Turkey Trots and Ice Caves

Hello again!  I am so sorry that I start a new blog entry the same way every time.  After this entry is written I will spend the next week... or two (let us all hope it doesn't take me that long to write again) coming up with a better entrance :)  I am going to start by telling you what I am doing exactly in this moment.  Well not moment, but this day.  As of now it is 3:43 a.m. and I am currently struggling immensely, to keep my eyes open.  Why you ask?  Why in the world would I purposely torture myself with a burning sensation in my eyes due to extreme exhaustion and walking around like a freakishly tired Eskimo down in Antarctica?  Well I have a perfectly sane explanation.  Currently I am in the process of transitioning from the day shift to the night shift.  For some, I feel, this process is nothing but a swift breeze, but for me it is brutal and painful each night.  I force myself to stay up until 6 or 7 a.m, sleep until 3 p.m, and by 9 p.m I am ready to swan dive again.  Only instead of swan diving, I have to give myself a pep talk repeating over and over in my head all the pros as to why staying up is a good thing.

Thanksgiving

So what is new at McMurdo Station?  Hmmm.. I'm sure you all would love to hear about how we celebrated Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving, surprisingly, was pretty awesome.  Well, pretty awesome considering the circumstances of being at the bottom of the world with limited resources.  To be fair, we didn't actually celebrate on Thanksgiving day due to work, but the whole station pretty much shut down for Saturday and Sunday.  It was really nice to experience a Saturday and Sunday off in the same week.  So this is how it went.  Saturday morning was the McMurdo Annual 5k Turkey Trot.  The Turkey Trot started at the Chapel, up to the Scott Base sign and back.  I'm sure you are thinking, "Wow, that sounds like a pretty easy 5k run."  I beg to differ.  Now don't get me wrong.  Was it a good run?  Yes?  Easy?  Not so much.  See, this 5k run was pretty much a steep uphill run to the Scott Base sign, which is 1/2 way.  With that said, the 2nd 1/2 of the race was really easy; downhill pretty much the whole way back.  Also, with that said, you have to remember that Antarctica is very dry and still pretty cold.  My lungs were not happy with my decision to run.....at all.    Notice in the picture to the right people dressed up in costumes.  Here at McMurdo costumes are not required, but highly recommended.




Thanksgiving dinner was also held on Saturday at 4 different times; 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, and midnight for the day sleepers.  Due to a very populated station you had to reserve your time in advance.  Pretty much the whole shuttles crew ate at 17:00.  I must say I was quite impressed with the feast.  First of all, I was shocked that people started to line up 40 minutes before dinner was even served.  The line was literally up and down the hallway of highway 1.  Dinner was served buffet style like normal, but the food was not like normal.  The galley served everything expected for Thanksgiving and more.  They even served giant crab legs.  And if I actually liked crab legs that would have been that much more awesome.  Lets not forget the dessert table.  See, dessert is already a problem here because they always serve tons of it for lunch and dinner.  But they really out did themselves for this meal.  I mean chocolate covered strawberries!  How in the world could they have known that is one of my all time favorite desserts ever?!?!  Needless to say, if Thanksgiving was that great, then I can hardly wait for Christmas!



Moving on....Oh, like I have already told you, this blog has pretty much became my journal, so it is only fair to announce that I have been assigned to a new room!  After much e-mailing and nagging by not only me, but my supervisor as well, the housing department finally informed me that they found me a room.  They told me that they found a "ghost bed," meaning someone left for Christchurch, the pole, or a field camp and the bed was empty.  What is funny is that I was told by one of my roommates that bed has been empty for weeks now!  Housing department is really slacking here.  Anyhoo, I've only met 2 out of 3 roommates and I've been in there for  4 days now.  The room is pretty much split into 4 sections, divided up by the 4 wardrobes.  Due to all of our crazy work schedules I've only been in the room once with the lights on and that was only for about 5 minutes. I usually make my way around finding what I need with a flash light.  Because of this I have not been able to utilize my wardrobe properly yet.  That's okay though.  Just knowing I have a wardrobe I now feel a bit more complete :)

Mass Casualty Incident Drill
Living in McMurdo you are expected a little bit extra from the community.  Meaning volunteering is a really cool thing to do down here.  One thing that I volunteered for was to be an injured person in the Mass Casualty Incident Drill.  The MCI was designed to test the skills of the fireman, medical staff, spill team, and medical volunteers in case there was to be a Mass Casualty Incident.  There were 2 people who set the whole thing up who called the "accident" in to the firehouse and everyone else was clueless as to what the accident was.  Basically the staged accident was a fuel delta and a forklift collided causing a spill.  Just after that happened an airporter was coming down the hill and had to swerve that accident crashing into an oncoming firetruck.  My role was as a passenger in the airporter who was flung from the back of the airporter onto the floor from the accident.  All I was allowed to say was "my back hurts. What happened?"  To make the accident appear real, all the vehicles and injured victims were staged, and fake blood was added (if needed) to get the full effect.  The firefighters took it so seriously that I was taken off the airporter strapped down to a backboard.  I was then transferred with others to the fire station, for medical staff to "diagnose" and "treat" the injuries.  In total I was strapped to the backboard for a good 1 to 1.5 hours.  Needless to say I had a bit of a sore back after that.

photo 1: The Crash                         photo 2: All of us in the airporter getting ready to fake the accident


Laying on the floor waiting for the fireman to "rescue" me                       Me being carried out on a stretcher

          

Ice Cave

As you all know,  Antarctica is a very unique place filled with marvelous beauty.  One of which is ice caves.  I was given the opportunity to hop on a delta, drive 45 minutes out of Mcmurdo to visit one of these ice caves.  Mind you I got a little bit more of the "Antarctic Experience" due to changing weather conditions.  To leave McMurdo for recreational purposes, it must be a weather condition 3, which it was when we left.  After we left, that changed real quickly and dropped down to a condition 2.  Condition 2 you are allowed to leave the station for work related reasons but you must check in with the firehouse when you leave and when you arrive.  Condition 1 the weather is so bad nobody goes anywhere.  And when I say anywhere I mean you technically aren't even supposed to leave the building you are in.  Anyways, it was Extremely! windy.  The wind was so strong that it would move you standing on the ice.  You could literally lean into it and not fall on your face.  At that particular moment I was very thankful for big red.  Big Red, the most amazing goose jacket ever, and I have a love hate relationship.  It keeps me so warm, but always makes me look like a giant red marshmallow.  Therefore I opt to only wear big red when necessary.  The ice cave was absolutely awesome.  You know sometimes when a snowflake lands on your black glove and you can see every detail of it?  That's how the ice crystals were in the cave.  It was like walking into a microscope.  A microscope with a beautiful blue tint.  Plus, the cave blocked the crazy wind so that was a bonus.  On the way back to McMurdo we actually got stuck in the Delta and had to shovel ourselves out.  To be honest I'm surprised we were allowed to go at all since every other recreational activity and flights have pretty much been canceled the past few days due to weather.

Notice the direction of the fur                                                   Standing in the cave at the entrance

 

Inside the cave                                                             This picture doesn't really do the crystals justice

   

Well, my fellow blog followers, it is now almost 6 a.m. Yes, I have now been writing this entry for over 2 hours.  It's safe to say that I get distracted very easily while on the internet and that is why it takes me so long to write a blog entry.  Like previously stated I want nothing more than to swan dive.  So with that said I am off to breakfast.  Well, technically dinner for me, but of course they only serve breakfast food at 6 a.m.  I have a feeling I will be sick of eggs by the time this one month of night shifts are over. 

Good Night!!  Much Love!

And feel free to check out more photos of the Ice on my facebook page.  I have uploaded over 100 new photos :)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=900741614638&set=a.880719958198.2501546.21704017#!/album.php?aid=2501546&id=21704017&page=10


Also, if you are interested, here is some information about McMurdo Station which I just copied from the McMurdo Station Intranet:


McMurdo Station is the largest Antarctic station, and the main station for the United States. It is the logistics center for the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Location and Temperatures McMurdo sits at 77 degrees 51 minutes S, 166 degrees 40 minutes E. It is a coastal station built on the bare volcanic rock of the Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island, the solid ground farthest south accessible by ship. The station is roughly 3,864 km (2,415 miles) south of Christchurch, New Zealand, and 1,360 km (850 miles) north of the South Pole. Temperatures have been as low as –50°C (–58°F) and as high as 8°C (46°F). Annual mean is –18°C (0°F); monthly mean temperatures range from minus –3°C (27°F) in January to –28°C (–18°F) in August. The average wind is 12 knots, but winds have exceeded 100 knots. Drifting snow can accumulate about 1.5 meters per year, although the station becomes snow-free in the austral summer.

History From 1840 to 1841, the English explorer James Clark Ross spent his first season in Antarctica with a team occupying two ships, the Erebus and Terror. He sailed into waters that drifted toward a rocky and icy shore, which Ross named McMurdo Sound after Lieutenant Archibald McMurdo of the ship Terror. During the voyage, his team also discovered two volcanoes in the area and named them after the expedition’s ships: Mount Erebus and Mount Terror. Established in December 1955 just off of McMurdo Sound, McMurdo Station became the logistics center for scientific research during the International Geophysical Year from 1957 to 1958, an international scientific effort that involved 80,000 scientists from 67 countries. There have been many changes and upgrades to the station since then, and it is still the main station for the U.S. Antarctic Program. Near the station, historic huts remain as part of the permanent Antarctic landscape. In 1901, Robert F. Scott wintered his ship the Discovery in Winter Quarters Bay, adjacent to where McMurdo stands now, and built Discovery Hut (at Hut Point). From 1901 to 1903 and 1910 to 1913, Scott launched his sledging teams from the area, and from 1907 to 1909 and 1914 to 1916, Ernest Shackleton did the same. Other huts used by these expeditions at Cape Royds and Cape Evans still stand.

Current Station The logistics core of the U.S. Antarctic Program, McMurdo has a harbor, landing strips on sea ice and shelf ice, and a helicopter pad. Its 85 or so buildings range in size from a small radio shack to large, three-story structures. Repair facilities, dormitories, administrative buildings, a firehouse, power plant, water distillation plant, wharf, stores, clubs, warehouses, and the Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center (CSEC) (link2 Crary page) are linked by above-ground water, sewer, telephone, and power lines. McMurdo Station has a diverse population and a busy atmosphere. It is an international center where people come together to conduct and support Antarctic research. Roughly 2,000 science and support personnel pass through or stay at McMurdo Station during the austral summer, whereas the austral winter population is about 150 to 200 persons. McMurdo has three airfields that are used at various times during the austral summer; due to the effect of bitter cold on flight equipment, planes do not land in the winter unless there is a medical emergency, and even then it is not always possible. The Annual Sea Ice Runway, located a few miles from McMurdo, operates from October to December until the sea ice begins to break up. It supports wheeled C-17, C-130, LC-130 and Twin Otter aircraft. Williams Field Skiway, located on the Ross Ice Shelf approximately 15 kilometers (9 miles) from McMurdo, operates depending on the requirements for each austral summer season. It is either used from December to February to support LC-130 and Twin Otter ski-equipped aircraft, or it serves as a weather emergency support airfield from October to February. Pegasus White Ice Runway, located approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) from McMurdo on the Ross Ice Shelf, is situated on glacial ice with several inches of compacted snow on top, known as “white ice.” Pegasus supports C-17, C-130, LC-130 and Twin Otter aircraft, and is used for winter fly-in (WinFly) deployment in August (the span just prior to the austral summer season), and from December to February.

Science Research is performed at and near McMurdo Station in aeronomy and astrophysics, organisms and ecosystems, earth sciences, glaciology, integrated system science, and ocean and atmospheric sciences. Participants of the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Artists and Writers Program also work at sites in the area. The primary science and research facility, the Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center (CSEC), was dedicated in November 1991, and began full operation during the 1994-1995 season. The CSEC supports biological, earth science, atmospheric sciences, and an aquarium, all under one roof. For more information about the researchers and science projects during the current season, see the Science Project Web Sites. Antarctic Aeronomy and Astrophysics Program Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems Antarctic Earth Sciences Program Antarctic Glaciology Program Antarctic Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences Antarctic Integrated System Science Antarctic Artists and Writers Program

Wildlife and Ocean Life Among the wildlife near McMurdo are Emperor and Adélie penguins, skuas, and Weddell, Ross, Leopard, and Crabeater seals. The most common whales in the area are Minkes and Orcas. The closest Adélie rookery to McMurdo Station is at Cape Royds but Adélies can also be found at Cape Crozier and Terra Nova Bay. In addition to Adélies, Cape Crozier has a small Emperor colony and one of the largest skua populations. There is also an Emperor rookery at Cape Washington near Terra Nova Bay. Occasionally you may see an Adélie or Emperor penguin venture close to McMurdo Station or near the air strips. You may also see Weddell seals lounging on the sea ice near Scott Base. When encountering wildlife, it is tempting to get close; however, keep in mind that according to the Antarctic Conservation Act, it is unlawful to interfere with or cause harm to native species. This includes startling or chasing any animal. A good rule is to stay at least 25 feet away. The Southern Ocean surrounding McMurdo has an amazingly rich marine ecosystem. Of the mammals, Leopard seals are the most dangerous and have been known to attack divers. Sea life thrives under McMurdo Sound’s ice pack, including colorful sponges, starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones, and sea spiders. Antarctic krill flourish in the upper depths, and the infamous “ice fish” (the Antarctic Notothenioids) that have antifreeze protein in their bloodstream to prevent them from freezing swim the frigid waters.

Interesting Facts During Robert F. Scott’s expeditions of 1901 to 1903 and 1910 to 1913, he used sled dogs (23 Samoyeds) and Siberian ponies to haul supplies. Expeditions and Antarctic bases continued to use dogs up until as late as the 1980s. It is now against the Antarctic Treaty to bring non-indigenous species to Antarctica. McMurdo Station is the waste management center for much of the U.S. Antarctic Program. Sea ice up to 3 meters (10 feet) thick forms outward from the continent every austral winter, creating a belt 500 to 1,500 kilometers (311 to 932 miles) wide. During the summer season, an ice-breaking ship helps to disperse the ice near McMurdo to open water. Erebus is the world's southernmost active volcano and one of only a handful with active convecting lava lakes. Although it is not a major threat to McMurdo Station it offers a unique opportunity to study eruptive process from lava lakes and is monitored year round. In 1979, Mount Erebus, 3,794 meters (12,448 feet) in height, was the site of a plane crash that claimed 257 lives on a sightseeing and photographic flight over Antarctica. The Royal Society Range is a volcanic range that is part of the Transantarctic Mountains, one of the world’s longest mountain chains (Antarctic Connection), and is located on McMurdo Sound’s southwestern shore. Large numbers of meteorites, including specimens that have been identified as coming from Earth’s Moon and Mars, have been recovered in Antarctica, and it has been determined that meteorites striking this vast continent are better preserved than anywhere else in the world because of their burial in the ice. An unmanned telecommunications base is located on Black Island, which is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from McMurdo Station. One of the world’s most extreme deserts resides just west of McMurdo Sound within Victoria Land, called the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The Dry Valleys have extremely low humidity and lack snow or ice cover, and in fact, at 4,800 square kilometers (1,875 square miles), form the largest relatively ice-free region in Antarctica.

Exploring McMurdo and Surrounding Areas A wide range of recreational opportunities are available while working at McMurdo Station. Hiking in the area is permitted in accordance with safety rules; however, because of the nature of Antarctica, certain restrictions apply. What may appear to be excellent forms of recreation could actually threaten not only the environment and wildlife, but your own life. Some restrictions include exploring the pressure ridges near Scott Base to see the Weddell seals, walking on unflagged snow or ice fields, or climbing local mountains. Safety procedures are there to protect, so follow them and use care and wisdom whenever you venture out. In certain cases a foot plan is required depending on the location of travel. A foot plan is filed online, and allows the Firehouse to monitor an individual’s or group’s location when they are traveling on foot outside of McMurdo Station. The eFoot Plan process includes an automatic response procedure for anyone not returning to McMurdo as scheduled. If you encounter wildlife when exploring areas outside of McMurdo Station, remember that according to the Antarctic Conservation Act, it is unlawful to interfere with or cause harm to native species. This includes startling or chasing any animal. A good rule is to stay at least 25 feet away.