Sea ice continues to stymie researchers at Palmer Station

Sea ice along the southern Antarctic Peninsula continues to be problematic to science efforts at Palmer Station , as it has for months now.

A wide band of ice beginning at the southern end of Anvers Island extends all the way down to the Bellingshausen Sea. Because Palmer Station is on the northern tip of the band, wind and current conditions have strongly governed the state of sea ice around station. Pack ice has varied in density throughout the month of November, often too thick for boating operations. Northeasterly winds seem to offer the only reprieve.

The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)  group managed to launch one of its autonomous underwater gliders this month. So far, it has traveled about 100 miles to the northwest of Palmer Station, heading toward the north end of the LTER sampling grid before pulling a u-turn in the direction of Adelaide Island and the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Station .

The Palmer Station research associate began collecting GPS ground control points for the Polar Geospatial Center (PGC) , under direction from principal investigator Paul Morin at the University of Minnesota . These locations will serve to ground truth aerial photography and help provide the basis for a detailed and accurate map of the Palmer Station area. The PGC will also collect control points along the peninsula in the upcoming cruise on board the research vessel Laurence M. Gould .

Temperatures are rising along the peninsula as we enter the austral summer, and much of the winter snow accumulation is now gone. The penguins have laid eggs, and other local birds are nesting. A week-long break in the wind in mid-November provided excellent conditions to get out and see the wildlife, as well as collect scientific data, before the relentless sea ice crept back into the area, seemingly of its own accord.

The ice didn’t stop the National Geographic Explorer from being the first tourist cruise ship to visit station this season. On Thanksgiving Day, more than 100 passengers were given a tour of station while Explorer Zodiac drivers steered ever-widening circles in Arthur Harbor to maintain a broken but reasonable path of open water back to the ship.

The yacht Spirit of Sydney visited shortly after, carrying Jørgen Amundsen, a descendant of Roald Amundsen. As part of the centennial celebration of Roald Amundsen’s arrival at the South Pole on Dec. 14, 1911, Jørgen Amundsen will make an attempt to summit an unclimbed and unnamed peak along the Antarctic Peninsula on the same day.

Jørgen Amundsen said he considered visiting the South Pole on this historic date, but felt that the spirit of adventure, discovery and accomplishment would be better memorialized by breaking new ground, rather than revisiting a location that is now well-established and much more easily attainable. 

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Summer ice packs in Palmer Station to extent not seen in a decade

Palmer Station caught an earlier-than-normal case of science this year, with the unusual arrival of a microbiology group in August. But October brought the usual addition of scientists with the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. I’d love to say that this ramped operations up to full speed, but the weather had other plans (also usual).

For the first time in 10 years, summer residents witnessed fast ice — sea ice fixed to the shore — with enough stability for foot travel. In fact, it’s been more than a few years since winter personnel have seen this occur.

During September and the first half of October, scientists walked out to one of their sampling sites and dropped nets through a hole in the ice cut by chainsaw to collect phytoplankton for a project studying how the single-celled plants evolve through the seasons. [See related article — Turned on and off: Scientists study seasonal gene expression in phytoplankton.]

In mid-October, the ice finally destabilized and blew out with a storm. Since then, Palmer has alternated between periods of strong northerly winds, precluding boating, and thick pack ice from horizon to horizon, also precluding boating.

So, in lieu of field-station sampling, Palmer scientists have had to find creative ways to fill their sample bottles. The microbial arm of LTER has been using seawater that pumps through the aquarium. The zoological team has dropped nets over the side of the pier.

The phytoplankton component of LTER brought four autonomous underwater vehicles with them this year, and they have one more on the way. One of these gliders is scheduled to “fly” all the way from Palmer to the British Antarctic Survey’s Rothera Station , about 350 miles to the south, as the skua flies, but the glider will probably cover more than 500 miles.

Last year, a glider made part of this trip and was retrieved by the research vessel Laurence M. Gould . For the full journey to Rothera, a different type of battery has been installed to provide the two months of longevity required.

The LMG pushed her way through the pack ice this month for a multi-tasked cruise. Before reaching Palmer Station, she stopped at King George Island to open a field camp and at Duthiers Point, the entrance to Andvord Bay, to perform repairs to a GPS station. Once at Palmer Station, the LMG began loading tanks of waxy fuel to be transported to Punta Arenas for storage.

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Sea ice clears out as summer season gets under way

The sea ice, which surrounded Palmer Station for most of July and August, cleared out after a particularly windy storm in September and allowed a science group led by Deneb Karentz with the University of San Francisco and Joe Grzymski at Desert Research Institute  to get on the water and begin their Zodiac-based sampling of phytoplankton.

Although the sea ice was no longer visible from station, there was enough of it surrounding the peninsula to delay the arrival of the research vessel Laurence M. Gould by a day. The Gould arrived full of personnel, food and cargo for a long port call to start the summer season.

Winter and summer crewmembers worked together to offload fresh and frozen food. Several projects were planned for the port call, including the semiannual station refuel. Transferring fuel to Palmer Station from the ship is a station-wide project with many personnel involved in setting up, monitoring, and taking down the needed equipment.   

Many of the incoming summer personnel are returning crewmembers, picking up where they left off in March. Station positions and emergency teams turned over duties from the winter to the summer crew as well. The Gould left in late September, taking away half of the winter crew and leaving behind 35 station members, either completing their winter season, continuing their research, or beginning their 2011-12 summer at Palmer Station.

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First researchers of 2011-12 season arrive at Palmer Station

Winter was cut short early at Palmer Station in August by the arrival of the research vessel Lawrence M. Gould grinding its way through sea ice into Arthur Harbor. Arriving slightly later than expected due to the thick sea ice, it was able to make the journey with no major incidents.

The arrival of the ship brought the station’s population up to 25 from 15. A science group led by Deneb Karentz with the University of San Francisco and Joe Grzymski at Desert Research Institute are studying how Antarctic phytoplankton in the ocean function as polar winter turns to spring. These mostly microscopic, photosynthetic organisms form the foundation of the polar food web.

While the team has faced some challenges and limitations due to the presence of sea ice, the researchers have developed interesting and unique solutions to the problems.

Palmer has been locked in sea ice almost the entire month, except for one very windy day that briefly pushed the ice out. A single Zodiac was able to get in the water for a few hours before being forced back to station, as the ice solidified once again.

While the ice appears thick, littered with bergy bits, or chunks of glacier ice, it is not stable enough to be traveled over by foot. The ice may be a hindrance to both science and recreation, but it has provided some fantastic photographic opportunities.   

Recreation has been limited to land-based activities throughout the month, but that has not slowed most people down. Several storms deposited enough snow on the glacier to allow skiing and snowboarding, and some station residents took advantage of the rare opportunity for fresh powder in Antarctica. Most activities last month were based indoors, with movie nights, card games and hobby projects galore.  

With the return of the Gould with part of the summer crew, winter at Palmer is coming to an end. Guidebooks are appearing on tables around station, and personnel surf the Internet during off-hours to search for exotic locales for upcoming vacations.

Most residents are ready to undertake a new adventure, but there is still a feeling of fondness for this small, comfortable community. Many residents will return again next year, while for others it may be their last season on the Ice. Many friendships will be long distance for years to come, and some will begin to fade.

Winter at Palmer is a unique experience, and the memories will last forever. As new community members come in, and others begin to leave, many activities on station will remain the same. Research will continue, as will normal station operations. Names and faces may rotate, but station requirements and challenges will never falter. As the weather begins to warm, new challenges and adventures await.

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Brief winter isolation at Palmer ends with arrival of new science teams

There’s something about the darkness of mid-winter that inspires a celebration.

Millennia ago, in Europe, the ancients celebrated the winter solstice by bringing evergreen branches into their homes as reminders of the lively verdancy of summer, and they feasted. By the latter days of the Roman Empire, this annual festivity evolved into Christmas.

When Capt. Roald Amundsen and Capt. Robert Scott wintered at the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf a century ago in preparation for their historic treks to the South Pole, they and their respective teams celebrated the winter solstice, on June 22, 1911, each with an elaborate dinner and revelry. In doing so, they established a tradition in Antarctica that continues to this day.

On June 21, 2011, the sun did not appear over most of Antarctica. But it did shine over Anvers Island for less than four hours, the shortest day of the year. The temperature at Palmer Station ranged from a mild 23 to 29 degrees Fahrenheit. The 15 of us at Palmer Station were adjusting very well to the darkness and isolation after the scientists had all left for home two weeks earlier. We exchanged electronic mid-winter greetings with each of the other 41 Antarctic research stations.

That evening we sat down to a splendid dinner reminiscent of the first mid-winter celebrations 100 years earlier, as described in the memoirs of the Scott and Amundsen expeditions. This connection with the great explorers — and the upcoming centennial of their attainment of the South Pole — infused the event with the aura of a solemn occasion.

And like Antarctica’s first inhabitants, we are spending these dark but cheerful days preparing for activities to come when winter departs. Various systems in the station’s infrastructure are undergoing repair or improvement, including the generator exhaust stacks, some of the electrical wiring, the galley ceiling and the Zodiac pontoons and their instrument and equipment boxes.

The laboratories and aquarium are being prepared for the return of the scientists, the first of whom arrive with the research vessel Laurence M. Gould on Aug. 6. As much as we are enjoying the peacefulness and camaraderie of winter in Antarctica, we all look forward to the arrival of some additional faces as we prepare for a bustling, productive new season of scientific research at Palmer Station. We shall be ready!

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Palmer Station settles into winter multitasking

June started with a flurry of activity, as the science groups packed up to leave, beginning with several entertaining events for the crews of Palmer Station and the research vessel Laurence M. Gould .

A fun and oddly educational fish print party was held for cataloging icefish caught by one of our science parties for research, with homemade ice cream served as well. The farewell festivities concluded with an open mic night in the station lounge, and the audience was treated to musical performances by scientists, station personnel and Gould crewmembers.

The last few remaining summer personnel were coaxed onto the Gould, leaving behind 15 of us to keep the station operating over the winter. This is the first time since September 2009 that Palmer Station has been without an active science group on station; however, data collection continues year-round for other projects.

The winter staff celebrated the first day of isolation with a sushi dinner. Two weeks later, we were treated to an elegant Midwinter celebration dinner. Our chef prepared an exceptional meal including dishes such as bacon-wrapped scallops, roast pumpkin soup, Beef Wellington, crab legs, pumpkin ravioli and Baked Alaska for dessert.

Notable differences started to occur for the winter personnel in June. Sea ice moved into the harbor, and wildlife sightings were rare. The weather became more overcast, making our short days seem even briefer. The overcast weather has made us appreciate the rare clear conditions even more, with cameras ready for any spectacular dawns, dusks or stars.   

Another significant difference is the level of multitasking taking place on a daily basis. The station upkeep of cleaning and shoveling is more frequent for each station member, now that we are down to 15 people. All of us are involved with one or more safety teams. Folks are enthusiastically taking on new duties and helping out in unanticipated ways, such as performing station rounds and learning how to patch a Zodiac.  

June started with a flurry of activity and continued with flurries of snow. Now the team at Palmer will continue forward with our winter projects in our ever-brightening environment.

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Palmer Station scientists head home for the winter

As the month of May winds down at Palmer Station , the level of activity remains high, even though it’s officially winter.   

The research vessel Laurence M. Gould departed and returned to station a total of eight times during the course of the month. With most of the winter crew also serving as line-handlers during docking operations, and everyone trying to prepare and ship final northbound cargo, the boat has kept us very busy. The logistics crew has put in many long days, ensuring that cargo gets where it needs to go on time.

Scientists at station have also been busy, with four separate groups conducting research into the late part of the season. A team led by Kristin O’Brien from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Elizabeth (Lisa) Crockett at Ohio University  continued their research on a species of fish that live in the subfreezing waters of the Southern Ocean that surrounds Antarctica.

While the fishing process, and transporting of live fish has posed unique challenges, it has also provided the opportunity to see these rare and unique creatures up close.

The chemical ecology group — led by Chuck Amsler, Bill Baker and James McClintock — made more than 40 dives in May alone to collect specimens for their project to understand the connections between the marine forests of huge brown algae that are home to a variety of organisms.   

But the end of May meant the close of much of the research. The Gould departed station in the first week of June with the science grantees and will not return again until August, leaving Palmer with only 16 winter-overs.

Rescue teams have been very busy practicing. With such a small winter population, residents must be prepared for anything that may happen.  

Recreation opportunities have been limited this month, due to very short days and unpredictable weather, with 70-knot winds on a recent Sunday. But every opportunity available has been taken, with trips to nearby islands when wind speeds are below 25 knots, and trips up the glacier when they are not.  

Several people on station participated in The Ride of Silence , an annual bike ride held to raise bicycle awareness, and help everyone share the road. Ten Palmer riders pedaled silently, remembering accidents and close calls of their own. Although only stationary cycles were ridden, the spirit of the ride was strong .

As the winter weather sets in and temperatures continue to drop, creaks and groans become less common from the glacier behind the station. The thunderous calving events are even rarer. Cloud cover has created some spectacular sunrises and sunsets, providing amazing shades of pinks and oranges that can never be properly captured by a photograph. Rare breaks in the cloud cover have also provided some great stargazing. 

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Palmer Station plunges into winter season

April at Palmer Station came in with a splash — 21 splashes to be exact. That is a record for the number of people who participated in the tradition of plunging into the frigid water upon the departure of the research vessel Laurence M. Gould . This particular departure was a big one, with the transition from summer to winter, and the end of a fast-paced week packed with turnover tasking.

The first half of April barely slackened from the pace set in the first week. While the ship took away most of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research program scientists and other full-season researchers, other grantees involved in studying the marine ecosystem and Antarctica’s only permanent terrestrial animal, a flightless midge called Belgica antarctica, remained behind to continue their field work.

There was also a new science team in town — a group that became affectionately known as “the badgers.”

Named partly after the mascot of their home institution, the University of Wisconsin-Madison , and partly for their inclination to dig in the dirt, the team spent the month of April conducting a study of permafrost and climate change. Soil scientist James Bockheim is the principal investigator for the project.

Armed with drills, picks, and rucksacks, the group looked much like an Indiana Jones expedition as they set out from station to collect soil samples and set up remote instrumentation on many of the local islands. One of the many interesting aspects of their research is how the ripple effects of climate change play out in the Antarctic, as the glacier melt exposes land rather than sea, as it does in the Arctic.

Landscape changes of a much more rapid kind were also taking place in early April, as the antenna riggers once again altered the Palmer skyline. After days of up-and-down climbing, a 100-foot-tall relic of communication days gone by was dismantled and transported to station piece by piece in a Zodiac. The tower formerly held an HF antenna that was installed in 1972 for direct communication with other U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) stations.

Meanwhile, the station hosted a few special visitors. The first was a representative from the Point Sur, a 135-foot-long research vessel based in California, who was on station to learn and plan for possible USAP summer science cruises based from Palmer. The scientific community welcomed the opportunities that a smaller vessel could provide, and station staff took a keen interest in the novel possibility. In addition, a couple of representatives from the National Science Foundation gave Palmer a chance to highlight some of its capabilities and plan for future improvements.

On April 21, the Gould arrived at station carrying a research team led by Kristin O’Brien from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and about 100 live fish, which her group studies for the incredible physiology and biochemistry that allows these creatures to thrive in waters with temperatures near freezing.

But before the ship can dock after these fishing cruises, the water flow to the Gould’s on-board fish tanks must be shut down, making the task of transporting the icefish to the Palmer aquarium a race against time to keep the fish alive. Palmer’s logistics team proved up to the task by coordinating what O’Brien said was the smoothest offload she had ever seen.  

Recreation was in full stride for the new season. The first weekend of winter offered the perfect chance for new Palmer crewmembers to get to know each other with an a night of karaoke. Not only did folks let loose their voices, but also several surprise guests appeared in costumes that only a rummage through the skua bin could supply.

One weekend, the badgers led a geology walk for station members that highlighted the various land formations on the local islands. A rare afternoon of blue skies and calm winds was occasion for a full round of disc golf on the course in Palmer’s “backyard.”

Earth Day was commemorated at Palmer with two special events. The first was participation in the Nature Conservancy’s Picnic for the Planet, with a picnic on the water in a Zodiac, complete with red-checkered tablecloth and accordion accompaniment. The other was the traditional underwater daisy picking, where the science divers remove litter from the waters around the pier and volunteers help to haul up relics, ranging from old soda bottles to long-missing tools.

April started with a splash, and we expect the winter season will go along swimmingly.

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Emperor penguin makes rare appearance at Palmer Station 

Standing tall and surveying the landscape, he almost seemed to know how rare he was. Or, maybe, how lost. An emperor penguin took up residence at Palmer Station on the first Sunday of March, causing a flurry of unexpected excitement.

A steady stream of onlookers walked out to the station’s “backyard” for a close peek at the emperor, which stood out so distinctly from the smaller penguins regularly seen at Palmer. Some long-timers could scarcely recall if one had ever been spotted here before.

The beginning of March also brought rarities of a different kind of wildlife — one that lived about 70 million years ago. 

A paleontology team, led by Peter Ward and Joseph Kirschvink , discovered a monster ammonite fossil while searching the coastal waters of James Ross Island on their way back to Palmer Station from their Vega Island field camp. The three-foot-wide, 300-pound relic, shaped like a giant chambered nautilus, was recovered from the water by the research vessel Laurence M Gould . It could represent the largest specimen of its kind recovered from Antarctica.

Back near the Palmer Station waters, records were also being broken. A science dive team, led by Chuck Amsler, Bill Baker and Jim McClintock , had a run of good fortune by exceeding their all-time record of consecutive dive days with 22 straight days in the water. Collection after collection of macroalgae, sponges, and tunicates made their way to the aquarium and into wide-ranging experiments pushing the boundaries of chemical ecology. [See previous article: Underwater forests of Antarctica.]

The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research team and other science groups that had been on station for most of the summer season wound down their steady rhythm of weekly sampling, processing, and collecting data. Researchers wrapped up studies on everything from bacteria and phytoplankton to krill, insects, birds, and, for the first time at Palmer, viruses.

But March at Palmer wasn’t all left-brain. Two impressive artistic events brought a note of aesthetics and entertainment to station. The first was a visual art show with entries ranging from ice carvings and hand-made instruments to paintings, sculptures, and weavings.

The following weekend brought an intimate Open Mic night, complete with acoustic guitar solos, accordion duos, storytelling, rapping, and a full-band set. Costumes, inside jokes, and re-written lyrics with a Palmer twist highlighted just how familial a community can be by the end of a great season.

Inevitably, outdoor recreation inspired by great weather and end-of-season excitement partially gave way to the drum of station turnover preparation. Boxes and luggage were filled meticulously with samples and chemicals, travel gear and guidebooks. The collective keyboard strokes of “End of Season Reports” being typed could be heard around station.

Meanwhile, a legacy was being fabricated behind closed doors. After weeks of work, investing many hours of free time, a team of station craftsmen unveiled a new and exquisite back bar, installed just in time for the arrival of the Gould and the winter crew.

When station personnel turnover hit, not a minute was wasted, as Palmer seemed to hum like a well-oiled machine.

Even a partial list of the week’s schedule would have been a feat to accomplish in seven days: station fuel transfer; turnover of Fire, Glacier Search and Rescue, Ocean Search and Rescue, and Trauma teams; a fire drill walk-through; moving several milvans of cargo; food offload; boating courses; orientations; cross-town dinners; ship line handler training; and spill response exercises. In addition, a team of 15 volunteers joined antenna riggers at the top of the glacier behind the station to hoist a new kind of tower for the very low frequency (VLF) project antenna.

When it was all over, there was an unmistakable mixture of exhaustion and excitement on both the Gould and at the pier, as the ship pulled away and the first day of winter began.

Ushering in a March for the record books, the emperor penguin turned out to be only one of many firsts to be marked at Palmer in the finale of summer.

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Palmer Station personnel construct new boat ramp 

The beginning of February at Palmer Station marked the end of the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) cruise aboard the research vessel Laurence M. Gould .

The LTER cruise proved successful, with good weather for water sampling and installing temporary field camps for seabird census work on islands to the south. The LTER project, nearly 20 years old, studies the effects of climate change on the marine ecosystem along the northwestern region of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The Gould visited Palmer Station again briefly on its way back north to take with it members of several science teams that had been working around the nearby islands on projects ranging from bugs to microbes to underwater gliders.

During the lull in science support activity, the station crew completed a long-awaited project: The boathouse now has a large deck platform with room for several boats, replacing the small ramp that formerly fit only one. This will prevent the need to pile boats all over the pier and the road when inclement weather requires them to be out of the water.

Late in February, the Gould returned, bringing a science dive team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of South Florida . Led by principal investigators Chuck Amsler, Bill Baker, and Jim McClintock , the divers will spend four months collecting samples of marine invertebrates, such as macroalgae, sponges and tunicates, to study their relationship with crustaceans, amphipods and other grazers in the marine ecosystem. [See previous article: Underwater forests of Antarctica.]

Three science groups remained on board the Gould to do geological work in the James Ross Island vicinity, the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.

David Barbeau , from the University of South Carolina , and his team are studying tectonic plate evolution via the sedimentary record on the Antarctic Peninsula. They are interested in determining when the Antarctic and South American plates separated enough to open the Drake Passage. Some scientists believed the opening of the Drake about 40 million years ago allowed the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to develop and send Antarctica into its current deep freeze. [See previous article: Open case.]

Before South America and Antarctica pulled apart, a land bridge existed between the continents. Ross MacPhee , a curator at the American Museum of Natural History  in New York, is leading a team to search for fossils that would not only prove mammals lived in Antarctica while it was attached to Australia about 80 million years ago, but that they possibly originated on the now icy continent. [See previous article: Reverse course.]

Joseph Kirschvink , a geobiologist at the California Institute of Technology , and his group are interested in a mass extinction that occurred in the late Cretaceous that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. They are collecting geological data that will help explain the reasons for this event. The dominant theory today is that a large asteroid hit on Earth precipitated the mass extinction. Kirschvink and company have different ideas. [See previous article: What killed the dinosaurs?.]

So far, the teams have reported some interesting findings. In a recent report, Peter Ward , a co-principal investigator with Kirschvink, reported that they “were able to find four examples of beautifully preserved pinecones of unknown affinity, something never before reported from these islands.”

Back at Palmer Station, a rare calm Sunday provided a chance for the Glacier Search and Rescue team to host a recreation day. Interested parties were taken to a section of glacier overhanging Arthur Harbor and lowered into a crevasse. They then had the opportunity to climb back out on the ice face. Nearly half the station participated, both scientists and station support staff alike.

In contrast to January’s beautiful sunny calm, February was a month of dreary drizzle. The final week brought in a barrage of significant low-pressure systems, pummeling the station with wind and ocean swells for days on end. Autumn seems to be upon us.

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Summer science hits high mark at Palmer Station

The weather at Palmer Station this January has been spectacular. The wind is light and the sun less bashful than usual. It has allowed excellent opportunity for science groups to work in the field.

The weather arrived serendipitously, as the station simultaneously reached its maximum number of science groups for the season, and nearly its personnel capacity.

Of the new arrivals this month, Richard Lee and David Denlinger’s group, fondly referred to as “the buggers,” are returning for the second season of their current grant to study Belgica antarctica, a terrestrial wingless midge. [See previous article: Not much bugs Belgica.]

Differing from last season, two members of the group will stay through the end of April to collect the tiny insects as they slowly freeze in preparation for the winter season. This extra time will provide information concerning the coping mechanisms these flightless flies use to survive the Antarctic winter.

A new research group, led by Matthew Cottrell from the University of Delaware , is at Palmer to study microbes that straddle the line between autotrophs (organisms that produce their own food) and heterotrophs (organisms consumer organic materials).

These microbes, called photoheterotrophs, are able to grow both by absorbing light energy and by consuming other organic materials. Because light levels differ so drastically here from summer to winter, Cottrell is interested in the seasonal habits of these microbes.

One of the busier research cruises of the season aboard the Laurence M. Gould left Palmer in early January to collect various forms of samples and data for the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER) project.

The scientific aspect of the trip was successful. And so was the recreational aspect.

Traditionally, during the PAL LTER cruise, the Gould visits Rothera, the British Antarctic Survey’s largest station. This visit includes an annual soccer match that the Americans haven’t won in at least 10 years.

But this year the scientists and crew of the Gould defeated the British, 1-0. Some attribute their good luck to the braying of a vuvuzela on the American side, brought directly from the 2010 World Cup by South African Kim Bernard, a krill researcher on the PAL LTER.

Back on station, recreational activity has been pervasive in the off-hours. The long spell of miserable weather in October and November definitely set a tone for the season that has everyone taking full advantage of any nice day.

Scheduled evening events occurring indoors, like science lectures, have had a tendency to go on hold this month, as people rush out to pursue outdoor activities. Even the wildlife seems to be more abundant, as crabeater seals laze on ice floes by the dozen and humpback whales make appearances within the boating limits. The warm sun has also increased calving activity on the local glacier above Arthur Harbor.

But those wishing to go hiking on the glacier this month have had to employ increased awareness, as snowmelt reveals new cracks and crevasses. The station’s Glacier Search and Rescue team (GSAR) had to decrease the safe recreational area, as several encroaching crevasses have widened enough to gulp up a person, and new cracks within the flagged area are enough to grab an ankle, or a knee and thigh in some spots.

Fortunately, GSAR’s proactive work has prevented any injuries. And, on the plus side, a new tongue of recreation area was opened on the back side of the glacier, allowing Palmer residents to travel by foot to the near edge of a point overlooking Biscoe Bay.

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Small community at Palmer shifts with the arrival of ships

The nuances of station life change subtly with every shift in personnel. The feel of December was heavily influenced by the distinct influx of voice recorders and scribbling notebooks held by science-journalism fellows from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.

Led by Chris Neill, a journalism group visits Palmer Station annually. The goal of this project is to provide hands-on research experience for scientifically minded journalists. For the National Science Foundation (NSF) , media created by these fellows helps to raise awareness about the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) . This year’s group consisted of Jennifer Bogo, a senior science editor at Popular Mechanics magazine; Jane Qiu, a Beijing representative of Nature scientific journal; and Susan Moran, a freelance writer. [For more information, see A Palmer Station Field Journal , MBL's science journalism blog.] 

In addition to these wielders of the mighty pen, our very own poet (they do exist), Katharine Coles joined us on an Antarctic Artists and Writers Program grant. After only a few weeks on station, Coles opened our first “Open Mic Night” of the season with a touching statement about the Palmer Station community.

She said, “This has been, for me, an absolutely magical and life-changing experience. And for me it’s not just because of the icebergs and the penguins, although the icebergs and the penguins are quite wonderful. The thing that has been most surprising to me, and that has given me the most food for thought … has been the community and the people here. … The way that you use language and play with language at this station is something that is a delight to a poet and is something that I absolutely would be unable to ignore.”

The science community at Palmer Station has banded together on a joint project this month. The Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (PAL LTER)  groups teamed up with Grieg Steward’s  group, which is here studying the effects of viral infections on microbe mortality, on a collaborative project that aims to characterize the effects of increased carbon dioxide on marine life.

The scientists collected a large amount of seawater and separated it into three groups that simulate different concentrations of CO2: pre-Industrial Revolution CO2 levels (180 parts per million), current CO2 levels (390 ppm), and future peak CO2 levels projected by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  (750 ppm).

The scientists hope to observe any changes occurring to the marine ecosystem based on these CO2 levels. They plan to perform this experiment again later in the season, and on the research vessel Laurence M. Gould during the LTER cruise in January.

The phytoplankton arm of the PAL LTER program launched an autonomous underwater vehicle this month. The AUV, or glider, “flew” to the Gerlache Strait and back, collecting water column information. Simultaneously, two other gliders were soaring through Antarctic waters; one in the Ross Sea north of McMurdo Station , and one in the Amundsen Sea, launched from the research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer .

Our holiday season was kicked off with a philanthropic visit from the Abercrombie & Kent cruise liner Le Boreal. The guests on this cruise choose to pay a little extra in order to bolster the scientific community here. This year they donated a digital microscope camera to the LTER group.

This program is supported and encouraged by Jim McClintock , who sails with Le Boreal as a climate-change specialist. McClintock is also a co-principal investigator for a group of research divers who will be on station later in the season. [See previous article: Underwater forests of Antarctica.]

We were also visited this month by the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, and with it, Dr. Joanne Feldman, who served as the Palmer Station doctor last summer season. The Kapitan Khlebnikov sailed a semi-circumnavigation of the Antarctic continent after leaving Palmer Station, and Dr. Jo was able to hand carry several postcards from Palmer to McMurdo, just in time for the holiday. [See previous article: Diving into medicine.]

Our holiday season has been festive and busy. We sat down to a wonderful Christmas dinner with a table set for 33, our current population. The following day held Palmer’s traditional “Yankee swap” gift exchange, where rules were argued lovingly and gifts were stolen respectfully. Our holiday din: Adélie chicks peeping, gentoos porpoising, humpbacks exhaling, and elephant seals making that awful sound that elephant seals make.

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