Penguin Ranch

Friday, October 17, 2008

Another Penguin Rancher

(from Red, Penguin Ranch 2005)

With his Boston Red Sox losing in Game 4, Matt (Penguin Ranch 2005) gave an entertaining talk about his Antarctic adventure, at a meeting of the San Diego Council of Divers.

We flew to Beaufort Island on Oct 15. Normally, this colony is not accessible by helicopter because of the open water between it and Ross Island. Without a place to land in an emergency, helo trips are deemed unsafe. However,this year’s extensive sea ice makes a solid surface all the way to the island. We are looking also looking for a camp site on the way

Beaufort Island

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The colony (the smudges) at Beaufort Island

McMurdo Station

Sea Ice School

Brendan and Kozue had to take an all day training course for working safely on the sea ice.

(from Kozue)

I am attaching the photos of Sea Ice School and the moon.

Brendan in front of Cape Evans. He is standing on frozen ocean.

Sea ice profiling to determine the thickness of the sea ice.

Snow vehicle Sorry, I don't know the name. (It’s a Hagglund)
I rode in it for the Sea Ice School. It was very warm in it, so I couldn't keep myself from drifting off to sleep.

Glacier near Cape Evans

Moon
I took this picture last night on the way from the lab to the dorm.

Photos From Jessica

Cape Crozier photos

Cass setting up her camera at the Cape Crozier colony with emperor penguins coming to greet her.

My new friends from the colony edge

Paul and Cass on the hike back up the hill (the one on the blog now from behind is one Paul took of me). This photo shows how far we climbed. The V in the back right corner is where the colony is located.

Graduate students bestow Cass’s prime skua find (Skua is the depository for unwanted clothing or equpment) on deserving PI . . . Frosty Boy!”

Searching for a research site. Paul with the snowmobiles near the crack.

This is the seal that was near our old site (and quite a large crack!).

A Note from Bonaire

Here is a note from Robert; he is a former member of Penguin Ranch (1999-2001). He was also part of many expeditions to Cape Washington, etc.

(from Robert)

I just stumbled upon the Penguin Ranch blog/website and am happy to see that you are back on the ice again this season. Very nice to see the photos of those familiar surroundings. Wishing you the best of luck to you and your team. Keep warm!

All the best, from Bonaire,

Robert

PS Attached are a pair of u/w photos of eagle rays I took snorkeling here yesterday.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Cape Crozier Census

A bit of background about why we go to Cape Crozier. Cape Crozier is on the opposite side of Ross Island from McMurdo Station. Crozier is the southern most emperor colony in the world and is also of historic significance since this is the colony that Cherry-Garrard reached in 1911. His harrowing journey is documented in Worst Journey in the World.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsley_Cherry-Garrard for more on this historic trek.

In 2001, this emperor colony was devastated by the large iceberg B15, which blocked the ocean access for the colony. Prior to B15, there were roughly 1200 chicks born in Crozier. In 2001, there were no living adults and certainly no chicks at the colony. Any adults that managed to make it into Crozier were trapped and died of starvation.

(from Paul)

We made it into Cape Crozier to do our annual emperor penguin census without any problem. There were no winds today and we walked down in about an hour . The colony looks about the same size as last year, maybe 100 adults bigger, no dead chicks, and about 7 eggs. It still hasn’t recovered from the iceberg incursion of a few years ago. It looks as the remnants are doing very well, coming and going. The chicks look good.

Our transportation below. The flight took about 30 minutes. On the other hand, Cherry-Garrard and his team man-hauled their equipment around the backside of Ross Island in the middle of the Antarctic winter, a trip of about 60 miles. At times, they could only manage about a mile and a half a day.

The colony from the air.

Cass and an interested bystander

Jessica at the colony

Cass

Some colony shots of the adults and their chicks. There are few things cuter than an emperor chick.

Hiking up the ice slope

Hero shots – sort of. Left to right, Marco (new pilot), Jessica, Cass, and Barry (pilot)

OK, this time for sure – hero shot of Jessica and Cass with the permanent ice shelf in the background. See the V? That’s where the colony is sited. Be impressed; its a long walk and a steep climb up an icy slope.

The weather in McMurdo was also good today. Kozue and Brendan enjoyed sea ice class. They have really scored on the weather for all their outdoor classes.

Tomorrow, we have a recon flight to see the sea ice where we want to put the camp, and to glance at the sea ice beyond Royds. No one is sure if it is just pack ice packed tight, or solid, fast ice (i.e., ice that is anchored to the land and floating on the ocean). There is apparently a large crack with open water at Royds. So, we will see.

First, of course we need to find a site, then we will need to find non-breeding birds.

Today's flight came in. So there is no back up. I think there is a flight on Wed and then yours on Fri. So far, the weather is looking good to keep you on schedule. (from Kathi – Yay!!)

(from Cass)

I haven’t sent many photos recently because I lost my camera transfer cord. But I found it last night, just in time for Cape Crozier trip.

We had amazing weather, beautiful blue skies and virtually no wind.

Crozier colony from the air

Part of the Crozier Colony

Jessica

A lone penguin

Paul taking census photos

An emperor penguin up close

The hike down to the colony was great – we wore crampons (my first time wearing them). I did pretty well until I caught one of the spikes on a strap from my other shoe – ended with a face plant. Luckily it was in the snow, so it wasn’t too bad – just made me feel silly. I’d never been to Crozier before and it was so beautiful. The features around the penguin colony were beautiful. And we couldn’t have asked for better weather – although as we hiked back up the steep hill, we were all sweating – even without big red (our extreme cold weather parka) on.

Adult and chick. Notice how the baby stands on the adult’s feet. It keeps the chick warmer to be off the ice.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Looking for a Home

(from Paul)

We were out on the sea ice on our snowmobiles today for about 5 hrs. It was -12 degree C, and at times there was a bit of a wind, but we were relatively warm. Hot chocolate has never tasted so good (6 bags to a thermos).

I have not yet found a research site out on the sea ice. This hunt may take a bit longer than usual.We will see.

The area of flat ice that I thought would be good turned out to be old ice and we could not get through it with two drill flights . (We need ~6 ft. of ice or less to be able to drill diving holes for our penguins.) It was still dry ice, and that area is under about 2.5 ft of snow. I was hoping we could find an area without so much snow, since any area with that much accumulated snow means we will get buried in snow if a storm hits. (In the Antarctic, the question of storms is not “if,” but “when.”) The ice is just too thick there.

Last year's site had big pressure ridges near it, and the entire area is fused plates of old ice. The ice there is not too thick, but it was real slushy at 2 flights. We could not break through. That’s unfortunate since the area had less than 6 inches of snow.

We will continue to look for an area free of cracks in that general region I think. And, of course, we still have to get the route okayed for Fleet Ops to drag the huts into the site. So, it will be what it will be.

Otherwise, not much new. I think I will take some vitamin I (i.e., ibuprofen) with dinner.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Kozue’s Photos From Happy Camper School

Kozue and Brendan have made it back in from Happy Camper School. After sleeping on the ice in a not-too-warm sleeping bag, they are very tired, of course, but fortunately, it was not super cold, so they survived the experience quite well.

Here are some of Kozue’s photos from the school.

Mt. Erebus from the permanent ice shelf side of Ross Island. (Notice the plume! Erebus is the southern most active volcano and McMurdo is sited at its base.)