A tour of the science hangout spots around the ship

Hi all,

Today we thought we’d take a few pictures showing you what goes on inside the ship, where we spend much of our day and do much of our work.

Our days generally begin by dragging ourselves out of bed well before dawn (ok, dawn is around 8am, but still).  Most of us are in two-person staterooms with bunk beds and private bathrooms – quite nice little spaces that are very efficiently organized.

Many of us have been enjoying working out in the excellent gym.  Here Lindsey (pumping iron) and Andy (… um… I think that is running?) demonstrate some of the equipment available to keep active and in shape while on the ship.

Next thing is to head down to the mess hall for breakfast, where Ramsey and Alejandra have been cooking up smokin’ good meals four times a day.

Tag Lab

After a day in the field, whether it is collecting prey data with the echosounders, completing visual surveys from the bridge, or tagging whales and doing behavioral focal follows in the small boats, we head back to download, catalogue, and process the data from the day.  Here are the labs where we spend most of our time; Ann in the tag lab, Danielle, Reny, Lindsey, Meagan, and Pat in the aft dry lab, and Colin and Roland in the forward dry lab.

Dry Lab

Dry Lab

After the data are securely backed up and equipment is prepped for the next day, we hope there’s enough time for a movie (or some rock band!) in the 02 lounge (yep, those massive comfy chairs do indeed recline… and there’s a bean bag too!).  Or ping pong in the helo (helicopter) hangar!  Round robin tournament starts today – Eric and Mike are seen here getting in some last minute training.  Hometown favorite Reny is looking good, adjusting to the non-regulation size table, but did I mention that Eric brought his own paddle?  Place your bets now!

Lounge

Ping Pong

Tomorrow we head to Andvord Bay, and pending ice, weather, and whale conditions, we’ll be back at it trying to put out tags, surveying, and collecting loads of data.

On a personal note, today was my graduation ceremony for my PhD at the University of Hawai’i.  We actually have four people in our science party who are graduating this semester:  Lindsey, Joy, Selina, and me.  What better way to celebrate graduation than surrounded by beautiful scenery in Antarctica, and working on new and exciting data?  However, I would have loved to walk in the ceremony, and I’ll close by sending a big shout out to Lindsey, Joy, Selina, Sheldon, Nori, Adam, Kevin, Kyle, and everyone else who just graduated, at UH and elsewhere – congratulations and very well done!