Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/01/2011 - 12:32
Forums
Seawater Property Changes in the Southern Ocean

Hi Juan- I'm enjoying your journal posts immensely. I am especially enjoying comparing & contrasting your experiences with mine in the Arctic Ocean last summer aboard a USCG icebreaker.

The bird you photographed for your 28 Feb post appears to be an Antarctic Petrel. Very nice- I'm envious.

I'm not sure if I could separate the Snow Petrels but it is currently considered one species with two subspecies, one larger & one smaller.

Keep warm, & keep up the great work!

Best- Bill Schmoker, PolarTREC 2010

Tue, 03/01/2011 - 15:04

Juan Botella

Hi Bill, thanks again for writing and for identifying the petrels for me. I guess
the picture came darker than the brownish coloring of the Antarctic petrel
that I saw on my guide. Thanks a lot.
There are a lot of folks aboard here that have traveled to the Arctic. A
lot of them on the USCG Healy (spelling might be incorrect). I wonder if
you sailed with them or if that was another group. They do talk about many
differences in teh ice, wildlife and rockiness of the water.
I also wonder if there is an adaptation period after being at sea like
this once you get back to civilization. How was it for you? Not that I am
worried, and I still have 60 days or so to go, just curious.
Thanks again Bill,
Juan.

Tue, 03/01/2011 - 18:38

Anonymous

Indeed, I was on the Healy. We sailed from Dutch Harbor on 2 Aug. and offloaded by helicopter at Barrow on 6 Sept. If any of the crew or scientists were on that cruise please say hello for me! We had some pretty mild swells in open water but much of the cruise was in pack or drift ice, with virtually no waves. No complaints there from me!! It was pretty simple getting our CTD rosette over & back- just had to fend off ice enough to keep a clear spot next to the starboard a-frame that hoisted it back aboard. Crazy seeing yours swinging around and having waves wash into the room where it is housed.There was certainly plenty of adjustment when I got home- probably the trickiest for me was stepping back into my classroom after missing the first 3 weeks of school. Still, we PolarTREC folks make due, don't we?
Keep up the great work- Bill

Tue, 03/01/2011 - 21:49

Juan Botella

Thanks Bill, the people I know who were on the Healy were there from June to July, so
you did not sail with them. I thought we would be more on the ice, but it
is one of those years in which the ice disappeared early. We will be
sailing closer to the coast later on , so we might be more on the ice.
Thanks again and take care,
Juan.