Tuesday October 25, 2011

Well, today was incredible! Sandwich and I went out fishing to our new fish hut and we brought along another person from town. We like to bring non-scientists out fishing with us because a lot of people who make up the support staff at McMurdo rarely get to actually leave the station. They have to work long days and long weeks. Therefore, a chance to not work and go out fishing with us is like a dream come true. Well, we sure made someones day today! We drove out to our fish hut and the weather was great. We arrived and cleared out the ice from the hole, dropped in some glow sticks and all of a sudden, a MASSIVE Weddell seal came up the hole! I took some great video of it but for some reason I can't upload it. Must be the internet speed here or my computer or something. However, I got some great pictures too!

Weddell seals can dive up to 45 minutes on one breath of air! Recent studies have shown (with cameras and instruments attached to the seals) that they even sleep while diving! They take their breath at the surface and then slowly sink to the bottom of the ocean. As they are sinking, they fall asleep and take a very convoluted route to the bottom. Once they hit bottom, it is thought that the impact wakes them up and they swim back up to the surface. At the surface, they need to hyperventilate for about five minutes before diving again. That is what this seal was doing and I could feel its breath a good six feet away from its nostrils! We think that it was a male because it kept looking down below. This is a behavior that males do because they need to protect their air holes and other males will come and bite them when they are breathing if they are not cautious. Finally, Weddell seals can be as large as 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. As you can see, this one was about as big around as the fish hole!

After the seal left, we got a call on the radio that the weather was getting pretty intense. We didn't catch a single fish but we only had our lines in the water for about a minute. We packed up and started driving. However, by this time, the weather had become quite gnarly and we could barely see the next flag. They are 30 paces apart! Here is what Sandwich was looking at while driving.

I don't see the next set of flags...do you?

There are three conditions that the weather can be in here in Antarctica. They are:

Condition III

Unrestricted travel and activity are allowed.

Winds less than 48 knots, and

Visibility greater than or equal to ¼ mile, and

Wind chill temperature warmer than -75°F.

Condition II

Restricted pedestrian traffic only between buildings is allowed. Vehicular travel is only allowed in radio equipped enclosed vehicles.

Winds 48 to 55 knots sustained for one minute, or

Visibility less than ¼ mile, but greater than or equal to 100 feet sustained for one minute, or

Wind chill -75°F to -100°F sustained for one minute.

Condition I

All personnel must remain in the building that they are in. Travel outside is not permitted.

Winds greater than 55 knots sustained for one minute, or

Visibility less than 100 feet sustained for one minute, or

Wind chil greater than -100°F sustained for one minute.

We were told that we were driving in Condition II, however, as soon as we got back, all areas surrounding McMurdo went to Condition I. The station itself stayed at Condition II. Our friends on B-009, the seal team, got stuck outside in Condition I. The five of them had to huddle in a Scott tent for 6 hours till the weather calmed down a bit and a helo could go get them.

Here is what it looked like on station.

I have taken this next picture before. You would normally be able to see Discovery Hut on Hut Point and a cross out there somewhere. I could barely see the point.

We knew it was going to be a lab day for the rest of the day so that is what we did!