Ashore

Hi,

Well we finally got to go ashore!! It was really cool, oh and cold. But now I can say that I've actually set foot on Antarctica rather then just seen it from afar.



We took the zodiacs (small boats) out to an island that used to be an old whaling station. This boat is actually quite impressive if you think that sailors used to travel to Antarctica in boats this size!



I thought this picture of the ice burg is pretty neat because the water is so clear
it's hard to tell where the water line is.



It was a little scary being in the boats so close to the water even though the sea was like glass considering the frightening facts about life expectancy I mentioned in my previous entry. But nonetheless, it was worth it. So now we are on our way back and we have almost crossed the Drake passage. We had a rendezvous at sea in the middle of the Drake with the Gould. The L.M. Gould is our sister ship.



We had an item that they needed. So we met them on their way down. These pictures of the Gould give you an idea of what the ship looked like on it's way in an and just how rough the seas are.







I have enjoyed my time at sea, but I must admit I am looking forward to solid ground.

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures.
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Cool!

These are some pictures of a really cool ice burg and a really cool job that Katie Kirsch was asked to help with. This ice burg was about 100+ yards from the ship. If you could stand still enough you could see it moving.



Very slowly of course. I thought this burg was especially interesting because of the way it has been eroded. The center of the burg has been eroded away leaving a small pool. And if you look at the left side of the burg it appears as if you could slide right down it into the water.



Of course you wouldn't want to slide into this water because the life expectancy for someone without a submersion suit on is 3 minutes. But, if you had a submersion suit on, it might be fun :o) Also, Katie when helping to install a new anemometer (an instrument that measure wind speed and direction) got one of the best views from the ship. She was on top of the weather mast!



I was envious. The weather mast sits on the highest deck and rises above any other platform on the ship. It's even higher then the smoke stacks. You can see in the picture that she had to wear a harness.



I thought that was pretty cool that she got the opportunity to go up there. Lucky!

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Whales

Yesterday, unlike the past few very uneventful days, was quite exciting. We saw whales!



Now, I've seen whales before. Only they were off in the distance and I only saw one at a time. It was a humpback. But the thing about spotting a whale is that you can't expect to see the whole thing. Usually, you are only able to see a small part of the whale at a time. Their head will pop up, then their back will roll by and if your lucky you'll get to see their tail. Well, this was not the case yesterday. We got to se the whole thing. Head, fins, tail and all. It was amazing. They were curious of the ship and were circling it. They traveled in groups of 2 or 3 and they were literally 10-20 feet from the ship! It was like nothing I have ever seen in my life. I felt especially lucky because Dr. Wise (who has been on many Antarctic cruises) told me that he has never seen them that close either. You could actually hear their songs. So, I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed getting to take them.





All for now

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Ice Crystals

This morning during my shift I went up to the bridge. I had never been to the bridge while it was still dark and it was definitly a sight to see. All of the lights inside the bridge are off so that the drivers can see upcoming ice burgs and there are four or five lights on the top of the bridge that shine out over the sea. It is beautiful and eerie all at the same time. It was suggested that I go outside to the bow and take a picture of the mast in black and white.



So I did and it came out very well. But what I found more interesting was all of the ice crystals.



They are beautiful and about an inch to two inches long. They grow on everything. They are precipitated from the passing air and they are not salty. I have never seen ice grow in this way before so I took a bunch of pictures.









I hope you enjoy them. I must say that my favorite thing about the ice crystals is breaking them off :o)
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Scenery: Volume II

Editors Note: All of the pictures that Lindsey sends are now available on Flickr, an online photo sharing service. Flickr lets you view all of the pictures in one place (even as a slideshow) so that you don't have to go back to a particular post to find your favorite. Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ae2005/

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Cat's eye view

The cat walk that I am on goes around the outside of the bridge (4 stories up) and is suspended not over the ship but of the water. It's a little intimidating, but the shots you get are worth it.



Dr. Weaver says I look like the fly with all of my gear on. And this isn't even all of it!

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Scenery: Volume I

This is a glacier not an avalanche. This is compacted ice covered by snow and it is slowly (1m-a couple kilometers a year) but surely flowing. The one in this picture is moving at the lower end of the scale.



This is really cool too. This was formed by the progradation (building up) of a delta. A delta is where sediment is washed to sea or a lake from a mountain and builds up near the shore. It is also know as an aluvial fan. Just thought you might like to know these little facts :o)



Check out the layers in this berg. I think it's soo cool. Every layer is
a different year. It's similar to rings on a tree. Pretty neat huh?



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Breaking Ice

We started breaking ice yesterday! It is so noisy. It scared the crap out of me at first. About ten minutes after i woke up i heard a loud crash and was expecting to hear the fire alarm shortly after. But then i realized that we were just breaking ice and everything was ok. But still every time we hit a new piece of ice it startles me. To give you an idea of what it's like to break ice i have a couple analogies.

If you have ever been on a canoe and hit or scraped across rock, that's what it sounds like only amplified by about 100. And the ship jerks around when we break through. If you have ever been on one of those 3D rides (like the batman ride at Busch Gardens) where you sit in a chair, watch a movie screen and the chair jerks all over the place. That's what it's like for a couple of seconds at a time. It's like a real life 3D amusement ride. If your standing you have to catch your balance because it happens so fast. Also, we've run into a pretty bad storm. Good thing we have the support of the ice otherwise it would be ruff seas. The winds got up to 70 knots! That's 1.2MPH per knot. So about 84 MPH ! Another thing that happened yesterday is I saw seals and penguins! And yes they were close enough to take
pictures!



The penguins are so cute. They are so funny to watch when they walk. The waddle like crazy! The seals just lay there. Every now and then they will pick up their head or arm or yawn.



One was using a pile of ice like a pillow. I think the seals are my favorite so far. They look like big fat fish with puppy dog faces.

That's all I have for today. We are on our way to our next drill site.

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