While we have been sampling whales and mapping krill around Palmer Station, Ari and Dave have been aboard the Antarctic Research Vessel L.M. Gould, doing much the same thing, except over a huge area.Continue reading
Category: Duke Marine Lab
Hermit Island
Over the last three weeks Zach and I have spent almost all of our time at sea level, chasing whales in our Zodiac. So we were excited to get a very different perspective today,Continue reading
Life in a Zodiac
Zach and I spend most of our working days here at Palmer Station bobbing around whales in our trusty Zodiac. Most of the time it is a comfortable office, with space for all ofContinue reading
Big Whale – Tiny Sample
We can learn a huge amount about the whales we study from minute samples of skin and superficial blubber. We use a specially designed remote biopsy dart system to obtain a tiny sample fromContinue reading
The Antarctic is a Hungry Place
Whales, whales, whales and more whales. It’s been crazy here at Palmer Station, with a continuous flow of humpback whales through our little study area. Every day we see and sample a bunch ofContinue reading
Whale Tails
Zach and I have been very busy in our first few days at Palmer Station. There have been a LOT of whales around, the days are long (boating hours are from 8:00 AM until 10:00Continue reading
Leopard Seals and Echosounders
Our Antarctic research project is split into two field teams. Dave and Ari are aboard the 230-foot Antarctic Research Vessel Laurence M. Gould, which is conducting surveys and experiments at a large-scale along theContinue reading
Traveling to the Bottom of the World
The Marine Conservation Ecology group at Duke has joined the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project, funded by the National Science Foundation, to study the ecology of whales and krill along the AntarcticContinue reading