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