Submitted by John Wood on Fri, 08/26/2011 - 10:59
Forums
Adaptations of Marine Worms in Antarctica

Mike, Good to see you are in and working. Winfly sounds like a pretty special time in Antarctica. What are the ice conditions like around McMurdo Sound? Be safe, John

Fri, 08/26/2011 - 12:39

Michael League

Hey John, The sea ice has everyone very excited this year. To understand why,
you have to know a little about sea ice. Sea ice is frozen ocean water.
Every winter the ice builds, covering a larger area and getting
thicker. What should happen in the summer is that the sea ice should
melt and break up. For almost the last 15 years, the ice in front of
McMurdo Station has not broken up in the summer. When ice lasts through
the summer and into the next winter, it's called multi-year ice.
Multi-year ice is thicker and stronger. When I was here in 2005, some
dive sites had 18 feet of ice.
Okay, so here's the exciting part. Last summer, the ice in front of
McMurdo Station broke up and cleared out. In front of the station,
there is only first-year ice, approximately 6 feet thick. Less ice
could mean more light getting through and that could make for some great
diving and more biological activity. We'll have to wait for our first
dives to know for sure. I'll keep you posted.
Hope all is well in California!
Mike