Palmer Station at daybreak. We managed to get in and dock before the sever winds picked up. Palmer Station never looked so good after our long journey to get here.
We have finally made it to Palmer Station. It took a bit longer than expected, a couple of detours and a few days later. Without the most beautiful detours I have ever taken. Flexibility. Good thing to have. Seriously.
All hands on shore. It takes a coordinated, team effort to tie up the LMG at Palmer Station.
We went through orientation, got the tour and, as expected, there is a lot of intriguing science going on here. Of course, I’ll be brining you up to date on the icefish experiments. Remember that these fish have no hemoglobin. The hypothesis is that this may actually be to their advantage. More on that tomorrow. Other cool stuff going on?
Another group is studying the embryonic development of the icefish. The Amsler group has an elaborate set up to investigate effects of ocean acidification. With some more research on the brown algae. There is also a group investigating seasonal microbe growth in the water and sea ice. We need to go up to Terra Lab and see what is going on there. And there is always the daily operation of a research station one of the most remote parts of the world and how we stay warm, safe, and healthy. So you see, it’s pretty hopping down here.
Here is Dr. Crockett analyzing icefish samples. Look closely at her shirt. Recognize the Lindblom Chinese t-shirt?
The weather is…well it’s winter in Antarctica. What can I say? We docked just in time as the winds quickly picked up and before too long had picked up to 50 knots! Do you know how many miles per hour that is? I do. I looked it up after it almost blew me off the walkway. It’s 57.5 mph. As soon as the winds die down we will be heading out on a fishing trip and, of course, we will be launching the Fish Spy! So, if you want to know about any aspect of life at Palmer drop me an email at pdell [at] polartrec.com and let me know so we can investigate it for you. Finally, here is that rolling swells of pancake ice video I promised you. While the video doesn't do it justice, I hope you get a sense of our ship ride. Thanks to Britt Coates for sharing his video footage from the ship!
http://youtu.be/FF5mIpv_EAY