Forums
Lake Ecosystems in Antarctica

Ms. Ellwood,

I want you to know that I received your great flag the other day and I have already sent my blue & white expedition flag to your class. Actually, I posted on my journal last night and described some of the flags that have arrived so far and I included a picture of yours!

My classes are reading your journal every day and block #1 has a few questions about life on the ice:

1. What did you do for 5.5 hours on the plane ride from New Zealand to McMurdo? Did you bring anything to eat or read? Did you sleep? Is there a bathroom on the C-17? 2. How many people are on your team and how many people will be at your field camp in the Dry Valleys? How many of them will dive under the ice with you? 3. When you are under the ice, where is your air supply coming from? Is it SCUBA tanks or a hose and do you have to refill the tanks at the field camp? 4. How would you respond to an emergency or accident at the field camp or under the ice? Do you have first aid supplies and a doctor with you? How would you rescue and evacuate someone?

Your photos of the sunset are beautiful, be sure to take the time to slow down, breath and enjoy the adventure.

take care and have fun,

Mr. Peneston and his students.

Fri, 10/17/2008 - 09:56

Robin Ellwood

Hello Mr. Peneston and class!
I saw your journal post about the flags and was thrilled to see ours amongst the ones shown! My students, and I, are very excited about this project; thank you for initiating it!
Let me get right to your questions:
1) The 5.5 hours actually went by fairly quickly - I never thought I would say that! It's just so exciting to be in such a massive plane! I chatted with a few people, although we had to speak very loudly in order to be heard over the engine noise! I got up and walked about; looked out the side window, went up onto the flight deck, etc. I did sleep for a little bit. I think the energy and enthusiasm I was feeling kept me a bit wrestless! When we boarded the plane, we were given a "flight lunch" with a sandwich, snacks, and water. I did bring things to read, but I never read it! One of the benefits of the C-17 is that there IS a bathroom! This makes the journey much more comfortable!
2) This is a tricky question because we have teams within teams! I will mostly be with a team of 4-5 people (Ian, Asland, Hilke, myself, and perhaps Maciej). But, Maciej and Annika will be there at times as well. Maciej and Annika will be with the ENDURANCE project and working on resetting monitoring stations. I hope to be joining them for some of that as well! The divers are: Ian, Asland, me, Peter, and Maciej. When we dive in the lakes, there is only one diver in the water at a time, so I will be diving by myself (there is a safety diver reaady to go in if necessary standing above on the ice)! So - basically there are about 8-10 people intermingling! It's a great collaborative effort!  
3) When we dive in the lakes, we use surface supply air. This means that the air is coming through a hose to the divers helmit. The hose is ultimately connected to a series of 6 SCUBA tanks that are all connected at the surface. One of my jobs is to ensure that those tanks are full at the start of each dive! Divers also have a small "pony bottle" on their backs as an emergency supply of air. When diving in the Sound, we use traditional SCUBA tanks and dive with buddies!
4) Well, first of all, injury prevention is a prime focus in the field camps. Things that one might not even consider as a serious threat (like sliding on the ice for fun!) become possibilities for serious accidents in the camps. Everyone is very careful NOT to get hurt. But, we all know accidents happen. Each camp is fairly well stocked with emergency medical equipment and there is always someone at camp that has some first aid training. At Lake Hoare, the camp manager is a certified wilderness first responder; she can patch people up pretty well! If a larger incident occurs, then assistance from "town" will be called. They would have to fly out by helicopter. Another consideration is that during bad weather, the helicopters can't fly. Yet another reason to be extra careful and refrain from those things that would simply be fun - yet potentially problematic!
 Thanks for checking in!
Cheers,
Robin