As the Oden continues sailing southwest, we are working on new tasks and work assignments. Yesterday was a busy work day as Blake prepared a science presentation to share with all on board after dinner last night, and I presented a brief over view of the PolarTREC program. We crossed the Antarctic Circle (below 66.5 South) and could see icebergs and bergy bits in every direction. It is amazing how large they are and how the ice appears to change colors as the sun hits it from different angles.
There were icebergs in every direction. This one was especially striking with its tall tower of ice.
As one large bergy bit, or ice floe, was approaching, someone noticed little black dots on it. Yes - PENGUINS!! There were about 40 chinstrap penguins on the ice and as the day progressed we saw more swimming in the water. They could be seen swimming away from the ship, porpoising in and out of the water, moving very quickly. I was amazed at how they propelled their bodies out of the water and the speed at which they traveled. Hopefully I will be able to get video and photographs of them swimming to share with you.
These were the first penguins we saw - a group of chinstrap penguins on an ice floe. Later we saw a few in the water too.
Yesterday afternoon, we began to see a this white line on the horizon and as the Oden got closer we realized it was the edge of the sea ice! That's what we'd been waiting for! It was amazing - you could see a "tiny" wall of ice appear way ahead of us, and as it got closer and closer it was really ice floes of different sizes close together. As the ship goes through this field of ice floes, pieces crack and bob and flip over, revealing the yellowish tinge of ice algae that grows on the bottom layer! There are still lots of icebergs all around - some have cool blue streaks running through them, and when the swells reach the icebergs they crash in big waves - just like waves on the shore.
Some of the icebergs have beautiful blue streaks and others have areas that glow turquoise blue.
Ocean water (salt water) begins to freeze at -1.8 Degrees C and as it freezes it goes through several different ice types, from a greasy looking film on the water called grease ice, to roundish discs called pancake ice, to actual ice floes big and thick enough for people to walk on. Later, I'll post a journal entry with pictures of the different types of sea ice.
The Oden sailed through vast fields of first year cake ice, pushing through or over the floes so easily we didn't even notice it!
We've started our hourly ice observations - my shift isn't until later today, but I've been observing and helping David and Blake do theirs. We are following the ASPeCt protocal to record a variety of detailed observations of ice type and coverage, as well as meteorological observations I described this in more detail in yesterday's journal.
Our Sea Ice team makes hourly sea ice observations, carefully noting the sea ice coverage, type, thickness, and other factors.
Last night I bundled up and went out on the bow to see the ice - it was AMAZING! I could hear each piece as the ship crushed through it or over it. In the picture below, I'm the tiny one in the red jacket at the bow. Note the light sky - this was about 11:00 pm! We are now in 24 hours of daylight. The sun appears to move across the sky and dips toward the horizon, but does not go below the horizon. The next true sunset in this area won't occur until mid February.
Anne Marie Wotkyns watches the sea ice from the bow of the Oden - at 11:00 pm. The sun will not set until mid February in this part of Antarctica.
Later today I'll be calling a school in Texas to speak to a class - I am looking forward to sharing my impressions of this experience so far. Hopefully the satellite phone connection will work well for us.Don't forget to post your questions and comments on the "Ask the Team" section of the PolarTREC website. I'm looking forward to hearing from you! The ship is hoping to reach thicker sea ice this afternoon, with floes large enough to tie up to so we can conduct our first sea ice station. We need ice about 1.5 meters or more in thickness, and very large floes - 200 square meters or more. So far we haven't reached that type of ice, so onward we cruise. In the past few hours, we've spotted 3 Adelie penguins, an Emperor penguin, and a crabeater seal, so I have plenty of welcome distractions as I type my journal entries!
Lesson Learned - Enjoying the journey is as important as reaching the final destination.