My Sunday started pretty much as last Sunday, laundry and then brunch. I spent most of the day wandering around and trying to find somewhere less people-ly to go. McMurdo is now up to about 1,000 people and it was just around 700 when we got in back on Oct 22nd. So, that fills up a lot of the common spaces, as well as moving most of us 3 to a room. Overall, did have a lovely day and got some internet and college football via AFN.
Typically on Sunday, there are science lectures with the various groups that are working down here and this week we had one on “Who Eats What Antarctica Leaks: How Seeping Greenhouse Gases Flow Through the Marine Ecosystem” this was put on from a group from UC Santa Barbara and they are studying how methane down here in Antarctica is showing how microbes change as a result. They first found this partcular seep back in 2012, so they know when it begins, and they’ve been able to track the ecosystem growing via a small dive team. How cool is it to dive under the ice? Anyways, this is the nerdy stuff I care about being down here vice all the social engagements 😉 If you would like to read some more of their work it can be found here: https://www.colddarkbenthos.net/general-8
This week at work was focused on getting our cargo needed in the field in the system, as well as, going on a camping shakedown called “Happy Camper”. This overnight trip was a good “shakedown” to have us test out our clothing layers, gloves, and sleep kits while still in the “comforts” of being near base before we are 900 miles away from any civilization. Additionally, we went over setting up the various types of tents that we may have to assist with when our scientists come out, lighting kuma stoves, snowmobile practicals, different types of comms (VHF, HF, UHF, and Iridium), and various emergency scenerios. Overall, it was a great time!
Surprisingly wasn’t too cold sleeping overnight. The type of tents we are sleeping in are called “Arctic Ovens” and they do a fantastic job of holding in the solar radiation. They’re made in Alaska and cost about $2500 a piece! Additionally, we are issued out two sleeping bags (-40 degrees and 0 degrees), a fleece liner, two sleeping pads, and we will have a tri-wall underneath our tent at camp. So that, combined with a good sleeping base layer with socks and hats should keep me relatively warm. I additionally have a battery powered heated beanie, heated socks, and down socks as well.
There were a group of guys that decided they wanted to sleep outside and they built either igloos and trenches to sleep in. More power to them! But not for me!
While we were at Happy Camper we missed a rookery of Emperor Penguins came and visited us at McMurdo. While I wasn’t able to see it in person, some folks were able to share their pictures with me.
The rest of the work week was spent cleaning and drying out the gear from the camping trip and getting the rest of the cargo ready to go, since we have about one week until field camp put in!
On the recreation/social side, I made some lotion bars in the craft room, which was a lot of fun. I attended a lecture about Appalachian Trail, and we even had a craft fair!
I discovered that McMurdo used to have a coffee shop/wine bar. Apparently, they’re trying to get the coffee shop back up and running, but for now there are some volunteer barista that make coffees at Southern and the coffee shop is a nice quiet place to relax. So, I finally found a spot away from all the people! Otherwise, I’ve been reading a lot and just enjoying the downtime before gearing up to leave next weekend!
I’m posting this a bit later on my Sunday, so I’ll be able to share that we got the opportunity to go over the the New Zealand base for some shopping! Scott Base is New Zealand’s only research base in Antarctica and is only about 2 miles from McMurdo. They’re much smaller with only about 80 personnel in the summer and 15 in the winter. However, they do have a cute store with some nice merch and on Thursday’s the host “American Night” to invite some folks over to their bar.
Tonight, I’ll attend another science lecture that I’ll talk about in next week’s post and then getting geared up for my last week of creature comforts at McMurdo before heading out to the field until mid February!
Have a good week and if there are any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them down below.