…brash ice with two southern fulmars on ice bits off the port side, whales on three sides of us, penguins honking about 200 meters away, and glaciers calving 2-3 kilometers away…. In the past fewContinue reading
Category: conservation
Andvord Bay (Sun., 5/17/09) – Orcas!!!
Today brought us into contact with our first killer whales (Orcinus orca) of the trip. Ari spotted them traveling northeast along the Gerlache, and thanks to a little luck, he soon had some amazing picturesContinue reading
Andvord Bay (Sat., 5/16/09) – Visions of sugarwhales dancing in my head
It was like Christmas Eve, getting to go tag a whale in the morning on a zodiac in Antarctica! What a dream! Last night at 7pm, Doug called together a “Science Sharing” meeting in theContinue reading
Andvord Bay (Fri., 5/15/09) – The emotional rollercoaster
Yay! There’s a whale just sitting at the surface, let’s tag that one! … Boo, that guy was a bit difficult to track. Yay! The port call is over and we get to head backContinue reading
Palmer Station (Wed., 5/13/09) – More than just a port for the Gould
Palmer Station is home to quite a bit of science year round, mostly of the geophysical sort. Palmer Station is a wonderful place. I’ve really enjoyed spending a couple of days here while we catchContinue reading
Palmer (Sun., 5/10/09) – Leg One Is In the Bag!
Our first leg of tagging was amazingly productive (and fun). Yesterday we concluded our first of three tagging legs with a return trip to Palmer Station. It was a remarkably successful first 10 days. WeContinue reading
Palmer Station (Sat., 5/9/09)-The Battle at Base Brown
Deadly, dangerous, deceitful. Scientists are all of these. Whether it takes form in freezing helpless krill, kicking their last feeble kicks as they near dewars of liquid nitrogen, or sneaking up on sleeping whales, smackingContinue reading
Palmer station (Wed., 5/6/09) – Underwater Leopard Seal Video
Dave managed to take some spectacular underwater video of two leopard seals On May 6th, Dave used our underwater video camera to get some amazing footage of leopard seals swimming next to their Zodiac asContinue reading
Wilhelmina Bay (Thurs., 5/7/09) – Hitting a Trampoline with a Chopstick
These are by far the most rotund and plump whales I have ever been around. When they rise, the span of their backs looks like a small parking lot. We returned overnight to our homeContinue reading
Errera Channel (Wed., 5/6/09) – Leopard Seals
Sometimes days don’t go quite as planned, but opportunities do arise. We started the day with a stiff breeze (>40knts) so we were not able to splash the small boats first thing as we hadContinue reading