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.

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!

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.

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!!

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!

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.

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!