Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/26/2008 - 17:52

Hi Jeff and fellow boaters!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday! The video of Julia was very interesting. Are the microscopic organisms she's finding the same or different from what would be found in warmer areas of the ocean? Nathan loved the microscope by the way. Were the images of the organisms the ones from she saw with her sample in that microscope or just general images?

 Money mouth Nathan selected this icon for you. Nathan would like to know what is your favorite part of the day? Do you fish from the boat? 

Liana wants to say "hi" to you, too!

Sam: "Hi Jeff, how are you? What has been your favorite animal that you have seen? Thank you and write back."

Best wishes!

Stacey and the kids 

Jeff Peneston

Stacey, Sam, Nathan & Liana,We did have a nice holiday here on the Oden.  I also gained a higher appreciation for how important family is and I hope you enjoyed a great family holiday.  
Julia took the photos of microscopic life that I included in the video.  She took them here on the Oden.  Those diatoms species only live in cold oceans with sea ice.  
What icon did Nathan pick??  My favorite part of the day is about midnight when the sun is low and the ship is moving to a new location.  We weave in and out among icebergs and sea ice floes.  It is very quiet and I just sit on the bridge and watch the scenery go by.  We don’t go fishing from the Oden.  However, I did try to make a net for sampling krill.  I used a pickle bucket and my mesh laundry bag!  I cut the bottom off the bucket and tied the laundry bag on to the bottom.  I then tied a rope to it and dragged it through the surface water.  Unfortunately I had no luck netting any krill!  So, I took it apart and reclaimed my laundry bag.  
Tell Liana that I said, “hi” back to her and I hope she had a great Christmas.  Liana is just about the same size as the Emperor penguins!  
Tell Sam that my favorite animal is probably the Adelie penguins because they are fearlessly curious about the world.  They are also very fun to watch as they go from waddling to sliding over the snow on their bellies.    
 Happy Holidays,
Jeff