Yes, today I saw penguins! They were spotted on an iceberg off in the distance. They looked like small black dots on the ice, but the use of binoculars confirmed that they were indeed penguins.
Dann Blackwood, a professional photographer, took a great photo of the penguins. His camera equipment could zoom in much better than mine.
I was hoping to see more wildlife during my 1- hour marine mammal watch in the Ice Tower, but I only saw more beautiful icebergs. It is better for the scientists if we do not observe marine mammals because then the seismic air guns must be stopped, which would mean the stoppage in seismic data of the seafloor. The seismic data creates images of the seafloor along with any sediment covering.
The seismic equipment is towed about 100- 200 meters behind the ship. The data it collects is then sent inside to the dry lab to a machine called an EPC that plots all the data.
This data helps the geophysics determine the best location to dredge. We are now in the process of doing a dredge. The depth of the seafloor at our location is 2,558 meters, and we are slowly pulling the dredge up a slope for about 20 to 30 minutes. Then the dredge will be pulled back into the boat, hopefully full of very useful rocks! I look forward to telling you all about the wonderful rocks collected in the dredge tomorrow. Thanks for reading!