Today the R/V Laurence M. Gould left station and we sent them off with a wave goodbye and a polar plunge into the -1.6˙C ocean! It was one way to wake up, that’s for sure….
The ship had been here for several days recouping from their 5+ weeks of diving and conducting science around the Western Antarctic Peninsula. There were two science teams aboard the ship. One group was a dive team composed of eight divers and one satellite imagery scientist. Their mission was to find and sample macroalgae species found along the peninsula. Not a lot is known about their population distributions, and it was fascinating seeing their pictures and hearing their stories! During one dive they found themselves surrounded by a gaggle of Gentoo penguins! If you want to learn more about what they did down here, below is a link to the seaweed gradient science team’s blog: https://openexplorer.nationalgeographic.com/expedition/antarcticseaweeds/view/6006339?fbclid=IwAR1rN2W44AES8Ghb-N3r3D_l_cs5aUhU2zi8cXmW8G2iG0IYmsBlUkiya9Q.
The other group was focused on sampling the waters around the peninsula in search for mixotrophic phytoplankton. If you don’t already know, mixotrophs are fascinating organisms that have the capacity to switch from producing their own energy (i.e. autotrophic) to feeding on other organisms to get their energy (i.e. heterotrophic). Their goal was to identify mixotrophic species and observe their ingestion rates. If you’re interested in this research, or want to know more about their cruise, here is a link to a blog that my friend Ari (a member of the mixotrophic team) has made about her experiences on the research expedition https://blameitontheethanol.blogspot.com.
Now that their science is done, it’s time for them to head North back to Punta Arenas, Chile. Before the boat embarked on their week-long journey we got everyone together for a big dinner and an open mic night here on Station. It was quite the show! You’d be surprised how much talent there is here at Palmer….I know I sure was! After a night of laughter, fun, and good times it was time for the scientists and the workers here on station that were not overwintering to head North. It’s always hard saying goodbye, especially to the people that are now part of your polar family, but I’m excited for the winter to set in here at Palmer and enjoy it with the remaining 20 people here on Station.
After two weeks of winds gusting up to 100 mph and storm-induced swells in the harbor, it’s really welcoming to look outside and see calm water and sun peaking over the glacier. This past week has been incredible, weather-wise. Last Friday the snow started dumping and laid a nice foundation on the glacier. The last two days the sun has been shining and we have definitely capitalized on the weather! Yesterday Julia and I walked around the backyard of Palmer and watched a slew of fur seals swimming around Hero Inlet. Today it was so clear that when Kim and I walked up to the top of the glacier we could see all of the surrounding mountain ranges. The extremeness of the mountains makes you feel like you’re somewhere in the Himalayas, however at the same time, you’re surrounded by the ocean. It’s pretty surreal.
The krill are doing well! We’ve been feeding them every few days or so and they are swimming healthily around the tank. We will begin our second time-point sampling in a week’s time where we will once again examine their physiological parameters. Included in this is respiration, nitrogen and carbon assimilation efficiency, lipid absorption, and egestion rates. Here we go. Yay, women doing polar science!
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