We're having a wonderful, beautiful, successful, interesting time here at New Harbor. The landscape is eerie - and getting more so every day as the bright sun creates fantastic ice sculptures.
Our crazy landscape out here at New Harbor - why does this happen?
Camp was set up by the crew last week so we're enjoying the comfortable hut in which we eat and cook warm meals. At night some of us are actually hot in our tents.
Our campsite at New Harbor. We sleep in the blue and orange mountaineering tents and we cook and eat in the grayish one. The blue one is our toilet!
We work hard - drilling and maintaining holes, scuba diving, tending to the divers, and getting SCINI in and out of the water. Luckily we have ski-doos and sleds to help us drag supplies and people from one hole to another and back to camp. There's always something going on as we only have two weeks here to gather as much information as possible. How can we best use this precious time?
Kamille, DJ, and Jen using a jiffy drill to drill a hole! The ice is between 12 to 18 feet but it is melting rapidly due to the warm weather that we're having here.
Diving at New Harbor - without a hut or tomato. Kamille coming up. What is under this crazy landscape? What animals are down there?
Paul is ecstatic to be back here and he's very pleased with all that we're doing and finding. Though he can't dive anymore, he's able to see the underwater world through SCINI's cameras and through the pictures and videos of the SCUBA divers. Yesterday we even recovered one of his floaters with all sorts of critters clinging to it. What will he learn from this one?
We are finding lots of Paul's treasures. We brought one up to the surface for him to analyze.
What will he find here? How have things changed in New Harbor over the last 3 decades?
SCINI has been a tremendous asset as many of the spots here are very deep - too deep for our divers. Though she's been successful, what sorts of challenges do you suppose this wonderful tool faces down here?
SCINI has been a wonderful help. She's mapping the undersea terrain, finding floaters and experiments, and taking countless pictures and videos.
A sunken treasure found and photographed by SCINI! This is one of Paul's experiments here under the ice in New Harbor. What can he learn from it? What has happened to it since he put this down on the seafloor more than 25 years ago?
We're working hard but also enjoying our time here in this eerie iceland.
What did we find today? How did we do? What will we do tomorrow? Brainstorming in a beautiful place.
What would you think of being here? What does this landscape make you think of?
Ice sculptures at New Harbor. What causes this?
Our view of Mt. Erebus! Can you see the smoke?
What would you want to study down here? What would you want to know more about?