First visitors of summer season make port call at Palmer Station

In describing Palmer Station this month, the phrase “in like a lion and out like a lamb” comes to mind. It is true of both the weather and the activity level on station.

October’s mad weather continued into November, barely losing steam through a busy port call that doubled the local population and had us all running. Since the hasty northbound departure of the research vessel Laurence M. Gould , the weather has calmed considerably, and a station-wide sigh could be heard as the intensity level of work and play dropped back into the realm of manageability.

Prior to the port call, preparations were being made on station by an expanded waste team for the biannual hazardous waste run. Led by Raytheon Polar Services’ waste manager, Mark Furnish, the waste team meticulously filed paperwork and labeled all the specially managed waste collected in the past year and a half at Palmer. This waste consists of everything from scientific chemicals to everyday motor oil.

Normally, the Gould would take the hazardous waste directly back to the United States, but this year it will be loaded onto the research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer in Punta Arenas, Chile, and then taken to McMurdo Station . This will save the Gould a long trip north.

Before reaching Palmer Station on its most recent transit, the Gould stopped to quickly and successfully open Cape Shirreff field camp in the northern reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula on Livingston Island. Five scientists will spend the austral summer there studying Antarctic fur seals. [See previous article: Keeping track.]

The port call itself, in addition to the hazardous waste management, included several other temporary visitors. The National Science Foundation  sent two engineers to survey and assess Palmer Station’s major systems and provide preliminary ideas for future projects and station upgrades.

A new science group had two members here to install new equipment in Terra Lab. The principal investigator, Qian Wu, with the help of Andrew Watt, installed a Fabry-Perot Interferometer that will provide wind and temperature information from the mesospheric and thermospheric layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

In collaboration with scientists and similar instrumentation at Australia’s Davis and Mawson stations, the group intends to shed light on the Weddell Sea Anomaly, which is characterized by higher ionospheric plasma densities during the night than during the day. The group is also interested in other atmospheric phenomenon such as tides and geomagnetic effects on the thermosphere.

Two other new science events arrived on station this month, both investigating viruses. Under Grieg Steward, a team is here to study the effects of viruses on the local phytoplankton population. Data collected by the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research  groups suggest that viruses may play a major roll in influencing different types of phytoplankton blooms.

A second project is the post-doctorate work for Jennifer Brum. Brum will be studying different styles of virus reproduction and how they relate to various annual cycles of the Palmer area ecosystem.

The final weeks of November brought two visiting ships to station. The Chilean Navy vessel Lautaro had the honor of being our first visitors of the summer season. The Lautaro supplies the Chilean Antarctic research stations and collects bathymetric data around the Antarctic Peninsula. They brought beautiful weather with them, and after touring Palmer Station, they invited us to a barbeque on the deck of the Lautaro.

The first commercial cruise visit, on Thanksgiving Day, was the National Geographic Explorer, bringing more than 100 guests to tour the station. One of the Explorer’s divers, Lisa Trotter, also served as Palmer Station’s winter site manager from April through September of this year, so it was great to welcome her back, if only briefly. [See previous article: Diving in.]

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First summer science teams arrive at Palmer Station

The summer science season is slowly ramping up at Palmer Station , as weather permits. For the most part, however, the weather has not permitted.

In this first month of summer, Palmer has been pummeled by wind, snow, sleet and rain. We’ve seen hours-on-end of sustained 50-knot winds, gusting into the 80s, approaching the maximum recorded wind speed of 93 knots.

The wind and rain have stripped the area of nearly all its snow and turned the short road through town into an icy, slushy mess. But it was better to be at Palmer than on the research vessel for the northbound leg of its recent transit. The high wind and waves in the Drake Passage provided a miserable crossing for much of the outgoing winter crew on the Laurence M. Gould .

The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER)  groups arrived early in October to begin another season of sample collection for the multi-year study of the marine ecosystem.

In the few days that were calm enough for boating, the scientists made their first krill catch: a meager 20-or-so juveniles of the shrimplike animal. They also made their first water column sample collections at Station E, a location of long-standing record nearly two miles away from Palmer. Station E is known for beautiful views back toward Anvers Island on nice days, and notorious for foul swell, chop and seasickness on anything less than a nice day.

A new research group is on station for a month to study the long-range atmospheric transport of chlorinated organics such as DDT. This work follows the discovery of trace amounts of these compounds in Adélie penguin tissues. A paper on the finding was published online in 2008 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. [See previous article Persistent chemical.]

Scientist Jenna Luek has been collecting samples of air and snow, and hopes to snag some glacial meltwater, now that the base of the nearby glacier has been exposed. The samples will be used to determine sources and sinks for chlorinated organics. Rebecca Dickhut at the College of William and Mary is the principal investigator on the project.

Palmer Station’s generators received some much-needed attention this month. Generator #1 had been unable to take a full load all winter due to a new, but faulty, injector pump. With that repaired, power plant mechanic Dennis Calhoun was able to completely rebuild generator #2.

The normally soothing hum of instrumentation at Terra Lab has been accented this month with the harsh but satisfying sounds of construction.

On the inside of the earth sciences laboratory, a darkroom has been built to house a new instrument. On the outside, a new enclosure will provide a view of the sky to the darkroom. A timely break in the weather provided the perfect opportunity to slice through the metal skin of Terra Lab’s roof and seal the enclosure in place.

The weather window for this construction project came just in time, as a science group led by Qian Wu from the National Center for Atmospheric Research will arrive on station in early November to populate the darkroom with equipment.

We are looking forward to a busy port call of the Gould in early November that will serve as our hazardous material run for waste that requires special handling and disposition. The visit will also include a few brief science events and some station personnel turnover.

We are also crossing our fingers and looking forward to better weather.

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Summer crew arrives at Palmer Station

Summer is now in full swing at Palmer Station . Just a few weeks ago the research vessel Laurence M. Gould left the station with most of the winter-over crew, leaving behind most of the summer crew who will spend up to eight months here.  

The LMG also brought fresh food, supplies, and the station’s generator fuel for the upcoming summer season of science.

Most of the incoming crew worked the previous summer season, so turnover of duties went off without a hitch. Everyone came together to offload all the cargo from the ship, adapting to their jobs like they had never left station.

Transferring fuel to Palmer from the LMG involves just about everyone working together to set up, monitor, and take down all the equipment needed. It’s mostly an all-day affair.

Before fueling can begin, steps must be taken to ensure the containment of any potential spills, either from the LMG or at Palmer. A containment boom is put into place around the ship, along with absorbent rolls placed on deck to stop the spread of any spills.

On the station side of the operation, all snow is removed from around the fuel line, which is monitored during fueling. On the fuel line from the LMG there are several clamps in place ready to seal off the line in the event of a puncture.

Thanks to all the hard work and preparation put into station fueling, there were no spills and the transfer was very successful.

Before the LMG could depart, the station emergency teams needed to turn over duties from the winter to the summer crew. The various emergency teams on station include Glacier Search and Rescue, Ocean Search and Rescue, and Trauma and Fire. Of all these groups, the fire team had the most intensive turnover during the port call, including a fire drill after the winter crew handed over their gear.

After a short trip to make conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) measurements of the water column, the ship made its way north back to Punta Arenas, Chile. Just after untying the LMG, station personal jumped off of the Palmer pier into the frigid water in the polar tradition of farewell, wishing their co-workers and friends a safe trip north.

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Wildlife returns to Palmer station as summer thaw begins

The winter at Palmer Station is nearing its end. In just a few weeks the research vessel Laurence M Gould will arrive carrying about half of the incoming summer crew.

Over the past month the sea ice has come and gone a few times. Most of what continues to accumulate in the waters around Palmer doesn’t add up to more then rounded pancake ice. Some icebergs have been observed off to the west, but they mostly continue to stay clear of the immediate area.

The coming and going of the sea ice has made for increased boating opportunities around the station for search and rescue training, as well as recreation. Soon most of the nearby islands around the station will be off-limits due to the return of the wildlife and seabird breeding.

The critter count around station continues to increase each day, with more seal sightings, along with the return of some penguins and other birds.

Several small groups of 20 or so gentoo and Adélie penguins have been spotted on local islands. Several groups of gentoo penguins have also been encountered while out boating. This gives those lucky enough to be there a good view of how quickly the penguins move as they porpoise through the water.

The number of leopard seal sightings is also on the rise, some as close as the station’s seawater intake pump house. Most are seen in the water fishing or catching some sleep on an ice floe.

Social activities on station continue with concerts, art shows, and themed nights in the station lounge area. One of the biggest events in August was a four-band concert. The music ranged from fun covers of punk songs to acoustic Metallica songs to a mandolin cover of “Spiderman” by the Ramones.

The station art show consisted mostly of photos taken by the station personnel, but there were also some woodwork and mechanical creations. Pictures ranged from cities to seals to tropical islands. Also on display were the “not quite perpetual motion machine” and a hand-crafted sushi tray.

In just a few weeks, the winter season will be coming to an end at Palmer. There will be freshies (fresh vegetables and fruits) once again, the station will be fueled, and there will also be fresh faces.

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Wildlife returns to Palmer station as summer thaw begins

The winter at Palmer Station is nearing its end. In just a few weeks the research vessel Laurence M Gould will arrive carrying about half of the incoming summer crew.

Over the past month the sea ice has come and gone a few times. Most of what continues to accumulate in the waters around Palmer doesn’t add up to more then rounded pancake ice. Some icebergs have been observed off to the west, but they mostly continue to stay clear of the immediate area.

The coming and going of the sea ice has made for increased boating opportunities around the station for search and rescue training, as well as recreation. Soon most of the nearby islands around the station will be off-limits due to the return of the wildlife and seabird breeding.

The critter count around station continues to increase each day, with more seal sightings, along with the return of some penguins and other birds.

Several small groups of 20 or so gentoo and Adélie penguins have been spotted on local islands. Several groups of gentoo penguins have also been encountered while out boating. This gives those lucky enough to be there a good view of how quickly the penguins move as they porpoise through the water.

The number of leopard seal sightings is also on the rise, some as close as the station’s seawater intake pump house. Most are seen in the water fishing or catching some sleep on an ice floe.

Social activities on station continue with concerts, art shows, and themed nights in the station lounge area. One of the biggest events in August was a four-band concert. The music ranged from fun covers of punk songs to acoustic Metallica songs to a mandolin cover of “Spiderman” by the Ramones.

The station art show consisted mostly of photos taken by the station personnel, but there were also some woodwork and mechanical creations. Pictures ranged from cities to seals to tropical islands. Also on display were the “not quite perpetual motion machine” and a hand-crafted sushi tray.

In just a few weeks, the winter season will be coming to an end at Palmer. There will be freshies (fresh vegetables and fruits) once again, the station will be fueled, and there will also be fresh faces.

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July storms pile up the snow at Palmer Station

For a month in the middle of winter at Palmer Station , July had its fair share of events.

One of the biggest events was the Fourth of July celebration, which included a barbecue in the station bar.

Hamburgers, pasta salad, bratwursts, hotdogs and their vegetarian alternatives made for a meal as standard as any Independence Day celebration stateside, even if there was not a single firework in the sky to go with it. Even without the fireworks, the music-filled, decorated venue made for a great party.   

July also brought with it the first sightings of polar stratospheric clouds of the winter.

The clouds, also called nacreous clouds, form when the temperature in the polar stratosphere drops below minus 78 degrees Celsius at altitudes between 15,000 and 25,000 meters.

Due to the high altitude of the clouds, they tend to receive and reflect sunlight from below the horizon for several hours before sunrise and several hours after sunset. This results in brightly colored clouds lighting up the dark sky while the sun is nowhere to be seen.

Construction for the installation of an interferometer has begun in TerraLab, a triangular science building home to about a dozen ongoing geophysical experiments.

In order to install the interferometer, a new room had to be built and a cut made in the roof. The room will be constructed during the winter, with the roofing hole and interferometer installations to follow this summer.

Scientists use the interferometer to study airglow in the Earth’s atmosphere. Airglow prevents even the best ground-based observatories from observing the much fainter objects that a space-based observatory like the Hubble Space Telescope can see at visible wavelengths.

About mid-July, sea ice started to form in the Palmer area, which makes boating to local islands impossible. This makes the glacier behind station the main area for outdoor recreational activities.

The snow on the glacier finally accumulated enough to make skiing and other winter sports more viable than during previous months this year. After a snowstorm near the end of July, the snow measured 139 inches.

The heavy snowfall, combined with high winds, left many snowdrifts around station, some taller than most of the station’s personnel. Some areas are almost impossible to clear out. As soon as the snow is shoveled away, the wind drives it back, almost as deep as it was before. This can make travel between buildings difficult by clogging walkways and keeping doors from opening.

During snow dumps like these, the station winter-overs can find themselves shoveling and moving snow almost as much —or more so — than doing their regular jobs. But keeping the station clear of snow is part of the teamwork that makes working at Palmer special.

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July storms pile up the snow at Palmer Station

For a month in the middle of winter at Palmer Station , July had its fair share of events.

One of the biggest events was the Fourth of July celebration, which included a barbecue in the station bar.

Hamburgers, pasta salad, bratwursts, hotdogs and their vegetarian alternatives made for a meal as standard as any Independence Day celebration stateside, even if there was not a single firework in the sky to go with it. Even without the fireworks, the music-filled, decorated venue made for a great party.   

July also brought with it the first sightings of polar stratospheric clouds of the winter.

The clouds, also called nacreous clouds, form when the temperature in the polar stratosphere drops below minus 78 degrees Celsius at altitudes between 15,000 and 25,000 meters.

Due to the high altitude of the clouds, they tend to receive and reflect sunlight from below the horizon for several hours before sunrise and several hours after sunset. This results in brightly colored clouds lighting up the dark sky while the sun is nowhere to be seen.

Construction for the installation of an interferometer has begun in TerraLab, a triangular science building home to about a dozen ongoing geophysical experiments.

In order to install the interferometer, a new room had to be built and a cut made in the roof. The room will be constructed during the winter, with the roofing hole and interferometer installations to follow this summer.

Scientists use the interferometer to study airglow in the Earth’s atmosphere. Airglow prevents even the best ground-based observatories from observing the much fainter objects that a space-based observatory like the Hubble Space Telescope can see at visible wavelengths.

About mid-July, sea ice started to form in the Palmer area, which makes boating to local islands impossible. This makes the glacier behind station the main area for outdoor recreational activities.

The snow on the glacier finally accumulated enough to make skiing and other winter sports more viable than during previous months this year. After a snowstorm near the end of July, the snow measured 139 inches.

The heavy snowfall, combined with high winds, left many snowdrifts around station, some taller than most of the station’s personnel. Some areas are almost impossible to clear out. As soon as the snow is shoveled away, the wind drives it back, almost as deep as it was before. This can make travel between buildings difficult by clogging walkways and keeping doors from opening.

During snow dumps like these, the station winter-overs can find themselves shoveling and moving snow almost as much —or more so — than doing their regular jobs. But keeping the station clear of snow is part of the teamwork that makes working at Palmer special.

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Palmer residents dig into midwinter feast

June brought the biggest social event of the season to Palmer Station — the midwinter celebration.

June 21 marks the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year in Antarctica. Traditionally, since the days of the early explorers, midwinter is one of the high holidays on the Ice.

The main highlight is the midwinter feast. At Palmer, station chef Keith Reimink prepared such dishes such as bacon-wrapped scallops, tossed green salad, creamy pumpkin soup, stuffed-beef tenderloin and crab legs, with a baked apple dumpling dessert.

The whole celebration was really a station-wide effort. Some people helped in the preparation of the food, others in setting up decorations. It really was enjoyed by the 18 of us wintering here at Palmer.

One person on the winter crew includes a science grantee, a member of Bill Detrich’s team that is studying icefish. His work involves creating hybrid embryos from which the group hopes to study and learn more about the icefish, a critter with unique characteristics for living in the frigid Antarctic waters.

Even though the embryos won’t get a chance to hatch on station, Detrich’s crew still hopes to learn more about the fish by observing the growth and multiplication of cells over the coming months.

Station personnel have also been busy training on one of several emergency-response teams.

Because of the small population at Palmer, most personnel are on multiple emergency teams. At Palmer, like any other remote location, we are our own first-responders, so we really need to be able to help ourselves.

That’s especially true for the trauma team, with just one doctor on station. In an emergency, there is no way that just one person could do it all, so there are a few people being trained to assist in medical procedures. The training so far has included basic patient assessment in the field, back-boarding, and even how to start an IV.

In addition, there are also glacier search and rescue, ocean search and rescue, and fire teams. Each group of volunteers meets at least once a month to hone their current skills, and to learn and practice new ones.

The weather at Palmer has been varied over the past month — from days with winds gusting over 60 knots with blowing snow to days without a cloud in sight and very negligible wind.

Small icebergs have been entering the Palmer area and grounding themselves on the shallow seafloor, only to disappear after particularly windy days. Some of the bergs look as if they could almost become additional islands themselves because they hang out in the area so long.

Aside from the big bergs, a few critters have been spotted near the station, though most of the wildlife has left for the winter. The station has been visited by a few penguins, fur seals and even a Weddell seal.

The winter season is well underway. Projects continue forward, teams continue to train, and the snow continues to blow in the wind — reminding us that, yes, this is really winter.

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Stormy weather hits Palmer as winter settles in

The winter season has finally kicked in here at Palmer Station  with the departure of the research vessel Laurence M. Gould and the last science groups on June 4. After weeks of high winds, the morning of departure was very calm. This made it easy for the line handlers untying the ship.

With the departure of the Gould, station population is now down to 18, including one remaining member of Bill Detrich’s science team. The grantee winter-over will observe icefish embryos during their slow gestation period as part of a study of these unique fish that live in subfreezing temperatures.

Also departing on the Gould was the science group led on station by Charles Chuck Amsler and Jim McClintock . While on station, the group worked on macroalgae and the invertebrates located in the shallow waters around Palmer. [See related article: Underwater Forests of Antarctica.]

As science wrapped up for the long summer season at Palmer Station, support personnel attended to various projects.

During the last month, the toilets were switched over from saltwater to freshwater, and some monitoring took place on the waste system. This information will be used to determine the size of any future wastewater treatment here at Palmer.

During one particularly nasty storm at Palmer, wind ripped the pier bumpers from their attachment points. One of the jumbo bumpers had floated down Hero Inlet while a single, tangled chain held the other bumper from blowing away. Station personnel and the science divers made repairs and returned the bumpers to their place at the pier, allowing the Gould to return from its last scientific fishing trip of the year.

The research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer  also made another short visit to station during the first week of June to drop off a passenger to return north on the Gould to Punta Arenas, Chile. The visit was short-lived due to high winds and the need to use a Zodiac boat to shuttle the person from the station to the ship.

The last night that the Gould was in port, station personnel hosted an open mic night. There were several musical performances by station personnel, ranging from blue grass to piano covers of the Super Mario Bros. theme song. Others recited poetry, and one person demonstrated yodeling.

With the Gould gone until September, Palmer Station is now in the very skilled and capable hands of the winter crew.

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Palmer Station swaps out crews, participates in Earth Day

Palmer Station personnel have been busy with seasonal turnover activities between the summer and winter support crews for the past few weeks. The science groups at station and working on the vessels around the Antarctic Peninsula have also been working hard the last month.

The majority of the winter-overs arrived at station on April 16 aboard the ARSV Laurence M. Gould . The cruise down from Punta Arenas, Chile, was a little longer than the normal four-day crossing. That was to accommodate research led by Bill Detrich , a professor of biochemistry and marine biology at Northeastern University in Boston, whose fieldwork involves fishing for various “icefish” needed for the research. [See previous article: The bloodless icefishes.]

Station turnover took place over a short period of about eight days. In that time, the Gould offloaded about 60,000 gallons of fuel for the station generators, along with the main winter-food order. Also, during this time, the summer crew handed over all of the station emergency team duties to the winter-overs.

Shortly after the fire teams turned over, the winter crew got its first test beyond the normal training drill with a real emergency at the power plant. Generator problems forced the power plant mechanics to switch power to the emergency generator. While work was under way to fix the main generators, someone spotted smoke at the emergency power plant.

But thanks to the quick action of the first responders and fire teams, the fire didn’t get the chance to spread past the top of the engine block and caused minimal damage. Shortly after the fire, the mechanics fixed one of the generators at the main power plant, with power being lost to the station for only a short time.

During this time, with the Gould docked at the pier, the U.S. Antarctic Program’s other research vessel, the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer , paid a visit to station. While the station maintenance specialist went aboard to troubleshoot some refrigeration issue with the freezer holding ice cores from a previous science expedition, a few groups from station toured the Palmer. Later that night, the Palmer Station bar and lounge was host to a party that included crews from the station and both vessels.

Still on station for the next month is a group of science divers from University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of South Florida. [See project blog: UAB in Antarctica .] For Earth Day, the divers, with the help of the winter station personal, cleaned up garbage from the base of the Palmer Station pier.

Some of the trash recoved included a AA battery, an old fishing trap, and a few pieces of metal. Overall, the clean-up was deemed a success. The divers noted that the ocean floor at the base of the pier has improved with each Earth Day dive, as they find less rubbish every year.

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Palmer Station prepares for transition into winter

Seasons are changing at Palmer Station . Instead of the constant daylight of mid-summer, the day is now more than half-dark, with seven additional minutes of light disappearing every day.

Snow is common again, as temperatures are back below freezing, so we’ve placed flags to denote the corners of building and stairs that will be buried under the winter snowpack. Visiting tourist cruise ships are a thing of the past, as are sailboats and chartered yachts. The neighborhood seems very quiet without so much traffic around.

The final visitor of the summer season was a tall ship, a unique visit in the station personnel’s collective memory. The barque Europa visited for an evening, sitting elegantly in the harbor with its three masts and elaborate rigging. Most of us toured the ship and stayed for dinner, while the ship’s passengers did the same at Palmer. Stories of sails and high seas told in the cramped quarters aboard the Europa were a good reminder of what Antarctic adventure was like less than a century ago.

Our newest science group, with co-principal investigators Chuck Amsler and Jim McClintock and Bill Baker , continue to make several scuba dives a day collecting species and observing the underwater ecosystem around Palmer. Their labs are always a frenzy of activity with several experiments happening simultaneously.

Both of the U.S. Antarctic Program’s research vessels visited station during March. The ARSV Laurence M. Gould facilitated two dive trips for Amsler’s group much farther from station than they usually can go. It also deployed a new sediment trap for the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) program. The RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer  visited for an afternoon to exchange cargo, while some of their scientists visited station. It’s the first time both ships have been together at Palmer in several years.

When the Gould departed for its return across the Drake Passage to Punta Arenas, Chile, it took with it the last remaining members of the three LTER science groups. The birders, under principal investigator Bill Fraser , finished their season by banding the giant petrel chicks nesting on nearby islands. Oscar Schofield’s phytoplankton group and Hugh Ducklow’s microbes team sampled seawater until the last minute before packing their gear and cleaning their lab space. All three groups will return in October for another season.

Roberta Marinelli, the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems program manager for the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs , was on station for two weeks in March. Marinelli is responsible for funding of biological science projects in Antarctica, and she was excited to finally have the opportunity to visit Palmer in person.

As a farewell celebration for the first wave of departing summer crew, we held a second Palmer Open Mic Night of the season. A wide variety of talent took to the stage for more than three hours of entertainment. Spoken performances included readings of short stories and poems, including an original two-act, radio-style crime drama based around station-specific puns.

Musical acts included combinations of the accordion, drums, guitar, mandolin, piano and banjo. The evening finished with a set from the Palmer Band, with members of the community and the Gould sitting in for almost every song.

Three antenna riggers were also at Palmer in March, updating and fixing the rigging on nearly every antenna around station. They also installed the new Palmer webcam on a radio tower high over station. Not that many years ago, almost all communication off continent involved a ham-radio patch, and now Palmer will be visible to anyone with an Internet connection.

New in the neighborhood for the last few weeks has been an iceberg grounded near the station. It’s about the size of a city block, with sheer sides and a smooth top. The massive ice somehow perfectly catches the morning light, disappears into an afternoon snow squall, or has the full moon centered above it at night.

So for now, the snow continues to fall and the days shorten. Most of the station’s remaining summer crew will leave in April when a fresh group comes in for the winter months. Projects are wrapping up, and everyone is dreaming of warmer locations.

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Days grow shorter but summer lingers at Palmer Station

February has been a busy month around Palmer Station as summer continues and new science groups have arrived.

Co-principal investigators (co-PI) Chuck Amsler and Jim McClintock , both from the University of Alabama at Burmingham , are on station studying the chemical ecology of shallow-water macroalgae and invertebrates. In the past, their studies have focused on the chemical defenses used by these slow-moving, or even stationary, species to ward off larger, grazing animals such as amphipods and sea stars. Now, they’re looking at how some of these grazing species affect the structure of the algal community, among other goals.

The seven members of the group split their time between the lab and dive sites around Palmer collecting specimens to study. McClintock, Amsler, his wife Maggie Amsler and Bill Baker , another co-PI arriving in April, have been researching in Antarctica on various National Science Foundation grants since the early 1980s. [Follow their work from Palmer Station at their Web site  with up-to-date reports.]

A different group of divers departed station the middle of February. Underwater photographer Norbert Wu was here for about six weeks with several assistants documenting local animal life as part of a multi-year NSF grant.

They eagerly collected both video footage and still photography of marine creatures, such as humpback whales, leopard seals, krill and a wide variety of fish. Some small specimens were brought back from the depths to an aquarium for detailed photography and viewing by the station population.

The month began with the return of the 17th annual Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) cruise aboard the ARSV Laurence M. Gould . Though several groups ran into challenges with equipment, all reported success collecting data and samples from various “stations” along a 700-kilometer-long grid in the ocean.

Working off the ship, two members of Bill Fraser’s seabird research team spent a week studying a massive Adélie penguin population on Avian Island south of Palmer Station. And for a second year, the “birders” landed on ice-choked Charcot Island, even farther to the south, to visit its cliff-side rookery. After just one final night tied up at the Palmer pier to pack and organize, the PAL LTER scientists headed back north to Punta Arenas to conclude this year’s science cruise.

The most surprising February visitors arrived in an unusual way for Palmer Station. Five scientists from the LARISSA (LARsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica)  project arrived by plane from the British Rothera Station . Landing a Twin Otter aircraft on the glacier behind station usually happens only during medical emergencies, so it was good practice for planning the skiway and setting up flags. The operation took a group of people a day to prepare.

After the British plane dropped off the glaciologists, the Gould shuttled them from Palmer Station to the awaiting RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer , which was in the area in support of the LARISSA project. The Gould is on standby for about six weeks at Palmer Station.

A small ship from the Chilean Navy visited Palmer for a day in the midst of its bathymetric work in the area to map the seafloor. Half of the 50-person crew visited station and stayed for dinner, while a group from Palmer later visited the ship. The ship was familiar because it’s often tied up near the U.S. Antarctic Research Program’s research vessels on the pier in Punta Arenas, Chile.

Tourist ships continued to visit Palmer, including the MY Hanse Explorer, which brought Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his family to the research base, where he had lunch with station personnel.

The weather in February hit wide extremes, with days of strong wind and rain balanced by others of sunshine and calm. One period of wind stranded thousands of krill in tide pools, providing an easy meal for seals and birds. High numbers of krill have also attracted a number of feeding humpback whales to the area.

While South Pole and McMurdo  stations transition into their winter seasons, the summer field season continues here with an upcoming fishing cruise and more new science groups. Most summer personal won’t leave station until the end of April. Until then, it may be getting dark again during nighttime hours, but the summer continues at full speed.

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Palmer Station supports big science on small critters

The animal density around Palmer Station seems remarkably high in these mid-summer months. Penguins are constantly visiting the shoreline near station, whales are visible from the breakfast table, and seals stretch out on any piece of floating ice that is big enough to support their weight.

But for the last month there has been a group researching the opposite of this megafauna so often associated with Antarctica. Despite what one would expect, the largest land creature on the continent is a tiny, wingless midge named the Belgica antarctica that ekes out its existence on islands around the Antarctic Peninsula.

The bug has amazing capabilities, such as the ability to lose up to 70 percent of its usual mass to survive the winter season by avoiding the damage caused by freezing. They exist as larvae for two years before briefly maturing into adults during a 10- to 14-day window to reproduce.

Rick Lee from Miami University in Ohio and David Denlinger from The Ohio State University are back at Palmer Station after a two-year hiatus to further study this amazing animal. The group spent several weeks on station collecting specimens on the islands surrounding Palmer as part of the first year of their four-year grant. [See related story: Not much bugs Belgica.]

Substantially larger than Belgica, but still quite small, krill are one of the key species in the Antarctic food web. Jonathan Cohen from Eckerd College is at Palmer for a month studying the visual acuity of these critters.

He conducts experiments to determine what colors of the spectrum they see best to understand how they find food while avoiding predators, among other behaviors. Cohen is often out in an inflatable Zodiac boat, dragging a net in search of the elusive bigeye krill (Thysanoessa macrura), one of the three types of krill in Antarctic waters, and the least studied.

During the month of January, scientists on the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research program conducted oceanic research aboard the ARSV Laurence M. Gould . They visited several islands and a number of sites along the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. They returned to Palmer in early February after traveling about 700 kilometers south to Charcot Island near the bottom of the Antarctic Peninsula. They also stopped en route to Avian Island, home to more than 50,000 breeding pairs of Adélie penguins.

Life on station has also been eventful in January. Palmer’s population peaked at its maxim of 45 people, meaning that the whole group hardly fits together in one room. It’s necessary to show up early and fight for a seat at the weekly science lectures. Recent lecture topics have included mapping Antarctic penguin nesting locations from space, and research involving monk seals and nesting seabirds in the distant atolls of Hawaii. On New Year's Eve, our full population crowded into the lounge for a dance party with live music provided by the station's volunteer band.

Well-known underwater photographer Norbert Wu   has been here working in the second year of his International Polar Year (IPY) grant, documenting the marine ecosystem around Palmer. His four-member team darts between dive sites, photographing and videoing the creatures in the area. In addition, three other divers currently on station have a less scenic job. For up to four hours at a time, they are underwater welding steel patches to the Palmer pier in an effort to extend its useable life. [See related story: Pier pressure.]

A wide variety of ships visited throughout the month. Several small sailing yachts spent the night tied up in the harbor and enjoyed an opportunity to tour the station. The RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer has visited several times as part of a two-month research cruise of the Larsen B embayment. [See related stories: Change of plans and LARISSA.]

Larger cruise ships stop by about once a week with loads of curious passengers. The National Geographic Explorer even visited with Buzz Aldrin, who eagerly compared life at a small Antarctic research station with going to the moon and his dreams of future human trips to Mars.

One of the rare perks of working at Palmer is that a guest astronaut occasionally trumps the usual visits by penguins and whales.

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Ship traffic increases at Palmer Station as summer work peaks

The ARSV Laurence M. Gould visited Palmer Station twice in December, with three science groups on board from the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Earth Sciences Program . Most grantees who work around the Palmer Station region study marine biology, so these groups were an interesting change from the norm.

Ross MacPhee , a curator of mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History , and his crew spent their time searching for fossils to prove the possibility that until 40 million years ago West Antarctica connected with southernmost South America by a land bridge, offering an overland highway for mammals to migrate.

David Barbeau from the University of South Carolina is looking at the sedimentary record in the Antarctic Peninsula to better understand the evolution of the geology in the area.

Finally, Joseph Kirschvink  of the California Institute of Technology and Peter Ward with the University of Washington in Seattle are interested in the mass extinction that knocked out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, believing that the climate might have already been changing before a meteorite famously delivered the knockout punch.

Ice largely prevented the Gould from gaining access to islands, and late season snow cover proved disruptive to investigating the geology onshore, but all three teams reported successes with their research time.

On station, the fellowship of visiting journalists finished their three-week experience through hands-on scientific research. Scott Canon, Jason Orfanon and Angela Posada-Swafford took every opportunity to join in the routines of the science community, helping with all tasks from bird counts to water sampling and lab work.

On their final night, the three presented their own science lecture explaining the successes and learning moments achieved over the course of their stay. Overall, they had an increased respect and understanding for the complexity of the environmental research happening at Palmer and the benefit of long-term data sets.

The team for Oscar Schofield , a principal investigator on the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research program, was active in getting its ocean-swimming glider prepared for a science cruise on the Gould, which left Jan. 5.

They brought three remote-operated underwater gliders with them this season that have all “flown” successfully while gathering good data about ocean properties. The deep glider even discovered an underwater trench was far deeper than expected while in its automated up-and-down routine. A second glider was deployed at the beginning of the season’s first phytoplankton bloom, documenting the change in the marine environment. One glider will also deploy during the LTER cruise south of Palmer Station.

Bill Fraser’s “birders” group announced the first Adélie penguin chicks on nearby Humble Island in the middle of December, followed soon thereafter by chicks on Torgersen Island. The group will also be active on the LTER cruise looking mainly at several large penguin nesting locations.

As we enter the height of summer, cruise ship visitors are more common, bringing people to Palmer from around the globe. They enjoy tours that include an introduction to the science performed here and a sampling of life at an Antarctic research station.

One visiting group, part of an Abercrombie & Kent trip organized by longtime Antarctic researcher Jim McClintock, donated a new irradiance meter to the LTER program. It measures the amount of light present for a specific period of time so that researchers can adjust their data for light variations. This radiometer was presented in a ceremony to Alex Kahl, the expedition leader for the phytoplankton group using the gliders out of Rutgers University .

Around Palmer, the snow pack rapidly vanished in December, mostly thanks to above-freezing temperatures and a steady wind. A few days of rain helped — an un-Antarctic seeming type of weather. The skies cleared for the holidays, providing good boating and hiking opportunities before a Christmas feast and festive gift exchange.

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