At the surface

When at sea in Antarctic waters, this is about as good a photo of a whale I can hope for. It's good enough to identify the subject, but beyond that, there's not much going on. This first picture is of two killer whales, or Orcas. You can tell from the pattern of black and white that Not Only are there killer whales, but they are "type A". There are 3 types of killer whales in the world (A, B, C) and "A" includes Shamu and most of what we hear about in the US. I'll keep looking for a good picture of a "type B" which occur frequently around the Antarctic Peninsula, and "type C" around the Ross Sea. The killer whales are breathtaking, and one of few species of whale I feel confident identifying from a distance. Their dorsal fins are much taller than most things their size, and are the defining feature most of the time. Of course those white eye patches and markings help too if you get closer.

The most common whale around the Antarctic Peninsula, particularly this time of year, is the Humpback Whale. The humpbacks are always fun, and fairly easy to follow and spot. They are probably the only whale I ever have a chance of getting reasonable pictures of, and even then, I've never gotten a picture of their fascinating faces. I like this picture, though, because you can see the white of the belly through the water.

For the photographic record, I think these were taken with the SLR. I tend to lose track though, as I use both it and the point-and-shoot regularly. Of course, I've missed many fantastic shots during my travels, but am always glad simply to have experienced these incredible animals.

Bus to Antarctica

How would you like to take the bus from Washington DC to Antarctica? Well, Andrew Evans did just that on assignment with National Geographic, and is blogging and twittering his experiences. Here he is taking in the sights of the Southern Ocean.


check it out, and think about where Your next bus might take you.

Antarctic Jeopardy

Category: Another Morning in Antarctica
Answer: There are over 3000 at Damoy Point.
Can you guess the winning question?

And, as usual, penguin picture below. This chick may not be the cutest, but it sure was brave!

antarctic rhythms

A windy, gusty day, snow coming at you horizontally. After this past week I am amazed - I could be describing Antarctica or an eastern US town equally well. Well, here instead of steel and glass and brick, I am surrounded by sheer cliffs of rock and ice. Looking out from the cliffs on a clear day, tabular icebergs stretch toward the horizon. Gloomy gray skies reflect back on the waves. Crabeater seals lounge on chunks of sea ice. I swing my backpack onto my shoulders, check the volume on my radio, and hike uphill. Through snow, over lichen-decorated rock, to the penguins. Rocks coated in guano, some days I scarcely notice the smell. The chicks are adorable, or ugly, sitting in the penguin colony, chasing parents with food, slurping down their krill lunch, picking at their molting feathers, getting in trouble with the neighbors. Adults scamper to and from the water in search of food for their chicks, tobogganing up or down the snowy slope, watching me with curiosity, fear, disinterest. Each has its own opinion of my motives. They build their rock nests, even now as they prepare to take to the water and abandon them to the winter. Pick up a rock, add it to the nest. Over and over. A chick mimics, but can't get a good grasp on the pebble. One penguin stretches it neck, waving its wings and calling out in its ecstatic display. Others join in and soon there's a cacophony. On another day a skua flies low overhead, triggering calls of alarm that race through the colony. The skua divebombs me, perhaps its own chicks are nearby. Each day is different - blue skies, gray skies, waters open at one moment may become choked in bits of ice with a change in wind. Penguins porpoising in the water, milling at the edge of the water, squabbling in the colony.

Photo: An Adelie Penguin Colony with adults and chicks; two adults perform ecstatic displays

Lies, All Lies!

I have a new camera. (This is not a lie.) It's fairly nice, for a point and shoot (digital), but it doesn't have a viewfinder. I knew this was going to bother me,but it was a deal otherwise, and very few of the cameras available where I was had viewfinders anyway, so I went for it. My current trip will be a real test.

Also on the downside, its lens doesn't fit into my binoculars - with my old camera, I would use binoculars to up my zoom. This camera does have a better zoom ... but I did like the binocs trick. (Plus, its a great conversation-starter. Still, people with serious cameras & lenses probably thought I was hopeless. I haven't done a lot of testing and am still curious to see how new zoomed & cropped pictures compare to old binoc-zoomed pictures.)

Taking pictures today, I realized the lie to which my title refers. It wasn't intentional. But some people surely think that all my trip pictures have come from this older camera, which was on its last legs about a year ago. And that's a lie. Truth is, access to a digital research camera with much better features allowed me to take some of those great shots on previous trips. So I have to apologize to all of you who thought that my little p&s did all that heavy lifting. Cause I am not that good a photographer.

I am trying to learn some of the advanced features on my new camera, though to be honest I don't yet understand what an "f-stop" value really means. Some of the ways I can adjust settings are different - I already miss my old white-balance controls - but I am sure that if I take the time to learn this camera, it will be a great improvement. I might try sticking to new-camera pictures for awhile on here.

For those of you not interested in picture-taking details - sorry. Especially since I am not even posting a picture with it!! I hope to have more to report on, and a picture or 2 to share, soon!

PS - The sad news I must report is limited hot cocoa availability ... I will have to pick some up myself when I get the chance .. but I did bring chocolatey snacks, and have lots of good food & drink available, so have no fear.

End of summer

Chipmunk!

After a week of working outside in cool and often wet weather, wearing whatever sweatshirt or fleece was currently dry, I started to forget that it really is August. But it is, which means that I'm still on the road, but not for too much longer. Recently I've been busy with all those end-of-trip kind of activities - finishing the work here, cleaning, packing up, trying to find uses for the food left in the cabinet. I'm happy to report I made brownies today! I haven't cut into them yet but I'm sure they'll be delicious ... also, for dinner tonight I am finally getting to a local restaurant I've been meaning to try. (A special treat after last night's pre-packaged frozen dinner.) All in all things are going pretty well. I am looking forward to the end of the trip, and being back home. :) I've accumulated some stuff here, and now have to figure out what goes home with me, and what to do with the rest of it.

pictures!

I haven't posted for awhile - my only lame excuse is that I've been busy. One of the things that's kept me busy is working in an area with Horned Larks nesting. The horned larks are pretty cool birds and it's fun to see them at their nests. First, here is a picture of a horned lark nest with eggs:


And here's a picture of baby larks! There are three of them, although the one begging for food is definitely the most photogenic.


On a completely unrelated sidenote, can I be miffed about 'high fidelity' being on http://onceuponawin.com/? The website is self-desribed as "A Visual Collection of Epic Wins from the Past" - and is typically devoted to the 70s, 80s, and maybe the 90s. HF came out in 2000. WTF?

on the road again ...

Off on another adventure, I guess you could say. Headed out to the field sites for the first time this summer - had a little company.


We saw a number of elk this week - this one was on an early morning among the willows. The snow's melting and the flowers are blooming, which means it's time to get to work. I'll try to post from time to time. Today is laundry, groceries, airing out wet tents and gear assembly.

belated pictures

Here are some pictures ....


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