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Adaptations of Marine Worms in Antarctica

Hi Mr. League!

Our Polar Club is having it's first meeting and we read your latest journal: Meet the Dive Team, and had some questions for you:

Matthew and Joy asks: What do you have to wear when you go diving under the ice? What do you do to stay warm?

Thomas asks: What kind of things do you look at when you're in the water beside worms?

Samm asks: Have there been any serious injuries? (Samm thinks Ms. Brown should know about this!) What do you if someone gets hypothermia?

Lucia asks: If you go under the ice do you ever get lost?

Marina asks: Have you ever had any problems with air supply?

Jairo asks: Are there any dangerous sea creatures?

Amity asks: What's the building that you live in like? (Dorm rooms) Have you seen narwhals?

William asks: Have you had any ice cream from the Frosty Boy? (William has seen Encounters at the End of the World and knows about it!)

We realize we have a lot of questions!! We'll check back next Wednesday, feel free to take your time answering these!!

Joy went snorkeling in Belize and saw a live shark! She is excited to hear more about what animals you see! Samm wants you to have a good time and not to lose any toes!

Thank you for your journals, we look forward to learning more!

Sincerely, Ms. Brown's Polar Club!!!

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 17:37

Michael League

Hey Ms. Brown & Polar Club members!It's great to hear from you! You are so lucky to have Ms. Brown as a
teacher! Thanks for all the great questions. Here are some answers!
Matthew and Joy,
We have to wear lots of layers when we go diving. First, I wear thermal
underwear (2 layers). That includes two layers of socks. Then I wear
my drysuit thermal underwear - it's like a big puffy snow suit. Then, I
wear my drysuit with seals in the neck and wrists, and a water-tight
zipper. Then, I wear a weight belt, tank, and regulator. I put on
mask, hoods, and fins. Finally I put on my gloves. All of this gear is
supposed to keep me warm and dry, but after 45 minutes I begin to get
cold anyways. The best way to stay warm under there is to swim. Your
body produces heat when you exercise.
Thomas,
We see lots of interesting animals. We'll be showing more of them as we
do more diving. Here's a list of some of my favorites: seals, small ice
fish, bigger bottom fish, sea spiders, anemones, big volcano sponges,
isopods, and jellyfish.
Samm,
I'm glad to see you're thinking about Ms. Brown's safety. There have
not been any serious injuries in our group. We are a very "safety
first" science and diving team. If someone does get injured, we have a
lot of safety procedures in place. For example, if a diver were to get
injured, we have oxygen at the dive hut, as well as a recompression
chamber at McMurdo Station. There is also a medical staff and dive
safety staff. If hypothermia were the injury, we would be in radio
contact with the medical staff at McMurdo. Depending on the
seriousness, we might begin warming them slowly and getting them back to
the hospital. I know Miss Brown is a pretty safe person, so I am sure
she'll be okay.
Lucia,
There are a couple of things to help prevent us from getting lost.
First, the water in Antarctica at this time of year is extremely clear.
It is even clearer than that beautiful water you see in the Caribbean.
Second, when you look up at the ice from underneath, the hole looks
very different from the rest of the ice. It is a bright, perfect
circle. Finally, we mark the hole by dropping a weighted line straight
down. Attached to the line are flashing strobe lights and checkered
flags. It's very easy to see the hole location even from a long way away.
Marina,
I did have a problem with my regulator the other day. During my dive it
started constantly bubbling air. Fortunately for me, we always dive
with two regulators so that I could switch to my backup. My buddy, Dr.
Marsh, was there to turn off the bubbling regulator.
Jairo,
There are dangerous sea creatures, but not too many where we are diving.
Sometimes the seals like to use our dive holes to breathe from, so we
might have to get them to move so we can get in and out, but that's
about it.
Amity,
The dorms are nice, heated buildings. In my room, there are three beds,
two closets, and a desk. I have one roommate. So far, it's a nice
place to live. As for narwhals, no we won't see any. Narwhals live in
the Arctic (North Pole), but if we're really lucky and we get out to the
ice edge, we could see other whales, like orcas or minkes.
William,
Ah, Frosty Boy! Very good! I'm impressed that you remembered the name.
Yes, dessert is my favorite part of every meal. There are so many
baked goods (cookies, brownies, cakes) and a little Frosty Boy on top is
always a good addition. (Little known fact, Mike has been diving with
one of the people who made "Encounters at the End of the World" and
several people who were in it!)
Thanks for all the great questions. If you're like me, I bet you can't
wait to see Ms. Brown on her adventure!
Mike
P.S. Tell Joy: no sharks down here, so she's braver than I am! Tell
Samm: I'm trying to keep all my toes warm!

Fri, 09/23/2011 - 18:36

Michelle Brown

Thank you for answering all of our questions -- we feel so lucky that you took the time to answer them. Our Polar Team burst out in applause when we opened your journal!! (literally!)We just read your Food Journal and would like to talk to you some more about it:
Joy asks: What happens if the food room runs out of food? What if you didn't pack enough food? What would you do? Do you ever go fishing for food out there?
Alicia wanted to comment: I love technology!! Is there internet or phone service out there? How good is it? Alicia also wanted to know if pets are in Antarctica and if so, how do they dress?
Joaquin asks: Do you have any nonperishables? Do you have a greenhouse where you make your own food there? Have you tried that yet? Has it worked (if you've tried it?)
Matthew wanted to let you know that he has a book about Antarctica called: Surviving in Antarctica by Andrea White. Have you read it?
Thomas asks: Have you ever been in a blizzard? If so, what was it like?
We are so excited to learn more about your trip tomorrow during the Polar Live Event!!
Sincerely,
Ms. Brown's Polar Club

Fri, 09/23/2011 - 19:53

Michael League

Thanks for all the great questions and for participating in ourPolarConnect Live Event!
Here are some answers!
Joy: Ah, the Food Room will never run out because it is managed by a
very smart lady. Peggy takes care of making sure we have tons of extra
food on hand. Airplanes will start coming to McMurdo regularly in about
two weeks. So if we ever did start running low, she would have the Food
Room re-supplied from New Zealand. As for the fishing question, the
answer is no. Hunting/Eating the wildlife is a big "no-no". There are
actually rules that say we can't get so close as to bother Antarctic
wildlife.
Alicia: I love technology too. We have Internet and land-based phones.
The Internet is not as quick as what you might have in the USA, but
it's pretty good. Cell phones don't work in Antarctica, so my iPhone is
lonely. As for pets, no - we wish! A lot of us have dogs that we miss
terribly. There used to be sled dogs at McMurdo Station, but that
stopped a long time ago.
Joaquin: We have a lot of non-perishables around. Remember,
non-perishables are foods that are canned or wrapped to keep them edible
for a long time. I think maybe what you meant to ask about were
perishables, like fresh fruits and veggies. We would love fresh fruits
and veggies! We miss them terribly! Once airplanes start coming to
McMurdo regularly (two weeks from now) we'll start to see fresh fruits
and veggies from New Zealand. Until then, it's a lot of frozen foods or
foods with preservatives. As for the greenhouse, what a great idea!
There was a greenhouse at McMurdo as part of a science project, but that
did not happen this year. Again, we wish we had some freshies!
Matthew: I haven't read "Surviving in Antarctica", but it's on my list
now. I love reading about Antarctica's past and present. Thanks for
the suggestion!
Thomas: Down here, a blizzard is known as Condition 1 or 2. Yes, I have
seen Condition 1 and 2 more times than I'd like. At first, it's really
cool. But after you start missing SCUBA diving opportunities or days
out on the sea ice, it starts getting old.
Thanks again for all the great questions. I have one for you all. How
excited are you for Ms. Brown's trip? It's going to be awesome!
Mike

Fri, 09/23/2011 - 19:53

Michael League

Thanks for all the great questions and for participating in ourPolarConnect Live Event!
Here are some answers!
Joy: Ah, the Food Room will never run out because it is managed by a
very smart lady. Peggy takes care of making sure we have tons of extra
food on hand. Airplanes will start coming to McMurdo regularly in about
two weeks. So if we ever did start running low, she would have the Food
Room re-supplied from New Zealand. As for the fishing question, the
answer is no. Hunting/Eating the wildlife is a big "no-no". There are
actually rules that say we can't get so close as to bother Antarctic
wildlife.
Alicia: I love technology too. We have Internet and land-based phones.
The Internet is not as quick as what you might have in the USA, but
it's pretty good. Cell phones don't work in Antarctica, so my iPhone is
lonely. As for pets, no - we wish! A lot of us have dogs that we miss
terribly. There used to be sled dogs at McMurdo Station, but that
stopped a long time ago.
Joaquin: We have a lot of non-perishables around. Remember,
non-perishables are foods that are canned or wrapped to keep them edible
for a long time. I think maybe what you meant to ask about were
perishables, like fresh fruits and veggies. We would love fresh fruits
and veggies! We miss them terribly! Once airplanes start coming to
McMurdo regularly (two weeks from now) we'll start to see fresh fruits
and veggies from New Zealand. Until then, it's a lot of frozen foods or
foods with preservatives. As for the greenhouse, what a great idea!
There was a greenhouse at McMurdo as part of a science project, but that
did not happen this year. Again, we wish we had some freshies!
Matthew: I haven't read "Surviving in Antarctica", but it's on my list
now. I love reading about Antarctica's past and present. Thanks for
the suggestion!
Thomas: Down here, a blizzard is known as Condition 1 or 2. Yes, I have
seen Condition 1 and 2 more times than I'd like. At first, it's really
cool. But after you start missing SCUBA diving opportunities or days
out on the sea ice, it starts getting old.
Thanks again for all the great questions. I have one for you all. How
excited are you for Ms. Brown's trip? It's going to be awesome!
Mike

Wed, 09/28/2011 - 13:32

Michelle Brown

Hello Mr. League!We all want to say hello, and yes, we are exicted about Ms. Brown's trip!
We just watched a little more of Encounters at the End of World and then read your latest journal entry on how to drill a dive hole, and we had some more questions (of course).
Henry asks: If humans aren't allowed to get close to the wildlife (based on your response about fishing), how come scientists can put bags over seals' heads to get seal milk (we just watched this in Encounters at the End of the World)?
Matthew asks: How are you doing!? : )
Thomas asks: Have you ever seen one of the giant squids that was mentioned in Encounters at the End of the World?
Raul asks: What exactly is Frosty Boy made out of?
Samm asks: Have you heard the sounds the seals make underwater and what do you think of them?
Alicia asks: Have you seen a Weddell Seal underwater?
Keep posting great journals we love to hear about everything!!
Sincerely,
Ms. Brown's Class!
P.S. Let us know if you'd ever be up for a conference call or skyp session! We meet every Wednesday at 3:30 - 4:30 CDT!

Thu, 09/29/2011 - 18:32

Michael League

Hey Polar Club!Great, I'm glad to hear that you're getting excited.
Here are some answers:
Henry, good point. The rules that I was talking about apply to people
not conducting science experiments. Scientists who need to get up close
to study these animals have been trained to do so. They have procedures
in place to make sure that the animals are handled correctly and safely.
If I was out with our team, we can't just go running over to a seal or
penguin, that's not what our project is about and I have no training on
how to safely work with those animals. Thanks for bringing that up!
Matthew: I'm great! Thanks for asking. I was a little cold after this
morning's dive. I could use a cup of hot cocoa and a cookie. Hold on,
I'll be right back...
Thomas: I've just seen pictures. No Giant Squid encounters for me.
Actually, that's probably the best thing for my safety - stay away from
the giant squid.
Raul: I'm going to need to check this one out. I'll have to ask the
Galley staff about Frosty Boy. Stay tuned for a response.
Samm: Yes! Funny you should ask. On yesterday's dives the seals were
so noisy underwater. A couple of times, I had to look around, because
it sounded like they were right behind my head!
Alicia: Yes. Almost every dive has included a glimpse of a seal
underwater. Today, before we jumped in, there was a seal in our dive
hole. A week ago, we saw two seals sort of playing (wrestling)
underwater. On my safety stop the other day, a seal swam by real close.
Thanks again for all the great questions. By my count, Miss Brown has
about 40 days before her expedition begins! I know she must be getting
excited!
Mike