At the moment we have struck out from McMurdo a ways into the open seas and the major events outside at this point are the large icebergs that drift slowly past. They are an impressive sight to see, and come in all shapes and sizes. For today’s pictures I will have a size comparison so that you can get an idea of how big they really are. I took this last night right before bed. Matthias and I were snapping a few shots and I zoomed in on the picture I had just taken to find that there were little Adélie penguins sitting on the berg that you could not see with your eyes. The first one is taken with my zoom lens all the way in and the second is a crop of the first so you can more clearly see the penguins.

Of all the animals I have seen thus far the little Adélie is by far my favorite. As we were leaving McMurdo yesterday we had to break some pack ice to get out into the ocean. There was a group of us sitting and watching for wildlife, there were actually a number of Orcas in the area as well. As you approached a group of Adélie they seemed to pay the ship no mind until it was too close to ignore any more, then one of them made a motion and they all went scampering off the far side of the ice like mad.

It really surprised me how quickly they can walk, and how quickly they must swim because on a few occasions they would jump back up onto the ice they had abandoned, to see if the ship was gone or something, only to find that the ship was still there and then make a quick turn and back into the sea. The other part that really gets me is that when they come out of the water, often enough they will land on their feet, not their bellies. As you can tell I really do enjoy watching them, and if it were legal, I would totally be bringing back a flock to live in Wisconsin (I think they would rather enjoy it up there since the weather is so similar).

So far the temperature has not been too bad at all, I would guess that when it is nice and sunny the temperature remains somewhere just above freezing. However, since the wind is always blowing at about 40 mph or so the wind chill really gets to you. Luckily you can generally just pick the side of the boat that is not in the wind and it is actually pretty nice to just sit outside and take it all in.

So far the whole experience has been great. The data acquisition is mostly taking care of itself, everyone on board has been very nice, the food is better than what I would get at a nice restaurant at home, and even the rocking of the boat in the open seas is relaxing and reassuring at this point (No bad weather so far, keep your fingers crossed please).

That is all for recent news really. We did have a very busy time while we were docked in McMurdo with all the loading and unloading and touristy kinds of stuff to do. We got in just after lunch on Sunday. Matthias and I took a route straight through town to the base of Observation Hill, it is not a mountain or anything by any means, but it is by far the largest thing that I have ever climbed in my life (and probably the most fun too). We made it to the top in about 40 minutes with a few brief stops along the way and what a view! We got lucky that day because the clouds had cleared away completely and we had a wonderful view of everything. Truly breathtaking.

We decided that we would make our way to the Kiwi (New Zealand) base first and proceeded to take a little bit less traveled, and a lot steeper, path down the other side of the hill. Then a walk around the base of the hill to the main road between the two bases. We ended up hitching a ride about half way between them. Unfortunately you are only allowed to visit the gift shop if you do not have an invitation to be there, but it was nice all the same. Actually I had a great time because they had knives for sale and I was in desperate need of one since mine was lost when I went through security in Minneapolis. So now I get to carry a knife from Antarctica wherever I go.

I left a little bit ahead of everyone else and caught a ride back to McMurdo to search out a friend I had met on the plane ride down from the States. He is a winter-over cook there and I needed to convince him to cook me up a good cheeseburger and fries before I don’t see anything like that for a month and a half. We had a nice chat and then I wandered back to the boat to help with the loading of supplies and setting up of labs.

We left sometime just after the end of the Super Bowl yesterday and it looks like today will be very lazy. Everything is tied down and not much work will be going on. Maybe I will get a tour of the engine room today, I am not sure. I think I will go outside and see if I can find anything to do after I take coffee.

(Matthias = Matthias Danninger, scientist ICETOP/ICECUBE project Stockholm University)

Kyle Jero, technican for the ICETOP project at University of Wisconsin, USA.