Cape Royds

Cape Royds penguin rookery and Shackleton's Hut.
Two weeks before I left the Ice, I received the icing on the cake of an amazing season. I went to the Cape Royds, which is is the home of Shackleton's Hut and an Adelie penguin rookery. To travel there, we took a Bell 212 helicopter to the cape which is on Ross Island about 20-30 miles north. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my best days on the Ice have started with a helicopter ride.


Deke in front of the garbage dump for Shackleton't Hut.


Dog houses at Shackleton's Hut.


Properly labeled cargo will ensure a speedy delivery.
Deke and I were at Cape Royds to download data from their automated penguin camera. The scientists were there to break down some field equipment to take back to base. When we finished our work, we helped them haul their gear up the long hill to the helicopter landing site. Fortunately, we finished all the work about an hour before we were scheduled to be picked up which gave us a little time to explore the area. Unfortunately, we didn't have the key to Shackleton's Hut so we couldn't get into it, but we might have had time to loot the whiskey from under the hut if we had thought of it (Sorry, Fraggle). I used my extra time running around with my telephoto lens taking pictures and admiring the wildlife, specifically watching the penguins swim and jump in and out of the water just outside of the rookery.


Adelie penguins.


An Adelie penguin carries a pebble to its nest that it is building. The penguin with the biggest pile WINS.
Each year, the single male Adelie penguin builds a nest out of pebbles to try and court a female. The mated pairs from previous years usually return to each other and rebuild their old nest site. On a continent made mostly of ice, there are not many pebbles to choose from so the Adelies have been stealing the same pebbles from each other for centuries to build their nests. Each year, they try to defend their territory, but other penguins are always able to steal a few pebbles. Watching this behavior as they chase each other around was really entertaining. I think they are done breeding for this season so I'm not sure why they were stealing pebbles when I arrived. Maybe they were practicing their Capture the Pebbles skills for next season.


A curious parent and chick.


A less curious cute chick and parent.


Adelie penguin.


Adelie chick.
Mated pairs will typically lay two eggs in late November that will hatch in late December. The parents take turns incubating the eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the parents will continue to take turns with their offspring to defend against any predators (i.e. skuas) while the other gets food for themselves and to regurgitate for the chick. I was amazed at the ferocity of the displays of the Adelies when a skua approached. The parents will continue taking turns until late January when the chicks' appetite require that they both go out to collect food. During that time, the chicks will gather around each other in crèches for protection.


Adelie penguin.


Adelie penguin tries to fly?


Adelie penguin chick.
Apparently, the Cape Royds rookery has some of the fattest chicks around. There just isn't the same competition for food as there is at other rookeries so the parents can easily get enough food for themselves and their offspring. Cape Royds has around 2,000 mating pairs. Cape Crozier another colony on Ross Island, has 150,000 breeding pairs of Adelies. I'm not sure if the adults end up bigger as well. I'd assume so. Adelie adults are between 18"-30" tall.


A banded Adelie penguin.


King of the Hill.


Adelie penguins.


Adelie penguins on an ice chunk.


Adelie penguins.


An Adelie penguin tries a plane style take off to fly.


Adelie penguins.


Adelie penguin diving board.
My favorite parts of visiting the penguin rookery were watching the penguins swim and exit the water. I'll put some video up of it soon because stills don't do it justice. They look like they just leap out of the water. If you blink, you might suddenly see two or three standing on the ice where there were just none. It was magical to watch those clumsy landlubbers become streaking torpedoes when they enter the water. They are completely different creatures. I realize that they need to surface to breath, but it looked like they were playing in the water more than they were feeding. I was captivated and wish I had more time to spend with them.


Adelie penguin.


Adelie penguin.


Adelie penguins.


Adelie penguins.


Adelie penguin roar.


Adelie penguin.


Adelie penguin covered in penguin guano from sliding on its belly.


Adelie penguins.


Adelie penguins.


An Adelie penguin builds up its nest with a new rock.


Not every penguin makes it.


Adelie penguin.


Swimming Adelie penguins.


Swimming and resting Adelie penguins.


Adelie penguins and ice sheets breaking away.


Shh, be very, very quiet. He is sleeping.


Notice the red on the underside of the wings. It is redder because of the extra blood flow in the area when they are swimming.
One of the neater things that I was able to see was the different colors of the penguins feet and wings. When they are warm and dry, their feet and inner wings are white. After they swim, the feet and inner wings are pink from all of the extra blood in that part of the body to keep them warm. Very, very cool.


A crabeater seal at the southernmost point of its range.


Just south of the Cape Royds penguin rookery.


Two skuas eat the remains of a penguin chick.


The Kiwi's EC-130 lands with Mt. Erebus in the background.

If you know, you know . . .

Like Mary Poppins, "Practically [and acoustically] perfect in every way.

There are always surprises. You just have to be open enough to receive them. While I've spent a lot of time in a very small part of Antarctica, there is no way I've discovered everything. I was very fortunate my first year to work as a PC Tech which gave me a reason to be in almost every building. This year, I spent most of my time in a single office, but a few new spots still managed to show themselves and they turned out to be some of my most memorable. I've heard that someone once familiarized themselves with base by using every bathroom. I suspect they have a different definition of most memorable.

This year, they had a few scavenger hunts which had to be a great way to discover the curiosities around base like the skier, troll, snoopy, or a sign from the old bowling alley. There is no master list of neat stuff to see on base. The scavenger hunts were based on suggestions from the community. I can't imagine the loss of information if the people who have been coming down for years suddenly left. Would the replacements rediscover and identify each oddity around base? I feel that so much of the McMurdo experience is based on that knowledge and those people. While getting to explore new parts of Antarctica is what inspires, most of us don't travel for our jobs so it has to be something else that brings us back unless we are just hoping to travel (that is part of why I came back). I think it is the community.

My Last Days at McMurdo

I've left the Ice.

I left on February 5th, 2010 and am going to play catch up on a few posts before talking about the transition back.


Scott Base Sign

Miles To
South Pole 841 Wellington 2535 Santiago 4399 Cape Town 4603 Washington 9214 Moscow 16899 London 10587	Christchruch 2381 Canberra 2986 Buenos Aires 4449 Tokyo 7929 Paris 10381 Brussels 10519 Oslo 11085

My last few days on the Ice were challenging and wonderful. I went on a ton of hikes, said goodbye to friends, and prepared for the first step of the journey home. By sheer miles (read the table above), it should take a while. However, my biggest hurdle is myself. I ran myself ragged trying to do squeeze every last drop out of Antarctica and my friends there. Now, I have to reintegrate myself back into civilization, but I don't want to give up so much of what the Ice has given me. It is balancing act that I'll dance through, just as we all do when we leave. For the first week or two, I suspect I'll be reading in the Botanical Gardens or biking more often than not. They are probably my favorite simple pleasures. Okay, maybe not. Those might be my favorites in Christchurch. My true favorite list would have to include something with forests, ice cream, fruit, and so many other treats, but those will come.


Castle Rock on my final Sunday ski
On my final Sunday, I had a brilliant brunch followed my an amazing skate ski. I hadn't been out since the marathon. I wasn't sure how I'd do. My legs were tired which gave me a few more chances to practice my dance moves. I was even able to practice my skiing a bit. The Sunday ski group is a brilliant one. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it out with them as much as I would have liked. They are some of my favorite people and a few of them also happen to be ridiculously good skiers and teachers.

Candy and I got much better as skate skiers this year. We were even able to make it a mile or two before our muscles told us it was time to take a rest. We always got restarted though. I love the feeling that comes with being terrible at something and slowly improving. Next time that I come down, I'm hoping to learn kite skiing.


Fata morgana

Royal Society Mountains


Hut Point skua
During my last week, I made a number of covert op trips down to Hut Point. You were allowed to be down there, you just couldn't take the road. It was a treat because no one wanted to walk the extra distance to get down there which meant we were alone. The weather wasn't the warmest or clearest, but it didn't matter. In any state, Antarctica is going to capture my imagination. On one hike, it grabbed it with a huge fata morgana. I don't think I've ever seen the distance islands look like mushrooms before. That was pretty cool.


Creating Tears of Erebus
When I wasn't hiking, cleaning, and packing, I was trying to say goodbye to everyone. Instead of just chatting up in the Coffeehouse, William and I set out to work on a special project creating Tears of Erebus. They are one of the most beautiful items I've seen created on the Ice. They might only be second to the natural wonders around us. The ice chopper (think of a converted snow mobile to a snow motorcycle) still wins the coolest category. The plywood armor might be in the running though.


Pressure ridges, Armitage loop, and Hut Point (click to enlarge).
For the first time in my Antarctic experience, there were three major holes in the sea ice, one near the pressure ridges, one near the Armitage loop, and one at Hut Point. During my last summer, there were only two. While open water didn't reach town, enough water was accessible to bring in the penguins, whales, and seals in an abundance that hasn't been seen in three years. I think the panorama above is one of my favorite Antarctic pictures, just because when you enlarge it, there is so much detail and so many memories. I'm walking away from this season with so many good lessons and great memories.


Minke Whales coming up for air at the pressure ridges (photo by Ian H.).

Smoothies

The source of smoothie goodness.
This year has been a great year for food at McMurdo. They have been trying to improve morale and they scored a big hit with me by bringing in more fresh fruit and vegetables. Some meals are good, some are bad, but my morning smoothies are always good, so are the evening salads.

At the beginning of the season, I was excited to have access to a blender, but scared to take too much fruit. I didn't want to take more than my fair share. I started out just taking extra of the fruit that was about to go bad. I was able to make one or two a week for Meg, a friend, and me. However, after a few chats with the galley where they told me that they were having trouble getting rid of it all, we started taking a lot. We were able to make smoothies four or five days a week and loving it.

I only get to make three more smoothies down here. Unfortunately for some, they'll all be banana based because that is what we are getting more than anything else. Tomorrow will be banana-mango. Thursday, perhaps it will be banana kiwi. Friday, we'll just have to see what the galley goodness offers up. Hmm, hmm, good.

On the topic of smoothies, if you don't know about the secret menu at Jamba Juice, you are missing out on candy flavored smoothie goodness.

My job - Computer Technician

While the reason I came to Antarctica was for beauty and adventure, the reason I was brought here was to work. We work Monday through Saturday 7:30-5:30 with a one hour lunch. Two or three times a season we receive a two day weekend instead of a one day weekend. I am employed as a computer technician for science support. We have a myriad of jobs available including tradesman, janitors, dishwashers, cooks, satellite engineers, laborers, carpenters, riggers, waste management, safety, mechanics, fleet ops, managers, and even shuttle drivers. There are over 30,000 applications each year for the 700-1,000 jobs we have available. Each year, we have an average of 30% turnover (all numbers are estimates).


Christmas at Crary.

My normal day involves me waking up around 6am, making a morning smoothie at 6:30am, and getting to work at the Crary lab around 7am. After that, I work on any longstanding projects, leftover projects from the day before, or just wait until a scientist walks in the door asking for help. They could need help on Windows, Mac, or Linux machines. It could be a problem involving printing, Internet connectivity, connecting to an instrument, hardware failures, or anything else you can think of that is even remotely computer related. Our job is to basically bend over backwards to make sure they don't have any down time when they could be doing their science.

By the numbers, Holly, Deke, and I serviced 78 science groups which include anywhere from 1-36 people, 521 total grantees, 34 NSF distinguished visitors, and various transients on their way to field camps or Pole. We touched approximately 620 laptops (Windows XP - 294, Windows 7 - 25, Vista - 80, Linux - 18, Mac - 203).


Our door says we offer Computers, Coffee, Counseling & More. I believe this goes under counseling.

A lot of people have asked which job I preferred, my current one as a computer technician for the scientists or my old one as a computer technician for the town. I think there are five major differences (attitude, work location, customer base, challenge, and travel). My current shop's attitude is a yes shop where we work hard to give our customers what they need. My old shop was a no shop where we usually gave our customers what headquarters wanted. At my old job, I was able to get into every building on base. Now, I sit in a single office all day. Since I was in almost every building at my old job, I met tons of people except for scientists. At my current job, I only meet the scientists. Being closer to the science is great though. It has given me a much better feel for what we are supporting. At my old job, we almost exclusively supported PCs. At my new one, I've learned more because I receive more exposure to other technologies. Perhaps the biggest difference is that I have gone into the field three times with my current job. My old job, I didn't get to travel at all. Which do I prefer? It is close enough that I've applied for both next year, but I'd prefer to come back as a member of the Crary Lab IT group as opposed to the Town IT group.


A tour of my building (my shop is featured from 6:15-6:45). Video by by H. Kaiser.

Worst Cities to Work in IT: McMurdo

From: Worst Cities to Work in IT

Antarctic Marathon

Kish getting excited for his first marathon!


Not quite as excited about the slow ride out to the start of the half marathon at Pegasus.
Two weekends ago, we ran the annual Antarctic Marathon. You can ski, run, jog, walk, or halve it. Due to an injury to my IT band after taking time off to be sick, I decided to bag the full marathon training. I just didn't think I'd be able to get ready in time. It was a rare thought for me to decide I'd probably get injured and to choose the safer option instead.


Miller (the lady's half winner) dances into the 1st aid station.


What would an Antarctic marathon be without penguins?
Getting to the 10am start proved to be a challenge. We got on a shuttle at 8:45am. The marathons started at 10am at Scott Base. However, the half marathoners had to take the shuttle 13 miles out to Pegasus, the half way point for the marathon, first. Unfortunately, we had to let someone out to go to the bathroom near mile nine and the door wouldn't close after that. The shuttle's parking break won't turn off if the door is open. We were stuck until a van started shuttling everyone to the start in smaller groups.


This skua is just waiting for someone to drop over to eat.


I wish the actual race was like. I'm pretty sure Whit was faking because he rocked it about 5 miles later.
I was on the first shuttle out and was quickly realizing how unprepared I felt for the race. I had not anticipated getting cold in the shuttle for almost two hours before the race. I was running in cotton socks. I didn't have gloves to cover my fingers. I didn't have extra layers if it got windy. In short, I started to worry a lot which, as always, means I did alright.

The race started with out a hitch. Three miles in, we saw emperor penguins. These were the same penguins that I saw molting last week. They have not moved. Well, one laid down. Other than that, I would bet they have not moved five feet from where I first saw them. It was really exciting to see the penguins. I haven't heard of any penguins being on the race course in recent years so that was a real treat.


This rest area is all about helping participants take it easy.


This is how all marathon refreshment tables should be stocked.


Kish winding through mile 20 or so.
I ran the first five miles with Dave Z, who I thought would win it all, and another guy. However, they weren't going too hard. I could have gone out on my own, but I run so few races that I was worried about pacing myself properly. However, when Whit came up from behind and told me to join him, I did. We were off to the races. I didn't look back, but I don't think Dave Z. or the other guy bothered to try and keep up with us.


Kevin wins the marathon ski.


Whit wins the half marathon with me about a half (?) mile behind.
When Whit and I pulled away, we kept chugging along. Around mile 8, I though I heard him breathing pretty hard and possibly struggling. I prefer to run with someone, but during our last race I hadn't pushed Whit and he blew me away at the end. I decided to try to take his final kick out of him and possibly run solo. Between mile 8 and 11, I picked up the pace various times, but each time Whit was able to match me. In the final, 1.5 miles he did what he does best and ran really fast. When he turned it on, I didn't have the slightest hope of keeping up with him. He rocked it.


Crossing the line at 1:33:35


Getting ready to ski out to cheer friends on.
I finally rolled across the line at 1:33:35. I felt pretty good. My IT band was saying hello, but I didn't think it was anything long term. I decided I felt good enough to get right to my cool down, which would be an Annie inspired ski. I skied back out to cheer on everyone who was still coming in. However, the first thing I saw on my way back out was four Adelie penguins. They were coming down the final straight away towards the finish line!!! I think they actually crossed. Yeah for the Antarctic marathon!


The four (count carefully) Adelies win!

Antarctica in the news: The Dome, Penguin Awareness, Auto-appendectomy, and Airplanes

The Dome.


No dome.
This week, I received two photos of the South Pole dome. One was the start of the deconstruction and one was what it is left today, nothing. It is amazing to see how empty the site looks. Next week, they are starting Sleigh Rides to the South Pole where some of us get to go to South Pole for an hour. It is just a chance to get a hero shot and say you've been there, but I'm not above it. Sign me up because I'd love a chance to go. I've had an amazing season already and don't expect to go, but feel free to throw some good luck my way, just in case.

Also in the news these past couple weeks was Penguin Awareness Day. Penguin Awareness is January 20th. I hope you were wearing black and white, penguin colors, that day. You will be awarded extra points if you wore a tuxedo in their honor.


Auto-appendectomy
This week, Lisa K. shared a crazy Antarctic tidbit with me. In 1961, surgeon Leonid Rogozov was the only physician stationed on an isolated 12-man Soviet base in Antarctica when he developed appendicitis. He had to remove his appendix himself.

"I didn't permit myself to think about anything other than the task at hand. It was necessary to steel myself, steel myself firmly and grit my teeth. In the event that I lost consciousness, I'd given Sasha Artemev a syringe and shown him how to give me an injection. I chose a position half sitting. I explained to Zinovy Teplinsky how to hold the mirror. My poor assistants! At the last minute I looked over at them: they stood there in their surgical whites, whiter than white themselves. I was scared too. But when I picked up the needle with the novocaine and gave myself the first injection, somehow I automatically switched into operating mode, and from that point on I didn't notice anything else."

I've always been amazed at the stories of Russian toughness and resourcefulness. The Russians might have lost the Cold War because they weren't able to keep up economically, but they did amazing things with what little money they did have. Does anyone know if the anecdote about NASA spending millions of dollars to get an anti-gravity pen to work while the Russians just used a pencil is true?

Finally, they may have found the first airplane to be brought to Antarctica. I'm not sure of the historical importance of this because I don't think the plane was used. They left the wings at home, but mention using it as an air tractor. Whether it ever left the ground or not, it is a great look at past exploration.

I'm leaving the Ice in 12 days. It has been an amazing season.

Open Water!

The ice edge as of November 4, 2009.

The ice edge as of my birthday, November 26, 2009.

Click either picture for a better view. McMurdo is the red dot. The Dry Valleys are the brown areas to the left of the red dots.
I wanted to post a final picture of the ice edge. In this last one (pictured below), you can see a dramatic difference from the past two that I have posted (pictured above). If you click on the one below to enlarge it, you can even see a light outline of the channel that the ice breaker has made to town. Unless we have a major storm blowing out of the south to send the ice away to the north, I don't think the ice edge will make it to town this year. However, enough water has opened up around Hut Point to allow ample Adelie penguin and minke whale viewing. I haven't seen any minkes there yet, but I still hope to. The BBC has seen orcas in the channel.


The ice edge as of January 21, 2010.

Tent Island and an area that I drove past just three months ago.
The ice edge has moved close enough to town that areas where I was driving and skiing just three months ago are now open water. In my Cape Evans post from a few months ago, I included a picture of this same iceberg (pictured above). I believe it has run aground. Otherwise, it probably would have moved out to sea by now. To see such dramatic changes take place after so many months of looking at the same landscape is jarring. It shakes the senses again and reminds us just how amazing this place is at a time when we often need reminding because we are fatigued from a long season.


The ice edge as of January 21, 2010.
With open water, we also get the vessels. The Oden, icebreaker, arrived a couple weeks ago. The fuel vessel showed up yesterday. The cargo vessel should probably reach town in about a week, after a short stop in Lyttelton, NZ. This is the busiest part of the year for many departments as they unload all of our major supplies for next year. Those departments assisting in vessel offload have moved to 24 hour operations and shortened breaks. It also looks like, the South Pole Traverse should be rolling into town just as we get busy.


The South Pole Traverse is almost back to town.

Emperor Penguins!

These emperors might be wondering if the plane forgot them . . .

or they might just be molting (the green snow is guano. The grey/black bits are feathers).
I always have trouble finding the words to describe Antarctic moments, so I am going to start out today by borrowing some raw words from someone else, "Holy s**t, i am in Antarctica. it is f'g beautiful here-- the clouds framing the mountains over a sea of ice... God, am i lucky." These words are so true and say more about some of my experiences that my words ever could. They aren't the most refined or descriptive, but they capture the emotion of the experience. Loren scores lots of points for summing it up simply, knocking down walls, arriving on time three times in one day, and being brilliant even if she hasn't been to Chedd's. (Does anyone know if Chedd's reopened in Denver?)


This one is a little shy about having his picture taken and I'm loving my zoom lens.
After a week of hearing about four emperor penguins on the Pegasus road, I finally made it out to see them. These were my first emperors and I was barely able to sit in my seat. I had heard they were lost and waiting for directions. I had heard that they were wandering off to die, but they usually do that by themselves. However, these penguins were there to molt. They spend three to four weeks standing there and waiting for their adolescent feathers to fall off. I'm not sure why they can't go about their normal lives while they molt.


This is my favorite because of the last few adolescent feathers on the left fin.
I'm stuck again. I can't find the words. Antarctic moments make all the mundane times worth it. They are what we sign on to experience. They are what we tell people about when they want to hear about the program. However, they also don't define the program. Our social relationships are what keep us coming back. On the other hand, I don't think I'd be coming back if I never got out.

After hopping out of our vehicle, we were alone with the penguins. They didn't make a noise. They didn't even acknowledge that we had showed up. These were not the curious penguins that everyone talked about from earlier in the season. They were just there to molt and go on about their way. Yet, it was still magical. All they had to do was stand there in a sea of ice and let the wind pull out their adolescent feathers one by one to be amazing. Penguins, especially emperor penguins, are one of the defining features of Antarctica. They are what everyone asks about when you say you have been to Antarctica. As uninteresting as a stationary animal should be, they were great. They were inspiring. They've opened up my imagination again. They've reminded me, "it is [so] beautiful here . . . God, am i lucky."


Emperor penguins and White Island.

New at McMurdo: Helicopter and Wind Turbines

The new Kiwi helicopter, a Eurocopter EC-130.
We've had a couple new sights around base this year. The Robs (mechanic and pilot) at Scott Base are now flying a new helicopter, the Eurocopter EC-130. I don't know much about it, but it sure looks pretty. It has an enclosed tail rotor which is supposed to reduce its outside noise level substantially. I'm sure the penguins appreciate it because they get scared when a helicopter flies overhead. I like to think that they bought it based on the similarity of the name to the LC-130 Hercules planes that we use. I suspect that I am wrong, especially since the Kiwis bought it and the Herc is an American plane.


Erecting the wind turbines.
The McMurdo skyline is not memorable. While we do have a lot of antennas, we don't have the tall buildings underneath them. Instead, we have fantastic views in all directions, which is alright with me. Though, this year we have something else to look at, three wind turbines (that may multiply to twelve). They were installed by Scott Base and can supply all of their power and 50% of our power when they are running at maximum capacity. This is a huge boon for the Antarctic program. We have talked for so long about keeping this place clean, but we run everything on fuel. It seems like a move to renewable resources is long overdue.


A wind turbine overlooking Observation Hill.