"Watch out kids. There's a lot of ice around here." Quote by D.C. in 2005 found on the wall of the Jamesway at New Harbor. He said this after slipping on the ice and landing on his rear end.
We are so happy to be at New Harbor! We woke up this morning, had an early breakfast, and then got on our helicopter for our flight to New Harbor.
"Our" helicopter on the heliport at McMurdo Station
View of McMurdo from the helicopter
View of Hut Point from the helicopter
Hut Point is where we walked to the hut built by Scott in January of 1902. It is amazing to walk to, and then fly over, these historic sites!
We crossed 50 miles of sea ice to the west side of McMurdo Sound and approached New Harbor camp.
View of our camp on the edge of the continent
The smooth ice you see is called the "moat" and is an estuary that melts out each summer. It is slushy in places so we have to be careful crossing it. Then there are large pressure ridges where the sea ice has buckled up that we also have to cross. The tiny red dot to the right of the pressure ridge is the polar haven (or "polar palace" as Bryan calls it) where dive tanks and dive safety equipment is stored. Stacy, Bob, Marcus and Nick will be diving in the area to the right once we get some holes drilled and melted out!
Close-up of camp from the helicopter
The blowing snow in front of the two Jamesways is from the helicopter blades! They spit up all the snow and dirt around them when they get close to their landing. The helicopters create the worst wind storms I've ever been in.
Unloading SCINI from the helicopter
All of our 2,500 lbs of gear came by helicopter, either from Marble Point after the traverse took it across the sea ice, or directly from McMurdo. Helicopters fly from 5:30 am until often late at night at McMurdo delivering materials and people to all the different science camps in the area.
Team SCINI arrives at New Harbor!
Stay tuned for more updates from the field!