n colonies do better than others. Some places, skuas seem to have eaten many penguin eggs. Other places, there are a lot of empty nests, or parents sitting on the eggs far later in the season than they'll be able to raise any resulting chicks. Yet there are always sites where there are plentiful chicks, who all seem fat & happy, congregating around the nest or with others in the colony. Sometimes their bellies are near white and they are easily distinguished. Other times, the chicks are coated in mud & guano, like the chinstrap penguin chick pictured to the right. No matter what, I can't get enough of their antics. Whether they are ganging up with a parent on intruders or running away from a nearby skua, they are truly a delight.
2009-01-31
Penguins!
Meeting thousands of penguin chicks is such fun. They are adorable creatures, from the very young ones that are barely visible underneath the parents, to the now-molting juveniles wandering about the colony, soon to take to the sea. Each year, some pengui
n colonies do better than others. Some places, skuas seem to have eaten many penguin eggs. Other places, there are a lot of empty nests, or parents sitting on the eggs far later in the season than they'll be able to raise any resulting chicks. Yet there are always sites where there are plentiful chicks, who all seem fat & happy, congregating around the nest or with others in the colony. Sometimes their bellies are near white and they are easily distinguished. Other times, the chicks are coated in mud & guano, like the chinstrap penguin chick pictured to the right. No matter what, I can't get enough of their antics. Whether they are ganging up with a parent on intruders or running away from a nearby skua, they are truly a delight.
n colonies do better than others. Some places, skuas seem to have eaten many penguin eggs. Other places, there are a lot of empty nests, or parents sitting on the eggs far later in the season than they'll be able to raise any resulting chicks. Yet there are always sites where there are plentiful chicks, who all seem fat & happy, congregating around the nest or with others in the colony. Sometimes their bellies are near white and they are easily distinguished. Other times, the chicks are coated in mud & guano, like the chinstrap penguin chick pictured to the right. No matter what, I can't get enough of their antics. Whether they are ganging up with a parent on intruders or running away from a nearby skua, they are truly a delight.
2009-01-29
the start of an antarctic day
This morning, I thought about the routines and rituals down here that are so different from home. My room is completely dark when the lights are out, and so while I sleep like a rock, I sometimes have to really convince myself to roll out of bed in the morning. If I wake up early enough, I enjoy some cocoa before breakfast. Breakfast is buffet syle here ... and so far I've been very good about avoiding the bacon, which sometimes beckons me. I generally start my days down here with oatmeal with dried fruit, eggs (scrambled or omelet, whatever's available) and more and more often, yogurt. It's so much more breakfast than I have at home - but of course, the days down here are generally quite long and very active, and we spend so much time out in the cold. It's a great start to the day, and usually there's time to sit and chat with people before we head out to work.
I'm almost done with data collection for this trip, and then I'll get to enjoy a little break - although I expect to still be put to work wherever someone is needed. By now my room smells pretty obviously like guano, and I'm hoping to be able to clean out the gear and equipment, and freshen the place up a bit in the next few days! Much though we love the smell of Antarctic summer, it would be nice not to have the smell wafting down the hall for everyone to enjoy.
It's been a great trip so far, and if you ask me, we've gotten a lot of excellent work done. We've also seen a lot, and I hope to write more about it all in the next few days. I'll close by including this photo of an iceberg I saw the other day, in honor of the snow & ice I've heard is piling up at home. =) Hope you are staying warm!
I'm almost done with data collection for this trip, and then I'll get to enjoy a little break - although I expect to still be put to work wherever someone is needed. By now my room smells pretty obviously like guano, and I'm hoping to be able to clean out the gear and equipment, and freshen the place up a bit in the next few days! Much though we love the smell of Antarctic summer, it would be nice not to have the smell wafting down the hall for everyone to enjoy.
It's been a great trip so far, and if you ask me, we've gotten a lot of excellent work done. We've also seen a lot, and I hope to write more about it all in the next few days. I'll close by including this photo of an iceberg I saw the other day, in honor of the snow & ice I've heard is piling up at home. =) Hope you are staying warm!
2009-01-27
back in antarctica
What an amazing place. I am doing really well, and keeping very busy! It seems like there is hardly time to keep up with everything going on here, let alone with things back home. I'm happy to report I'm doing my part to share chocolate with this corner of the world. But not with penguins ... it's probably not good for them. (Ooh, maybe we need to do a study.) The penguins continue to do well. This time of year means lots of penguin chicks running around! Well, some are running arou
nd; others are still staying pretty close to mom or dad. The photo is of a gentoo penguin and its chick. I have seen chicks ranging from about one day old to over a month old and molting into swimming feathers. This means lots of work for me. Along with the penguins, Antarctic Fur Seals & Leopard Seals abound.
Earlier this week (what day is it?) we had some rain & snow showers. Today we have had just beautiful weather. I even left off my standard layer of fleece for this morning's work, and did just fine. I think I was starting to get dehydrated yesterday, since it's so easy to forget about in this kind of climate. Now I am paying a little more attention!
I am, of course, taking lots of great pictures. Well, lots of pictures at least. My big storage memory card for my camera seems to be having a few hiccups, so I am trying to be doubly sure that everything is backed up! I just came in from the cold and am warming up with cocoa. We'll be headed back out for another round in about an hour. I hope you are all keeping warm and snug!
nd; others are still staying pretty close to mom or dad. The photo is of a gentoo penguin and its chick. I have seen chicks ranging from about one day old to over a month old and molting into swimming feathers. This means lots of work for me. Along with the penguins, Antarctic Fur Seals & Leopard Seals abound.Earlier this week (what day is it?) we had some rain & snow showers. Today we have had just beautiful weather. I even left off my standard layer of fleece for this morning's work, and did just fine. I think I was starting to get dehydrated yesterday, since it's so easy to forget about in this kind of climate. Now I am paying a little more attention!
I am, of course, taking lots of great pictures. Well, lots of pictures at least. My big storage memory card for my camera seems to be having a few hiccups, so I am trying to be doubly sure that everything is backed up! I just came in from the cold and am warming up with cocoa. We'll be headed back out for another round in about an hour. I hope you are all keeping warm and snug!
2009-01-24
crossing the drake
January 24
Reunited with my luggage at the last minute (that last post was not a hypothetical), all's going well down here. It's a beautifully calm day to continue South across the Drake Passage. The low winds also means few birds, which is alright with me. Much though I enjoy the birds (this morning I saw Wandering & Black-browed albatross, southern giant petrels, and for mammals, hourglass dolphins). I've felt the action of the open ocean a time or two, but mostly the day has been just fine. I'm looking forward to Antarctica. I brought some brownies with me for the trip down, but otherwise it's been other kinds of goodies - wine, cheese empanadas, and the like. Yum. It's fun to be back in this world, getting to know some more people who devote pieces of their lives to this crazy place. And now, it's time for a little reading.
Reunited with my luggage at the last minute (that last post was not a hypothetical), all's going well down here. It's a beautifully calm day to continue South across the Drake Passage. The low winds also means few birds, which is alright with me. Much though I enjoy the birds (this morning I saw Wandering & Black-browed albatross, southern giant petrels, and for mammals, hourglass dolphins). I've felt the action of the open ocean a time or two, but mostly the day has been just fine. I'm looking forward to Antarctica. I brought some brownies with me for the trip down, but otherwise it's been other kinds of goodies - wine, cheese empanadas, and the like. Yum. It's fun to be back in this world, getting to know some more people who devote pieces of their lives to this crazy place. And now, it's time for a little reading.
2009-01-22
the joys of travel
Well, there´s nothing like traveling from one cold climate to another, via a hot one.
Today´s travel quiz:
Q: When you are traveling internationally, and your final flight is a domestic one, do you believe an airline that tells you your luggage is checked through to its final destination?
A: I still don´t know.
Well, I didn´t believe them, but in the end I trusted them. I did look for my luggage at the point of entry to the country, where you generally go through customs. But, I had very limited time before my next flight, and so I didn´t wait until all the luggage was out. I just looked at what was there & waited a few minutes, until my concern about navigating to check in for my next flight overrode my concern about the bag it was maybe 40 minutes til take off and I didn´t have a boarding pass yet, at an airport where you . After all, they had said it was checked through. Yeah, wrong choice.
The funny thing is the last time I had similar travel, the airline told me I would have to pick up my bags and re-check them, but I actually didn´t. Go figure. Maybe the Answer is - do the opposite of what the airline tells you?
Today´s travel quiz:
Q: When you are traveling internationally, and your final flight is a domestic one, do you believe an airline that tells you your luggage is checked through to its final destination?
A: I still don´t know.
Well, I didn´t believe them, but in the end I trusted them. I did look for my luggage at the point of entry to the country, where you generally go through customs. But, I had very limited time before my next flight, and so I didn´t wait until all the luggage was out. I just looked at what was there & waited a few minutes, until my concern about navigating to check in for my next flight overrode my concern about the bag it was maybe 40 minutes til take off and I didn´t have a boarding pass yet, at an airport where you . After all, they had said it was checked through. Yeah, wrong choice.
The funny thing is the last time I had similar travel, the airline told me I would have to pick up my bags and re-check them, but I actually didn´t. Go figure. Maybe the Answer is - do the opposite of what the airline tells you?
2009-01-20
i leave tomorrow
I head back to the penguins tomorrow. It'll take me a few days to get down there, but I should be able to send regular updates. Not much else to say, except I can't wait to see these guys again.
(Photos: Adelie penguin on left; penguin tracks in the snow on right.)
PS - I am still being tempted to do a last minute look-around for a new camera in the seasonal sales .... though I should consider mine perfectly fine for the job. Also, just heard a report from down south that sounds incredible. Oh, to be there again!
(Photos: Adelie penguin on left; penguin tracks in the snow on right.)
PS - I am still being tempted to do a last minute look-around for a new camera in the seasonal sales .... though I should consider mine perfectly fine for the job. Also, just heard a report from down south that sounds incredible. Oh, to be there again!
2009-01-09
belated pictures
Here are some pictures ....
Everything is rock and ice...
and wildlife.
Everything is rock and ice...
and wildlife.
I mostly saw Gentoo penguins (left), but the
Adelie penguins (above) were probably my favorite.
Left to Right:
I also saw Chinstrap penguins, Snowy Sheathbills, and So. Elephant Seals
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