Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 14:51
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Oden Antarctic Expedition 08

 Hi Uncle Jeff,

 I was wondering if you are sleeping enough? Also can you tell day from night? How do you know when to go to sleep besides the fact that you're tired? If it's always daylight there how do you know when to eat your meals? Do you have a mealtime bell? My Mom wants to know if you have to use "The Buddy System" when you go out on the ice? Thank You! We just wanted to know a few questions!Merry Christmas!  Cool 

             Your loving and missing you niece,

              RachelInnocent

Mon, 12/22/2008 - 10:08

Jeff Peneston

Rachel,These are great questions.
We have not seen the sunset for a few weeks but you can still tell daytime from night because the sun is about half way up in the northern sky at noon and the sun is almost at the southern horizon at midnight.  Right now I am sitting on the bridge at 11:30 pm and although it is daylight, it reminds me of a cloudy evening just before sunset back home.  This is about as dark as it will get.  As I look out onto the sea, everything is a shade of white or grey.  At midday, if the sky is clear, the sun shines so bright on this white world it actually makes your eyes hurt.  In fact, last week when I shot the video of the seal research team, I had my sunglasses off for about 45 minutes so that I could look through the camera.  That was all it took for the intense sunlight to do a little temporary damage to my eyes.  It stopped hurting in a couple of hours and I was fine but several of the scientists have developed peeling sunburns from working outside.  
Basically, you know it is time to work, eat, sleep, etc. because the clock tells you what time it is and there is a daily schedule.  For me, I go to bed about 11:30pm because I need to be at breakfast at 7:30 am and then I go to work on the sea ice most days at 8:30am.  Lunch is at 11:30 and dinner is at 17:30.  There is no bell but trust me, everyone knows when meals are served. When I go to my room, I pull the shade and it gets dark enough that I need to turn a light on to see.
Right now, over half of the ship has gone to bed, but some folks sleep during the day so that the science work can continue 24 hours.  I will go to bed after I answer your question and then I will sleep until about 7am so that is not too bad.
Tell your mom that we do use a buddy system on the ice.  We also are required to wear special floatation suits that would function as a lifejacket.  Most importantly, I cannot go on or off of the ice without using my radio to call the officer on the bridge to let them know if I am on or off.  They keep a list (just like at the waterfront at camp).  
I hope these answers make sense.  
Have a great Christmas and give your whole family a hug for me.
Your uncle loves and misses you too!