
the lounge with a game of pool and perhaps some dancing.

The Peterman pick-up.

Position: 64 degrees 55.600 minutes South; 63 degrees 39.240 minutes West
Heading: 044.7 degrees
Speed over ground: 11.5 knots
Air temp. 0.9 degrees C; Water temp. 1.109 degrees C

We got them all.

2008-03-13T11:33:00.002-04:00

March 11, 2008

We managed to get all of the outstanding sampling done at the third
station, despite the swell. Now folks are packing samples and gear.
Everything has to be inventoried and labeled with codes telling the Polar
Services Support staff whether it is to be shipped back to the US or
stored in a warehouse in Chile until our next cruise in July.

Some of us are still plugging away on experiments. Kim won’t be done with
the dreaded Lachat for about three more days. It’s difficult to express
her joy over this last bit of fun.

The flux and feeding experiments will run down to the wire. We hope to
have them finished shortly after we leave Palmer Station.

We are motoring north overnight to the “Peterman Pick-up.” Hopefully we
will all get some more personal time with the penguins after the work is
done. Then we’re off to Palmer.

Position: 66 degrees 02.409 minutes South; 66 degrees 05.199 minutes West
Heading: 049.0 degrees
Speed over ground: 10.6 knots
Air temp. 2.2 degrees C; Water temp. 1.543 degrees C

This is it.

2008-03-12T12:08:00.002-04:00

March 10, 2008

Last night’s transit was filled with 50 knot winds, heavy snow and ice
bergs. We arrived at the third station around breakfast time. While the
midnight shift waited for the okay to start sampling, they busied
themselves making snow samples (pic). Then very quickly, the last of the
front blew through and the day turned sunny and warm. The swell hasn’t
been as quick to leave us. The first two attempts at coring have been a
bust. The boxcore is on its way up now, and the wire tension on the pull
out looked promising. We are hoping the swell will die down as the
afternoon wears on. We have until dinner time tomorrow to finish
sampling. After that we have to leave to pick up gear from a camp and
make it to Palmer Station on the 12th.

Position: 65 degrees 59.068 minutes South; 67 degrees 17.096 minutes West
Heading: 264.1 degrees
Speed over ground: 2.2 knots
Air temp. 3.0 degrees C; Water temp. 1.649 degrees C

‘Ello Mate.

2008-03-09T19:20:00.006-04:00

March 9, 2008

The view at the last rock collection site.

The day started with the last of the rock collecting. After lunch we
enjoyed a visit with our friends from across the big pond. The Brits at
Rothera Base had agreed to collect some holothurians for us during their
diving ops, so we swung by to pick them up. They were especially kind to
invite everyone ashore for a tour of their labs and a couple hours of R&R.
A fun time was had by all. Brian showed off his drumming abilities in
the lounge where the Antarctic concert for Live Earth was recorded. Other
folks enjoyed a game of soccer and some Frisbee.

Touring Rothera.

Right now we are headed back to our third station to finish our coring.
During the transit we will process the tracer experiments from the fifth
station and start more feeding experiments with the animals from Rothera.

The R/V LM Gould soccer team.

Position: 67 degrees 34.459 minutes South; 68 degrees 08.051 minutes West
Heading: 038.0 degrees
Speed over ground: 0.0 knots
Air temp. 3.5 degrees C; Water temp. 0.410 degrees C

We’re still rock hunting.

2008-03-09T19:20:00.004-04:00

March 8, 2008

More rocks today. Right now we are arriving at Horse Shoe Island. We’ve
been pretty successful so far. One more day of rocks and we’ll be back to
coring for mud at the third station.

A fur seal supervises rock collecting.

Hey Dave, what did that rock ever do to you?

Rebecca came back to the ship last night with a bucket full of
invertebrates. The ROV proved fully functional and effective. They had
incredibly good luck on the initial deployment. When they dropped it into
the water, there was soft bottom. They were able to use the arm and goody
bag to gather sea urchins, brittle stars and a nudibranch. Then like all
good luck, it had to end. The next two spots were rocky and too deep.
The ship them back, and we were off. The animals are happily munching
labeled algae as we write.

Andrew, Karin, and Sarah look pretty happy to be taking a ride on the zodiac.

Position: 67 degrees 46.753 minutes South; 67 degrees 06.636 minutes West
Heading: 160.7 degrees
Speed over ground: 8.5 knots
Air temp. 3.7 degrees C; Water temp. 0.612 degrees C

There’s gold in them hills!

2008-03-08T15:49:00.001-05:00

March 7, 2008

Or at least granite and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, we hope. There
are exactly two people on board who have any geologic experience: Dave and
Kim. We also have a rough map from the folks in SC indicating where they
would like us to sample. With map in hand, we cruise around a location
looking for landing sites with binoculars. Then the zodiac launches with
the collectors, a few rock hammers and a maul.

This sure looks like basalt to me?

At the first site, Dave and Kim were a bit concerned. All the rocks
appeared to be basalt. They finally located some granite, sampled it and
also brought back some basalt-looking rocks, just in case. At the second
site, we hit the jackpot finding the sedimentary material our colleagues
in SC are wanting.

Rock hounds on the hunt.

While some of the gang were honing their rock hounding skills, Rebecca set
out with the electronics techs and the remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
We are trying to determine if we can use the ROV to collect animals for
feeding experiments. We’ll update you on that venture tomorrow.

Fabio got this fun shot of the Gould from shore.

Position: 68 degrees 09.214 minutes South; 67 degrees 06.942 minutes West
Heading: 265.3 degrees
Speed over ground: 0.0 knots
Air temp. 4.1 degrees C; Water temp. 0.851 degrees C

Wrapping up

2008-03-08T15:43:00.003-05:00

March 6, 2008

We’ve just finished at our 5th station. The last two things we deployed
were the Tucker trawl and the sediment trap. The cod end on the Tucker
trawl was packed with phytoplankton. Satellite images of
chlorophyll concentrations in the area show why. The areas with the
reds and yellows represent the highest concentrations of chlorophyll on
the map. We are sitting right atop a late summer bloom.

We were also lucky to have a brief bit of clear skies at daybreak. Rhian
posed for the camera in front of the sunrise. Very shortly after we were
back to snow and rain showers.

Over night, we’ll be steaming to the first rock collection site. We need
to find areas that will accommodate a zodiac landing. We emailed the
British research station, Rothera, which is quite close by, for advice,
but they did not know of any good landings where we are hoping to sample.
Wish us luck.

Position: 68 degrees 07.509 minutes South; 71 degrees 12.229 minutes West
Heading: 057.8 degrees
Speed over ground: 0.0 knots
Air temp. 3.0 degrees C; Water temp. 0.670 degrees C

A light at the end of the tunnel.

2008-03-07T11:43:00.002-05:00

March 5, 2008

Today we continue to sample at our station near the mouth of Marguerite
Bay. We’re making good time and hope to be done here either late tomorrow
or early on Friday. We’ll deploy the other particle trap and we are doing
more C-13 label experiments here, so our time on station is longer. As we
do certain tasks for the last time this trip, we are getting a bit punchy.
The last CTD drew a crowd in a hurry to get their samples out of the
bottles (pic). Even though we still need to return to the third station
to finish up coring, we are rapidly finishing all our trawls and
dissecting, too. The last benthic trawl turned up a devil’s purse with a
beautiful ray inside. In the picture you can clearly see its yolk sac and
the remnants of the “purse” off to the side.

After we finish here, we’ll cruise into Marguerite Bay to collect rocks
for a geologist in SC. The scenery should be gorgeous, and we are hoping
to see more wildlife.

Craig gets in on the dissection action.

Position: 68 degrees 08.477 minutes South; 71 degrees 00.894 minutes West
Heading: 000.4 degrees
Speed over ground: 1.4 knots
Air temp. 2.7 degrees C; Water temp. 0.687 degrees C

Marguerite Bay

2008-03-04T23:43:00.005-05:00

March 4, 2008

The winds have slowed to 20 knots, but as you can probably guess, the seas
are still to rough to core. We have been able to start trawling. Our
first trawl here in Marguerite Bay caught more rocks than animals.
Looking at the variety of rocks made us start to think about the geology
and origin of the region, so we investigated a reference book on board:

Encyclopedia of the Antarctica and the Southern Oceans. 2002. B.
Stonehouse, Editor. John Wiley ands sons Ltd. West Sussex, England. Pp.
115-117.

In the entry called “Geology: stratigraphy and structure”, we found the
info for which we were looking.

“The rocks that form the Antarctic Peninsula were deposited as muds and
fine sediments in a seabed trough from the late Paleozoic to the early
Mesozoic. They were later metamorphosed by volcanic eruptions and
intrusions. Later, folding and block faulting shaped the peninsula into
the feature we see now.”

How funny that the rocks started in the sea and are being returned by the
ice. It picks them up over land, rafts over the sea, melts and drops the
rocks onto the seabed in the process. The rocks have rough edges and are
quite colorful. We’ve found feldspar granites, shale, and sandstone so
far.

In the same entry of the book we learned a few other fun facts:

Between 590-505 million years ago (Ma), Gondwana straddled the equator,
and the Antarctic Peninsula actually jutted into the Northern hemisphere.
Between 480 and 97 million years ago, Gondwana migrated south over the
South Pole and then northward again. By 85 million years ago,
Gondwanaland was breaking apart into the continents. At the time
Antarctica was heavily forested. Up until about 60 Ma Antarctica retained
its land links with South America and Australia, so it was also home to
some of the earliest mammals. Antarctica became glaciated again during
the Pleistocene.

Position: 68 degrees 08.783 minutes South; 71 degrees 3.324 minutes West
Heading: 301.7 degrees
Speed over ground: 0.4 knots
Air temp. 3.1 degrees C; Water temp. 0.634 degrees C

A note from the blogger....

2008-03-04T23:43:00.004-05:00

I know some of these posts have been later than usual, and the pictures may not be coming through. Don't fret, keep checking back here I'll have them up as soon as possible. I've just flown down to Orlando Florida for the 2008 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Conference. There are over 4000 participants this year with talks ranging from fish biology to physical and biological studies in, you guessed it, Antarctica. Unfortunately my hotel has a poor wireless connection so it's a struggle to get even the text up. I'll see if I can work something out and get the pictures uploaded tomorrow from the convention center here. Hopefully at the next ASLO meeting our NCSU Antarctica expeditioners will be presenting some of their findings!

~Travis Miles
North Carolina State University
Marine Earth and Atmospheric Sciences

It's been monday all day

2008-03-04T23:41:00.004-05:00

March 3, 2008

We’re on a way to Marguerite Bay and our 5th station. We finished coring
on schedule and were ready to start steaming south when a bolt sheared on
one of the engines. The engineers wasted no time making repairs. As they
worked, another weather system moved in. The winds have been blowing
steadily between 37 and 40 knots, with gusts up around 50. The snow fell
quickly enough for a time that it accumulated on the ship. Then the air
warmed up above freezing again, and ice and slush began falling from the
upper decks onto the fantail. It’s a good thing we wear hard hats!
Truthfully, there were precious few reasons to go out. A few folks
ventured out to the chemical locker and to the cold van to sample flux
chambers.

The sea is full of white caps. It’s difficult to gauge if the swell is
bad, because we are traveling with the seas. We tried to catch a picture
of the waves and snow, but it just doesn’t translate well. It is quite
beautiful.

Okay, we know it's not quite like the chunks of ice that were falling on
Chicagoans a fews weeks back, but it's still cold if it slides down your
neck.

We should be on station by 11:00 tonight. We’re all hoping for a nap
before we arrive (and for the weather to change again).

Sarah’s worm of the day contribution is a hesionid polychaete.

Alyssa, let the poor man sleep!

Position: 67 degrees 40.046 minutes South; 70 degrees 1.678 minutes West
Heading: 202.2 degrees
Speed over ground: 12.3 knots
Air temp. 1.9 degrees C; Water temp. 0.885 degrees C

Mud, glorious mud.

2008-03-04T23:41:00.003-05:00

March 2, 2008

Finally! About 3:00 a.m. we were able to resume coring. Spirits are
noticeably higher. We have recovered 1 kasten core, 1 box core and 3
megacores since, with a CTD thrown in to mix things up. Sarah also found
more cool animals under the microscope. Here’s a Prionospio (another
polychaete worm). Hopefully the detail in the photo won’t be lost during
our email transfer.

Because we know you may be growing weary of all the core talk, we’ve
included two pictures of the bridge. Rick, the third mate, is at the
helm. One of his many jobs includes holding the ship on station as the
core goes in and then to position the ship safely while the core is
recovered. You can see the megacorer on the monitor in the second photo.
Sometimes, when we hit a large swell in the middle of a sensitive task, we
razz them, shouting out “Hey, who’s driving this thing?”, but you can tell
from the bridge panel, it takes a lot of talent and multitasking to keep
us on target and safe.

Apparently we owe some bryozoans an apology. It’s been brought to our
attention that we misspelled it recently. We imagine there has been no
shortage of typos and grammatical errors over the past few weeks.
Conditions are less than perfect out here so don’t doubt our collective
educations… if we were on a non-rocking platform and rested we would
surely do better.

With any luck, we’ll finish up our fourth station within 24 hours.

Position: 66 degrees 59.141 minutes South; 69 degrees 43.128 minutes West
Heading: 24.3 degrees
Speed over ground: 2.6 knots
Air temp. 1.4 degrees C; Water temp. 1.036 degrees

Response To Lundie

2008-03-04T23:39:00.002-05:00

Hi Lundie:

When we see humpbacks, we see groups of several. Sometimes it is
difficult to count them. The last group looked to be about 5 animals?

As for your Secchi disk question, let’s first make sure all our readers
know what a Secchi disk is. It is a device used to measure water
transparency. The disk, usually made of wood or plastic, is divided into
quarters which are painted alternating black and white for contrast. It is
lowered into the water at mid-day until it can no longer be seen. The
depth where it appears to disappear is recorded.

Now, we’ll admit you stumped us. It is not a measurement we normally make
and none of us could remember the conversion from oceanography 101. After
surveying most everyone on board and not finding an answer to your
question, we did what any self respecting undergraduate would do. We
searched the copy of Wikipedia that is maintained on the ship’s server.
It says that multiplying the Secchi depth by 3 will approximately give the
depth of the euphotic zone. During most of our CTD casts, measurable PAR
is reaching 50-60 meters depth. Dividing by three gives us a Secchi depth
on the order of 17-20 meters. Whew, we almost had to get out the
calculator for that one!

Take what you get…

2008-03-02T11:36:00.001-05:00

March 1, 2008

The weather forecasters were right with their predictions. Yesterday
afternoon and last night were pretty sloppy. For a while the decks were
closed and no one was allowed outside. There was a movie marathon for
about 8 hours after folks ran out of busy work to do.

Early this morning the winds finally abated. Unfortunately, the swell has
not. It’s been another day of trawling, CTDs and camera tows. The CTD
today and flux experiments we started at previous stations have at least
given us water samples for oxygen titrations and nutrient analyses. While
water, plankton and animals are good, mud would be better.
We are all getting antsy waiting for coring to begin again. We’ve also
begun eyeing the calendar and realizing we do not have that much time left
to complete our sampling. It’s time for Mother Nature to cooperate again.

We determine oxygen concentrations in small volume water samples by
winkler titration.

Position: 66 degrees 59.297 minutes South; 69 degrees 43.439 minutes West
Heading: 20.6 degrees
Speed over ground: 2.1 knots
Air temp. 1.8 degrees C; Water temp. 1.268 degrees C

Happy Leap Year Day!

2008-03-01T12:12:00.001-05:00

February 29, 2008

Water is regularly splashing against the porthole in the lab.

We’ve moved once again. We are now just south of the Antarctic Circle at
our fourth station. Apparently March comes in like a lion in the southern
hemisphere, too. Last night the weather forecast came out, and it was
worse—at least 48 more hours of low pressure, high wind and seas, and more
snow. The winds were already blowing over 30 knots and the box corer
began to pre-trigger (the swell affected the wire tension so much that the
spade would close before the corer reached the seabed). It was clear
there was not going to be any more coring for a while. We decided to make
the most of the ship time by finishing up all the trawling at our third
station and transiting south. There continues to be some work we can get
done despite the large swell and high winds. Right now we are surveying
the new station to identify good, muddy spots to core. The down side of
this is that the ship must run along defined transect lines, regardless of
how she takes the swells. Right now it feels like we are in the trough,
rolling from side to side. Hopefully soon, we’ll turn, have following
seas, and enjoy a smoother ride for a while.

Liz and Karin are still dissecting smaple from last night's trawl.

Most of us are taking the opportunity to catch up on sample analyses,
dishwashing and dissecting chores. We’ve also had a label party, making
labels for containers that will hold the tracer experiment samples. We’ll
end those experiments tonight.

Prepping sample jars to hold the first C-13 labeled samples.

Position: 67 degrees 00.081 minutes South; 69 degrees 39.998 minutes West
Heading: 305.3 degrees
Speed over ground: 10.1 knots
Air temp. 2.4 degrees C; Water temp. 0.971 degrees C

When what to my wondering eyes should appear?

2008-03-01T12:09:00.002-05:00

February 28, 2008

No it wasn’t Santa Claus confused about which pole to call home. It was a
giant rock on deck. Definitely, not something we see everyday. Just when
we think we’re in the groove and things are feeling a bit predictable, the
ocean reminds us that nothing is mundane at sea. The first hints that
this site is a little different from previous sites came during the survey
and from previous sidescan images of the area. We are positioned over a
basin with a smooth muddy bottom, but there is substantial bottom relief
nearby. Then, the CTD/camera tow ended a bit prematurely when we
discovered a rock wall in its path. No significant damage was incurred,
but the CTD frame will need a little work. Then during the otter trawl
the wire tension jumped to 10,000 pounds (it had been on the order of
3,000 lbs.). The marine project coordinator and shift leader made the call
to get it off the bottom quickly, because, we can’t afford to lose or rip
the net. The tension quickly returned to a normal level, but folks were a
little anxious waiting for it to surface. Yes, we caught a boulder
instead of animals. And yes, we sampled the animals attached to the rock
(limpets, serpulid polychaetes, and bryazoans).

Liz sampling the animals growing attached to the rock.

Here's a sight more typical after an otter trawl. It's a starfish that
was brooding its young. Awe, aren't all baby starfish cute?

Our other bit of excitement is the weather forecast. There is another low
headed our way with snow. Seas are supposed to build overnight and the
snow maybe quite heavy. We rearranged our sampling schedule a bit to try
to finish much of the coring earlier than planned and save things like the
Tucker trawl for later. The clouds and wind are already moving in.

Position: 65 degrees 59.002 minutes South; 67 degrees 17.104 minutes West
Heading: 42.5 degrees
Speed over ground: 0.9 knots
Air temp. 4.5 degrees C; Water temp. 1.845 degrees C

Hump day and hump site.

2008-02-28T10:02:00.001-05:00

February 27, 2008

This morning we were greeted by a glorious sunrise over the mountains
and a smooth sediment trap deployment. Very soon after, we
left for station 3 of 5. We’ve just finished a survey of the area and are
about to deploy the CTD and camera. After that we’ll start coring.

The entire sediment trap mooring, with weights, floats, and acoustic
release, was laid out on deck for deployment.

Here is a shot of the actual trap. You can see the collection cups we
mentioned yesterday.

We all got an email about scheduling our travel home. With the end in
sight, many folks are starting to dream about what they most look forward
to when they get home. Some of the things folks miss most are:

1) Hugging my child (three of us left toddlers behind with family).
2) My dog.
3) Playing ultimate Frisbee in a big grassy field.
4) Taking a walk.
5) A hot bath and a glass of wine.
6) A salad that is not made of iceberg lettuce.
7) Sushi.
8) Trail running.
9) Green.

Position: 65 degrees 55.378 minutes South; 67 degrees 25.417 minutes West
Heading: 8.1 degrees
Speed over ground: 7.9 knots
Air temp. 2.8 degrees C; Water temp. 2.047 degrees C

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

2008-02-27T10:23:00.001-05:00

February 26, 2008

The marine techs attach an acoustic pinger to the wire.

The sun is shining, the seas are calm and we can see the mountains again.
We’ve had a good day today. It finally feels like we are in the
groove. Coring is going well, and we’ve started two tracer experiments.
We’ve added the C-13 labeled phytoplankton to flux chambers. We’ll
monitor how the infaunal and microbial communities react to the additions.
It’s critical that we keep good records of all our experiments. We are
taking our record keeping high tech (for us old folks anyway). Andrew has
been busy transcribing notebooks and logs onto the computer so we can all
go home with electronic copies.

Rebecca checks on a flux chamber.

Craig is prepping a sediment trap and mooring. We’ll deploy one here at
Station B before we leave. It will be out an entire year before we
recover it. It has rotating cups, so one cup is in place under the funnel
collecting material for two and a half week and then another cup rotates
into place. Each cup is initially filled with a dense seawater-fixative
mix so that the trapped sediment does not degrade over the course of the
year.

Position: 64 degrees 48.043 minutes South; 65 degrees 21.265 minutes West
Heading: 115.5 degrees
Speed over ground: 0.6 knots
Air temp. 2.3 degrees C; Water temp. 1.598 degrees C

Word of the day: Optimism.

2008-02-26T09:47:00.002-05:00

February 25, 2008

Dave has a phrase that solicits much eye rolling from the gang, but has
been nominated as a great motto for station B: Be patient; be flexible; be
happy. The large swell continued through the night and most of the
morning. We’ve tried to shuffle the sampling schedule to prevent loss of
ship time. We’ve successfully finished two otter trawls, a Tucker trawl,
and a CTD. Since our last post, we’ve tried two kasten cores and two
boxcores. Much like the attempt with the megacorer yesterday, our coring
attempts today have been a bust, literally. The first box core came up
with the bridle broken and the door flaps open (pic).

The second came up with the carpet seal on the spade loose. We think it may have impeded the
spade just enough for the mud to wash out on the way up. We’re happy to
report that both the megacorer and boxcorer are now repaired and the swell
is diminishing. All in all, we are only about ten hours behind schedule.
It could be worse. Knock on wood. Some of us are proving to be a
superstitious crew.

The trawls have kept folks busy sorting and dissecting animals. Here’s a
picture of Linda dissecting. We sample the gonads, gut contents and body
wall for isotopic and biomarker analyses as well as genetics. We are
optimistic we will have a core up this evening.

Position: 64 degrees 47.664 minutes South; 65 degrees 25.387 minutes West
Heading: 105.7 degrees
Speed over ground: 10.5 knots
Air temp. 2.2 degrees C; Water temp. 1.526 degrees C

Response to Mary

2008-02-26T09:45:00.001-05:00

Hi Mary:
Interested in the finer details? Each piece of equipment is attached to
wire cable which is controlled by a winch. The CTD travels to the
seafloor fastest, at 40 meters per minute. It comes up a bit more slowly
with stops at the depths where we want to trigger the Niskin bottles—that
means we send an electronic signal for the ends of the bottles to close.

Most of the coring equipment travels down at a rate of 30 meters per
minute. Once it is near the bottom we slow down a bit to allow the bridge
to position the boat so that the wire angle is good and our speed over
ground is zero. Then the winch operator lets out wire until the tension
on the wire indicates that the corer has hit bottom. Additional wire is
fed out to make sure the corer has time to trigger (we don’t want a swell
to yank it out prematurely). Then the gear is pulled out at 10-20 meters
per minute and it gradually speeds up for the trip to the surface. We
generally plan on 2 full hours for coring.

The trawls go down fast, too, at 30 meters per minute. A lot of extra
wire is released on trawl deployments. Then the otter trawl is on the
bottom for about 20 minutes as the bridge keeps the boat moving forward as
slowly as possible. It comes up at about 20 meters per minute. If it
comes up too fast the animals would squeeze against the net. There is
often a protective ball of mud in the net to help protect the critters.

If you have a big ship, you’ll need a big wrench

2008-02-25T09:51:00.001-05:00

February 24, 2008

If you have a big ship, you’ll need a big wrench- or maybe seven or eight.
Karen played Vanna White so that you can grasp the size of the wrenches
(pun intended). How strong you have to be to wield them, we can only
imagine. During the transit to Station B, the engineers invited folks
down for a tour of the engine room. Keeping the main engine running is a
big job. The engineers also are responsible for the bow thrusters and
other mechanical issues on board.

Shortly after the tour we arrived at the station. The first thing we did
is CTD with the camera attached. Fabio is responsible for backing up the
photos and checking the settings. After the CTD, we tried to core.
There is a sizable swell today, so we have not been successful so far.
The megacorer bounced on the seafloor. When we recovered it several tubes
were empty and a couple of springs were broken. While we make repairs, we
will try to otter trawl and hope the swell settles down soon.

In the meantime, we are still busy processing samples, running chemical
analyses and sorting animals from the sediment. Here are two pictures of
macrofaunal polychaetes who live in the sediment (we call them infauna).
They were both a few millimeters long. The pictures were taken through
the microscope. The onuphid had to be coaxed out of his tube for the
picture. The cirratulid has a lot of curly branchea on its anterior
segments.

Position: 64 degrees 47.151 minutes South; 65 degrees 25.486 minutes West
Heading: 22.4 degrees
Speed over ground: 3.5 knots
Air temp. 5.1 degrees C; Water temp. 1.420 degrees C

One down, four to go.

2008-02-24T12:55:00.001-05:00

February 23, 2008

Today we finished working our first station. The weather has deteriorated
some, but on the whole it is not too bad. We’ve had periods of fog and
light rain. The seas have picked up some and the decks are awash. It has
not stopped our work or the humbacks from coming by to visit.

Today we did a camera tow along the bottom. We’re working on trying to
get a picture or two of the seafloor to share. We megacored one last time
at this station. You can see us pulling the individual cores off in the
rain. Around lunch time it cleared up enough for us to process a kasten
core outside on the deck. We use cut-off syringes to punch out plugs of
sediment and then centrifuge it to remove the water from porespaces in the
mud (pic). Now it’s dreary again.

Most folks are excited that the steam between here and the next station
will take at least 15 hours. It allows us to catch up on analyses,
laundry and sleep.

We’ve heard about a cool website that allows you to see real-time GPS
positions for ships at sea. It’s
www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/researchships.phtml . We can’t check it from
here to see how user friendly it is, but it maybe worth a look. We are
aboard the R/V L.M. Gould.

Position: 63 degrees 2.161 minutes South, 61 degrees 36.862 minutes West
Speed over ground: 1.5 knots (we’re pulling a trawl)
Heading: 279.1
Air temp. 4.5 degrees C ; Water temp. 1.640 degrees C

Response to terrikhnc

2008-02-24T12:47:00.002-05:00

Hi terrikhnc,

I am not sure what the timezone is called, but we are two hours later than
Eastern Standard Time.

Here are two pictures of data generated by the CTD. One represents
optical data, showing PAR and transmissivity. PAR is photosynthetically
active radiation, or light that can be used by plants and phytoplankton
for photosynthesis. Transmissivity is a way to show how clear the water
is. You'll also see temperature on this graph. In this case you see a
warmer layer of water near the surface that is well mixed. The PAR
penetrates past this layer, so we deduce that the phytoplankton in this
layer are not light limited.

The other graph plots salinity, temperature and density with depth. We
can use this type of graph to look for indications of upwelling and for
characteristics of different water masses, such as melt run-off or
Antarctic Bottom Water.

here's a picture of the
seafloor that was taken from a camera strapped to the CTD. In it, you can
see an anemone and a soft coral (the round thing with no tentacles) called
Amthomastus. The two laser dots are about 15cm apart for scale.

And for all of you out there worried that the Lachat nutrient analyzer has
eaten Kim alive, we are all proud to say it is she who has conquered it.

Feb 22

2008-02-23T12:26:00.001-05:00

February 22, 2008

What day is this?

TGIF does not mean much to us out here. Now that we are on station the
24/7 work will continue. In fact of the five folks I polled at lunch,
none realized it was Friday. Most knew that UNC beat NCSU. I guess you
can tell where our hearts are.

Today is another beautiful day—calm seas, warm weather and brief windows
of sunshine. It cleared off enough for us to believe the map and see that
we were surrounded by very large mountain peaks in the distance. The
tranquility may end in the morning though. The captain poked his head in
the lab to tell us that the latest forecast out of Chile is predicting
high winds in the morning. Apparently Palmer got blasted by a storm last
night. The weather can change really quickly here.

Animals recovered in the otter trawl.

Last night we used the otter trawl to collect animals from the seafloor.
It took several hours to sort them by taxonomic group. Some will
be dissected for genetic, tracer and biomarker work. Some will be pickled
in formalin to preserve them for more specific identification. We are
trying to keep others alive in aquaria for feeding experiments. It is a
challenge to collect them without hurting them. First they have to
survive the bumpy ride in the trawl net, then they have to survive the
pressure changes on the way to the surface of the ocean, and finally they
have to be happy in the aquaria as the ship rolls and water quality
changes. We are all crossing our fingers that they fare well. We’ve also
got a bit of a challenge predicting which are predators—we surely don’t
want to mix the wrong species.

Today we have been coring with the kasten corer. It collects a
relatively long and narrow core that spans the last 9,000 years or so.
The cores it collects are valuable for measuring sediment accumulation
rates, deeper porewater processes, and geological shifts during the
Holocene.

Recovery of the kasten corer.

Right now we are focusing on plankton collections. Alyssa deployed a
small, fine mesh over the side earlier. Both this and the kasten
core deployments require that the gates on the deck be open. Anytime the
gates are open, the people working in the area must lash themselves to the
boat. Safety remains a top concern and the last thing we want is someone
to fall into the frigid water.

Position: 63 degrees 3.360 minutes S, 61 degrees 35.322 minutes W
On station

Air temp. 4.7 degrees C; water temp, 1.595 degrees C

Response to Mat

2008-02-23T12:25:00.002-05:00

Hi Mat!,
There are pretty strict rules regarding waste as a result of the Antarctic
Treaty. We are not allowed to dump anything over the side. Sewage is
caught in a tank and treated. Once it's treated, it is discharged into
the ocean. The run of the mill garbage that we create on board is burned
in an incinerator on the 02 deck. We have to separate out things such as
batteries, aerosol cans and lab waste. Lab and other hazardous waste is
taken to Palmer Station, sorted, and transported back to the states for
disposal. The ship is not allowed to take these materials into Chile.

Finally!

2008-02-22T09:40:00.002-05:00

Feb. 21

We arrived on Station at 5:00 and surveyed the area. Then the fun began.
Finally some samples to sink our teeth into. It seems like it took a long
time to get to this point. It’s not been a perfect da; no 1st day in the
field ever is. The first megacore (collects tubes of mud from the
seafloor) bounced, but the second was a keeper. The box core did not
trigger on its first trip, but it is on its way down again. We’ve
had two successful CTD deployments.

Craig trouble shoots a problem with the box corer.

Everyone is busy processing samples. Alyssa is filtering seawater to
collect phytoplankton. Kim is gearing up the nutrient analyzer. Brian
and Rebecca are slicing a core for Thorium analyses, and Sarah and
Liz are preparing the Tucker trawl (for collecting plankton-esp. larvae).

Brian and Rebecca section a sediment core.

Sarah process samples in the aquarium room.

Position: 63 degrees 3.264 minutes South, 61 degrees 35.533 minutes West
Speed over ground: 0.7 knots
Heading: 323.0 degrees
Air temp. 4.0 degrees C; Water temp. 1.625 degrees C

Goodbye Palmer, Hello Neumeyer Straight

2008-02-22T09:39:00.002-05:00

February 20, 2008

Most folks slept late today after the late night party. Then we finished
the work we needed to do at the Palmer lab in time for folks to climb the
glacier behind the station and enjoy the view.

Mid-afternoon we set sail for our first station. We left the way we came,
through the Neumeyer Straight. This time the snow was light and we
gathered on the bow to watch the mountains and glaciers pass by. It was quite a show. We saw penguins, seals and humback whales.

The captain told us we should be on station at about 5:00 am. Folks on
the midnight to noon shift are already in bed. Those of us on the noon to
midnight shift are making labels and giving the gear one last look over.

When we arrive, we will first do a benthic survey with sonar imaging
equipment. We need a relatively flat, muddy area 600m deep for our work.
Then we will send down a CTD (an instrument that measures
conductivity-depth-temperature) with Niskin bottles (water collection at
discrete depths)and a camera. Soon after, we will begin sampling for mud,
animals and phytoplankton. Wish us luck!

Position: 64 degrees 14.350 minutes South, 61 degrees 53.746 minutes West
Speed over ground: 11.2 knots
Heading: 15.0 degrees
Water temp. 1.058 degrees C; Air temp. 1.4 degrees C

Responses to Tor and Mary

2008-02-19T22:20:00.002-05:00

Thanks Tor- We're glad someone out there is paying attention.

Mary,
We're not sure how many tourist ships come around Copa, we'll try to find out. There are several scientists who spend the entire summer at the station observing the colonies. Each watches over a different colony, recording information on behavior and reproduction, but they do not interfere with their day to day activities. Some of the scientist are permitted to mark nests and weigh and tag penuins. So yes, the penguins are used to a human presence. Because of the Antatctic treaty and because it's the right thing to do, we as visitors are not supposed to interfer with the penguins or alter their behaviors. Penguins are curious and social, so it is not entirely unusual for them to approach and check us out.

Palmer Station. Will we ever get to work?

2008-02-19T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today we awoke to a snow squall. The winds were blowing 40+ knots. It was snowing vertically and so hard it was difficult to see much beyond the ship. The wind chill was -18 degrees C and for the first time it felt like Antarctica should. Those of us who got up early to see the Neumeyer Straits were disappointed we could not see the scenery, but we enjoyed bragging about the snow and wind to our colleagues who slept late and missed it all.

At 12:30 we arrived at Palmer and relished another chance to walk on terra firma and enjoy the quiet. The weather quickly cleared and it became obvious that the glacier behind the station was significantly smaller than it had been during our last visit.

The folks at Palmer opened the gift shop for us. Some of the staff said we were more enthusiastic shoppers than the tourist boats. Most of us eagerly bought gifts for friends and family at home, as well as a few treats for ourselves (chocolate and drinks). The scientists and support staff invited us for a pizza dinner and party. There was music, dancing and a relaxing dip in the hot tub. We’ll post the pictures of the party tomorrow—now we’re ready for bed.

Position: 64 degrees 46.482 minutes South, 64 degrees 3.305 minutes West
Heading: Docked at Palmer Station
Air temp. 0.2 degrees C, Water temp. 1.954 degrees C

Welcome to the lifestyles of the not-so-rich or famous.

2008-02-19T18:02:00.005-05:00

In respons to Mary's comment on living quarters:

Our living quarters are a bit close but pretty comfortable. Berthing is
in staterooms that generally have two bunks, a small desk and cabinet
space for our personal gear.

Each stateroom is attached to a
head. Some rooms share a head; others have their own.

We eat in the galley. There are crew members who cook three
meals for us. Most meals have rice and beans plus a hot, main dish and
veggies. So far there has also been no shortage of cookies fresh from the
oven. Once we get on station and begin working 24/7 there will be a
midnight meal. That's really important when you are working 12 hour
shifts out in the cold.

There are also places to relax and socialize or to meet and talk science.
We have a lounge with TV + movies, computers, board games and a satellite
phone. A favorite place to escape is the bow. The engines are not very
loud up there and you can get fresh air while you enjoy the scenery. We
also have a bit of luxury- a sauna and a hot tub.

Land Ho!

2008-02-19T13:01:00.001-05:00

Land Ho!
February 18

Today when we awoke, we were offshore of the Bellinghausen station. They
sent a boat out to gather their supplies and then we were off to Copa.
At Copa, the weather was still good so we were all able to go ashore to
the station in zodiacs. It took several trips to ferry all of
the supplies and people, but it was well worth it.

The NCSU Research Team at Copa

The Hawaii Research Team at Copa

The station looked quite different from our last visit seven years ago.
Last time there was a blanket of snow and ice everywhere. This time, the
ground was covered with grass and moss! Invasive species have become a
real issue in the South Shetland Islands as the maritime climate warms.
When we returned to the ship, we had to scrub our boots thoroughly so we
would not transport seeds or insects further south along the peninsula.

The highlight of the day was spending time with the penguins. There were
gentoo and chinstrap penguins as far as we could see. Many penguins
had young chicks on their nests and older fledgelings nearby. Skuas
were circling and doing their best to pick off the weaker chicks. We saw
several skeletons leftover from previous meals. One of the scientists at
the station remarked that it was very late in the season for the penguins
to be nesting.

Before we returned to the ship we snapped two group photos of the
scientists. Now we are en route to Palmer Station.

Location: 62 degrees 30.365 minutes South, 58 degrees 47.216 minutes West
Speed over ground: 9.7 knots
Heading: 26.7 degrees
Air temp 3.1 degrees C; Water temp 1.638 degrees C

Meet the research team from Hawaii

2008-02-17T19:56:00.001-05:00

Meet the research team from Hawaii:

Dr. Craig Smith, Principal Investigator. I am a professor of oceanography
at the University of Hawaii and one of the leaders of the Antarctic
project (called FOODBANCS 2). I am studying how the communities of marine
animals and bacteria in the Antarctic are responding to climate warming.
Our study area along the Antarctic
Peninsula is warming faster than anywhere in the world, and the amazing
ecosystems there are changing very quickly. I also work in tropical
intertidal habitats (for example, mangroves in Hawaii) and on seafloor
communities in the very deep ocean (deeper than 4000 m or 2.5 miles) in
other parts of the world. The differences between Hawaiian and Antarctic
ecosystems are especially interesting because Hawaiian waters have
"summer" conditions year round, whereas the Antarctic has the harshest
winters on the earth. Those of us living in Hawaii love to suit in the
heavy Antarctic gear and venture out into the Antarctic cold -- it our
only chance to see some snow and ice!

Dr. Sarah Mincks. I'm a University of Alaska International Polar Year
Post-doctoral Fellow. I'm interested in seafloor ecology, including
reproduction and biodiversity patterns in invertebrates. I'm also working
in the Arctic for the next couple years, and hope to be able to make some
comparisons between how sediment organisms at both poles make their
"living" in a highly seasonal, low-temperature environment. On this trip,
one of the things I hope to do is get some animals to spawn, and raise the
larvae in the lab to describe the development. I will also be collecting
tissue samples from various organisms so I can use DNA to look at their
population structure and evolutionary history. More info about me can be
found on my website at
http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/people/research/mincks/index.html.

Dr. Liz Galley. I have just joined Craig Smiths lab at the University of
Hawaii as a Post-doctoral researcher working on the Foodbancs project. I
am interested in researching how seafloor animals respond to a variable
food supply in terms of their reproduction, feeding and composition of
their body tissues. I have previously looked at how these ecological
processes vary with a highly seasonal food supply, as we find in the
Antarctic. On this cruise we are looking at how these processes may be
affected by climate change. I will be dissecting alot of the animals from
the seabed trawl and describing the gut and feeding tentacle structure,
and storing the gonads for weight measurements. We also plan to analyse
some of the body tissues to measure energy content and determine main food
sources. As well as the internal biology of these animals I am also
interested in the dynamics of larval development and how this may be
affected by climate change, such as changes in temperature and ocean
acidity.

Dr. Andrew Sweetman. Hi, my name is Andrew Sweetman and I'm a
post-doctoral scientist at the University of Hawaii. Back at UH, I look
at how marine invertebrates living in shallow and deep-sea sediments alter
the chemistry of these sediments and vice versa. On this cruise, I'll be
helping collect corals for DNA analysis to look at their population
structure, as well as setting up and using the two deep-sea camera systems
we have on board to see how certain animals (e.g. sea cucumbers) living at
the deep-sea floor behave and feed.

Dr. Rhian Waller. I'm a new faculty member at the School of Ocean and
Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii and arrived there
just five weeks ago coming from my postdoc at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution. My research focuses on looking at the ecology of cold-water
corals in extreme environments - like the Antarctic - and how they are
affected by stress such as climate changes and anthropogenic impacts. My
projects on this cruise involve collecting coral samples from trawls and
looking at their DNA to examine the population structure down the
peninsula (and comparing them to corals living on seamounts in the Drake
Passage and on the Chilean and Argentinian shelf from another project),
looking at how these corals reproduce using histology and TEM analysis,
and also collecting brooded larvae to look at larval behavior and skeleton
formation. I'll also be taking water samples to look at the aragonite
saturation of the water they live in to try and find out how these corals
are making their skeletons in such cold water, and how that would be
affected by ocean warming.

Fabio De Leo. I am a PhD student at University of Hawaii working with
Deep-Sea invertebrate communities. These animals (from very tiny
polychaete worms up to bigger shrimps, seastars, corals, etc) live in the
seafloor and represent important food resources for many fish species that
are exploited commercially around the world. Also, they represent one of
the largest reservoirs of the marine biodiversity (~70% of all marine
species lives in the bottom of the oceans). Thus, it is really important
to study them and preserve the ecosystem where they live.
In this current cruise here in Antarctica I am helping prof. Craig Smith
and other scientists to study how this ‘climate change’ that we hear all
the time in the news will affect marine ecosystems. We know that global
warming is already affecting how the oceans function and also that many
marine species are severely endangered. However, we still need to
investigate how the ocean warming and the melting of ice in the Antarctic
for example will affect the bottom of the ocean and the animals that live
there. You will find more about my research and interests at
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fdeleo/ingles/index.html Come aboard with us…

Pavica Srsen. I am a graduate student at the Department of Oceanography at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Within this project, I am primarily
interested in how the biodiversity changes with changes of the latitude. I
will be looking at the macrofaunal and megafaunal community composition at
the seafloor at different latitudes along the Antarctic Peninsula. I hope
to see some biodiversity patterns coupled with sea ice duration which
could help us to predict the changes in the seafloor communities as a
result of global warming.

Angelo Bernardino. Hello everyone, I am a graduate student from Brazil but
currently I am working at University of Hawaii with Dr. Craig Smith. My
research focuses on ecology of communities that live at whale carcasses
that sink to the bottom of the ocean after they die. To study them, we
sink the carcasses to the bottom and them visit the study site at several
times to see what animals are living there. I am also comparing the
animals colonizing these whale falls with other deep-sea (below 1500
meters depth) communities, to see if any organisms utilize these whales as
"islands" to disperse across large ocean basins such as the Pacific Ocean.
In this cruise, I will be mainly involved in the analysis of microbial
communities in the sediment, to see how microbial organisms respond to the
latitudinal gradient on food input and ice duration. If you would like to
ask anything about my work or this cruise, I will be happy to answer you!
Aloha, Angelo.

Karin Lutke Elbers. I'm a Masters student from University of São Paulo -
Brazil. I'm interested in seafloor ecology and in this cruise I will help
on the sampling process. I'm working with the macrofauna from the first
Foodbancs project and now I hope to sort some animals to make some
comparisions between the periods and stations. More info about my
laboratory can be found at: http://ldb.io.usp.br.

Working hard, or hardly working

2008-02-17T19:55:00.001-05:00

Today is our last day of steaming across the passage. It's been a mix of
last minute preparations and relaxing. The NCSU group is still struggling
to get the nutrient analyzer running. The Hawaii group has been prepping
the underwater camera to make sure the housing does not leak, that the
strobe is timed correctly, and that the lasers we use for size/scale are
set properly.

We continue to have outstanding weather. The seas are about as calm as we
have ever seen in the Drake Passage and the sun has shone all day. We are
seeing alot of albatross and a few smaller birds but not much other
wildlife yet. It is defintiely getting colder though! The air
temperature is around 5.3 degrees C and the water temperature is 2.5
degrees C. When we left Punta Arenas, the temperature was in the upper
teens.

Tomorrow morning at 6:00 am we will be stopping at King George Island very
briefly (at Bellinghausen first, then COPA). After we exchange supplies
at COPA we will leave the South Shetlands and head for Palmer Station on
Anvers Island.

Position: 60 degrees 25.387 minutes South, 60 degrees 51.950 minutes West
Speed over ground: 10.6 knots
Heading: 160.4 degrees

Shake, Rattle and Roll

2008-02-16T19:24:00.002-05:00

February, 16
Well, the seas have picked up some but we are still having a pretty
pleasant crossing so far. The winds are only blowing about 8 knots, but
there is a slow steady swell that is rocking us side to side. Nobody is
sick but several folks are taking sea sickness medicine just in case.
Small items, such as cups and notepads, are starting to slide across
tables. The newest students aboard are starting to appreciate why things
needed to be tied down so carefully.

Craig holds Knot Tying 101. Can you tie a half hitch?

Today we worked more on lab set-up and started to finalize our plans for
sampling at each site. Of course, everything might change if the weather
does not cooperate. Fortunately we have a few hours built into the
schedule in case we get weathered out. Tonight a group of scientists who
are headed to Palmer Station are giving a slide show about their research.
They SCUBA dive to collect algae and invertebrate animals. They are
chemical ecologists studying similarities and differences in how protists
and animals compete for space and food.

We expect to make it to our first stop on Monday morning. We will be
picking up gear from Bellinghausen Station; it will be closing soon for
the winter. We are excited about seeing land again in a day and a half.

Location: 56 degrees 38.512 minutes South, 63 degrees 47.429 minutes West
Speed over ground: 10.1 knots
Heading: 153.9 degrees

And we're off

2008-02-16T19:15:00.006-05:00

February 15, 2008
This morning we awoke underway. As I type, we are leaving the Straights
of Magellan and turning south. Since we are near land, the seas are quite
calm. Once we leave the shelter of Cape Horn and enter the Drake Passage,
the swell will grow, even if the weather is good.

Before lunch we had orientation. We heard about shipboard etiquette
(don't sit in the captains seat in the galley), donning survival suits and
how to e-mail home. We also sat in the lifeboats--definitely not a place
we want to end up! After lunch we had safety training for lab and deck
work. Now we are enjoying some free time. Some folks are setting up
instruments; some are napping; and some are outside watching the sea.

It takes a village to start a nutrient analyzer. Kim gets a little help
setting up the Lachat (maybe too much?).

Location: 53 degrees 1.645 minutes South, 67 degrees 33.382 minutes West
Speed over ground: 10 knots
Heading: 133.6 degrees

Holy moly, we're leaving tonight!

2008-02-16T19:14:00.003-05:00

Well, we were standing at the tourist shop, 15 minutes from the penguin
tour, when the word came that the sediment traps had arrived at the boat!
We all rushed back to the ship, disappointed to miss the pinguinos, yet
happy to finally be on our way. All the gear had to be stowed and tied
down before the boat could leave the dock, so we worked frantically.

Brian and Andrew loading gear

It took until 11:30, but we got it done. Now we're tired, dirty and ready for
bed. The weather outlook is good for the next couple of days. Smooth
sailing!

The wind and waves in the Drake Passage can be substantial. We use large
straps to ensure equipment such as the box corer does not shift during the
trip.

Meet the NCSU gang!

2008-02-14T08:17:00.006-05:00

Dr. Dave DeMaster, Chief Scientist. Hi, I'm a Professor at NC State University, and I am interested in using radioisotopes to understand feeding dynamics on the Antarctic seafloor. There are several naturally occurring radioactive elements that we use. One is C-14. We can use it to date materials that contain carbon. Another is Thorium 234. It has a short half-life so we can use it to understand short term movement of particles, such as phytoplankton and sediment, through the water column and seabed. The most exciting part of this to me is using the isotope concentrations in worm tissues and stomach contents to see how much fresh phytoplankton the worms are ingesting 500m below the water's surface.

Dr. Carrie Thomas, Principal Investigator. Hi, I'm an Assistant Research Professor at NC State University. I use a couple different research tools to understand feeding dynamics and carbon cycling in the mud at the ocean's bottom. One tool we use is called a flux chamber. In it, we incubate a small part of the seafloor and measure concentrations of important oxidants and by-products of respiration to gauge how much organic matter is consumed by microbes and small animals living in the mud. Another tool we use is C-13 labeled phytoplankton grown in Raleigh. C-13 is a stable isotope of carbon that is relatively rare in nature. By growing phytoplankton in special media, we create organic matter that contains only C-13 (little or no C-12). When we add the labeled phytoplankton to sediment or feed it to invertebrates, we can actually follow the phytoplankton derived carbon into the food web.

From left: Stian, our Chief MST, Dr. Dave DeMaster, Dr. Craig Smith (in red hiding behind the box-corer) and Dr. Carrie Thomas.

Hi, I'm Rebecca Pirtle-Levy and very new to Antarctic research. I have just started a PhD program at NCSU and am looking forward to playing with mud! I will be working with flux chambers assisting Dr. Carrie Thomas.

Hi, I'm Kimberly Null. I am a PhD student at NC State. I normally work in the Neuse River Estuary but now will be traveling to Antarctica to run the nutrient analyzer.

From left: Brian Pointer, Rebecca Pirtle-Levy, Kim Null, Linda Waters. It is considered good luck for sailors to rub the toe of Magellan before leaving for sea.

Hey all, my name is Alyssa Hopkins and I am a Master's student working under Dr. Carrie Thomas. I have a vested interest in polar topics and am very excited to be participating in this series of Antarctic cruises. My task on ship will be to assist Dr. Thomas and assess phytoplankton species diversity.

Alyssa Hopkins admiring University of Hawaii scientist, Dr. Andrew Sweetman.
Hey, I'm Linda. I'll be doing all the jobs no one else wants to do as well as squeezing in a bit of sampling for the tiny larval organisms that live near the bottom of the ocean.

Greetings, I am Brian Pointer, a graduate student at NCSU working with Dr. Dave using radioisotopes to investigate sediment and ecosystem dynamics. This trip is going to rock!

Hurry up and wait...

2008-02-14T08:06:00.002-05:00

Valentines Day update.

We're aboard and the boat is gassed up, but we're not going anywhere until Friday night (we were originally supposed to sail today). A piece of critical equipment is sitting in Argentinian customs. It's the sediment trap that we plan to deploy in Marguerite Bay. It will collect particles settling through the water column in the coming months and is really important for helping us to understand what kind of food reaches the seafloor. While we play the waiting game, we are setting up gear and tying stuff to the floors and walls of the boat so it will not shift around as we cross the Drake Passage.

It's not all work, though, in the evenings we've explored Punta Arenas and tried out a couple of great restaurants.

Day 2 in Punta Arenas

2008-02-12T21:34:00.002-05:00

Today was quite productive and enjoyable for the science crew. Most of us started the day with clothing issue, where we are all fitted for cold weather gear for use on the ship and on the continent of Antarctica. Extreme weather is common, so extreme clothing is needed as well. Most of it consists of the basics - long underwear and socks. Comfort is key when on a cold boat for weeks on end.

The morning also brought a rainbow, which was taken by all to be an omen of good fortune.

The rest of the day was spent loading the ship with equipment, repairing sampling equipment, and of course, a little shopping. Brian found some... interesting hats at a local market.

The only other news to report is a slight setback in our departure date due to a delayed shipment of our sediment traps. Friday at 10:00 AM is our new ETD.

We will continue to keep this update directly from Chile as long as we have good internet access. We move onto the ship tomorrow, so our wi-fi will be a little harder to come across, though we will continue to update this blog via email with an emissary at NCSU. Keep checking for updates!!

In Chile!!!

2008-02-11T12:43:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody! Just a quick dispatch from America Sur! A large group of us made it to Santiago (though from different flights), made it through customs and immigration in a mad dash, and are now waiting to board our flight to Punta Arenas.

Lunch was great, if not a little hectic due to the language and currency differences. Still, spirits are high, and we are looking forward to meeting the rest of the group in Punta Arenas soon. Actually, right now, everyone is taking advantage of the free internet while it lasts...

Ciao!

Migrating South

2008-02-08T19:45:00.000-05:00

Well, we've just finished packing the last of the gear we'll be taking
along on the plane. Now we're all heading home to spend a few more hours
with our families before we fly south.

Over the next couple of days we will fly from Raleigh, NC to Punta Arenas,
Chile, where we will catch our ship, the R/V LM Gould (see pic). Once we
set sail, it will be about four days of steaming along the Straits of
Magellen and the Drake Passage before we reach Palmer Station on the
Antarctic Peninsula (Palmer Station is the picture next to the ship!).

Look for our next post on February 14th or so when we have email access
from the ship.

Packing for the Cruise

2008-02-05T15:13:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos of packing day. Most of what we need for the cruise has to be packed into boxes and coolers, put on palettes, and drop-shipped to a cargo boat bound for Punta Arenas. We did this back in December, so as of this writing, it is (at least in theory) waiting for us down at the warehouse in Punta Arenas.

While we will have an assortment of equipment available to us that is already on board the ship, we need to come prepared for anything. There isn't a hardware store in Antarctica. Yet.

Dr. D checking it twice.

Onto the truck.. with luck they are sitting happily in Chile now!

First post

2008-01-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

Come join our journey to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the R/V L.M. Gould from February 14- March 17. We will be investigating the feeding dynamics of animals on the seafloor and the effects of global climate change on bentho-pelagic coupling (how the water column and seafloor interact). You can follow along using our blog http://antarctica-ncsu.blogspot.com/ . Submit questions to the scientists by emailing antarcticancsu@gmail.com and then check the blog for answers.

Short project description:
High latitudes are expected to exhibit some of the largest temperature changes on the planet as a result of global climate change. Some estimates predict that by the year 2100 the latitudes of ~50-60 degrees north and south of the equator may be as much as 10º C warmer during the winter than at present. Consequently, the ecosystems on the continental margin of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) may be a sensitive indicator of climate change. Extreme seasonality and interannual variability in the WAP pelagic ecosystem, however, make long-term trends difficult to resolve from existing climate noise. We postulate that the shelf benthic ecosystem has slower response times (or more “ecological inertia”) than much of the upper water column.
Benthic ecosystems on the Antarctic shelf potentially act as “low-pass” filters, removing high frequency seasonal noise and responding to longer-term trends in export production and pelagic ecosystem change. If this is the case, WAP shelf benthic processes may be extremely useful in resolving climatic changes occurring over periods of years to decades. However, to use benthic ecological signals as indicators of climate change, a better understanding of the processes driving bentho-pelagic coupling on the WAP is required.