Antarctica 2006

Today, we finished the last few training classes, packed up our remaining supplies and transported everything down to the "Helo pad" so the helo technicians could pack it into a sling load. We have 1200 pounds of gear we are taking! I am looking forward to getting back to Lake Hoare and Lake Fryxell. We will be trading the beauty of the distant mountains for the beauty of camping beside a glacier!

I have so many pictures from yesterday that I'd like to share. I said I would continue the posting today, so here they are! I am still grinning from ear to ear and sit quite humbled by my experiences yesterday!

It's almost difficult to tell if this photo is from underwater or if it's of the "northern lights".

This fish seemed to be looking at me asking:

"Yeah....what are you looking at?"

The soft coral shown here stood over 2.5 feet tall. It looks quite sturdy and yet fragile at the same time. I am told that if the polyps (the animals sticking out at the ends of the branches that make it look "frilly") are disturbed, they will withdraw into the coral structure and could take up to three months to come out again. This makes it critical to have good buoyancy control. If divers swam around bumping into all the animals, imagine how different it would look!

I believe this is a sea cucumber.
It was about 5 inches in length.

This nudibranch is over 3 inches in length! This is quite different from the 0.5 -1 inch nudibranchs that are seen in New Hampshire.

There are two large sponges in this picture. Notice how different the one on the right is from the one on the left.

Worms come in all shapes and sizes. This creature is actually a worm!

I find it quite relaxing to watch the pulsing of jelly fish. It's almost as if they are signaling the world to simply slow down and breathe!

This picture is difficult to explain. It is actually showing the dividing line between a glacier that is spilling off the land and continuing down into the depths of McMurdo Sound and the open water. I have a flashlight shining on the ice of the glacier. Everything to the left in the picture is a giant glacier easing its way into the water. The right half (right of the blue) is open water. You can actually swim right up to this glacier and "bump into it". It's quite a fascinating spot. Compare this with the picture below - perhaps you'll be able to see it better by comparing the two pictures.

This is the same glacial wall as above.
Everything to the right is open water!

Obviously, this is our dive hole. I was in about 80 feet of water when I took this picture! Do you notice the darker rectangle shape surrounding the hole? That rectangle is the shadow of the dive hut that is over the hole! You can clearly see what a difference having something (whether it be a human-made hut, or naturally made snow) covering the ice affects how much light can penetrate through to the water below!

Here's another look at our star of the dive. Can you see why we got nervous? She was taking up most of the hole! We couldn't have all fit in there!

At times, it was as if she was posing for pictures!

I have to share this photo with you. This was actually taken by one of the dive tenders (Genevieve Bachman). What I find funny about this is that all those bubbles in the water were the exhalation bubbles of Steve and I; we were just beside the hole waiting for our chance to get out! Do you think this felt like a hot tub to the seal?

 

 

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