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Journal Entries
2005-06
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| Jump to a specific journal entry by Marianne Kaput: | ||
| August 2005 | 23 | |
| October 2005 | 31 | |
| December 2005 | 15 29 30 31 | |
| January 2006 | 1 3 4 5 7 9 10-11 12-14 15 16-17 18-19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | |
| February 2006 | 1 2 5 6-8 10 | |
| Click here to access journal entries by Giancarlo Lopez-Martinez or Luke Sandro. | ||
January 20, 2006 — Palmer Station, Antarctica
The weekend is just about here but it doesn't seem like it. Days seem to meld into weeks...and I just want time to stand still for a short while so I can savor the moment.
Last night was windy and rainy. It was so windy that Mike took a video of me outside and my hair was standing straight up in the air! The weather around here sometimes changes by the hour. I was quite surprised to wake up to the beautiful day we had today. It was an absolutely perfect day to be outside because the winds were low and the sun was shining brightly. We took the opportunity to go into the field to collect Belgica larvae. So far, we have collected thousands of little Belgica, but know that we haven’t impacted their populations because they are so abundant. We observed that some islands seem to have more Belgica larvae than others, but we aren't certain why. I find that there are a lot of questions being asked and that’s what drives research. For example, why are there so many Belgica on Cormorant Island? There seem to be the same kinds of rocks, birds, seals, and plants that are also found on many of the other islands. The elevation appears to be about the same, as does the proximity to Palmer Station. Inquiry drives research. By this, I mean that we are seeking data related to our hypotheses. In doing so, we find ourselves asking new questions as we make more observations. The data are compiled to form conclusions. Conclusions lead to more questions...and on goes the cycle of scientific inquiry.
We went down to our Zodiac and were greeted by a great surprise — Toby and Steve (our boat house technicians) installed a brand new motor on our Zodiac.
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This meant different things to different members of our team. For Josh, who could spend all day long driving the Zodiac, the new motor has less horsepower and doesn't go quite as fast, leaving him disappointed. For me, it meant life just got a whole lot easier! This new baby has a push button start — no more pulling on the rope on the flywheel to start, which has been difficult. It also has a power-driven lift that lowers and raises the engine in the water automatically. Since I am short, it has been just about impossible for me to get enough leverage to pull the motor out of the water when we dock the Zodiac, and I have been struggling with that.
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As we left Palmer Station, I got some great shots of a new iceberg that floated into our bay. It is unique in that it had a naturally formed arch that gave us a fantastic view of Arthur Harbor, the inlet of water that Palmer Station borders.
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Since there is no landscaping at the station, the icebergs are our natural decorative accents. Last night's wind blew many of the icebergs right out of the harbor. It was disappointing to watch them slowly blow away, as they had been there since we arrived. Each day I would watch them rotate and shift around in the water. Sometimes small chunks would break off, or they would split and even bump into other icebergs around them.
Cormorant has a welcoming committee of blue-eyed shags whose nests lie high above the water, carefully built among the rocks:
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It is almost seems as if they guard our Zodiac's landing spot while we are away. Today, Cormorant was no disappointment. Again, we found thousands of Belgica larvae and collected many in a very short period of time. The Adélies there don’t even seem to notice us as we walk by their colonies. Sometimes when I'm collecting Belgica, I'll hear a gentle "tink tink" sound and notice that it's just an adult Adélie placing new rocks around her nest.
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Other times, adults will quietly stroll down to the water to catch a meal for themselves and their chicks. I also saw another new behavior of the Adélies — they were sleeping on the snow!
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Watching Adélies is so fascinating and I am really beginning to appreciate and respect their existence. Then as we left the island I saw the leftovers of a predatory bird's (probably a skua or giant petrel) recent meal — an Adélie. Oh well, I guess that’s the food chain.
- Kaput-on-Ice