West Antarctica

1/3/19

Today Marci and I boarded an LC-130 early in the morning for the 3 hour flight to WAIS (West Antarctic Ice Sheet) Divide Camp. There were just 4 of us and lots of fuel flying to WAIS. Our purpose was to collect an annual water sample for a deep field camp. We had a very quick turnaround—only 34 minutes on the ground—but we got a quick tour of the relatively large camp (but sitting on a sled pulled by a snow mobile) and went inside some of the “buildings” (semi-permanent tent structures) before taking our water sample. WAIS sits at about 6000 feet in elevation on more than a mile of ice and is just out in the flat white (Like South Pole or Summit Station in Greenland). It was the first time I’ve ever been to Western Antarctica, which is cool. Western Antarctica is a hot topic as it’s the area on the continent feeling the biggest effects of climate change. In fact, WAIS camp is set up as a sort of permanent deep field camp to feed other camps in a huge collaborative project between the USAP and BAS (British Antarctic Survey), which is studying Thwaites Glacier, which is a huge glacier and likely going to give insight into how the ice in this massive region will respond to the changing climate. Thwaites Glacier is one of the most unstable glaciers in all of Antarctica, and it is roughly the size of Great Britain (or Florida). After our quick tour, it was back onto the plane for the 3 hour ride back to McMurdo.

1/4/19

We got invited to Scott Base to have dinner with Antarctic New Zealand’s equivalent of NSF Enviro. I got to take Elisha as a date. They gave us a tour of the facility, but best of all we were able to eat at their cafeteria. Their food, b/c they are catering to a population under 100, tends to be better and fresher. They had Indian butter chicken (delish!), fresh greens (which we haven’t seen for a while), and best of all, real ice cream!

1/5/19

The BBC, who has been filming quite a lot this season for Frozen Planet 2, gave a talk tonight and showed 7 minutes of footage that they will use when Frozen Planet II comes out in 2021 (they expressly told us we couldn’t film or record it). It was pretty sweet, and we look forward to seeing the show when it comes out. They also has a lot of good info on how they shoot their series and come up with ideas and all that goes into it.

1/6/19

I walked out to hut point and saw 3 adelie penguins on the ice. The first adelies around McMurdo that I’ve seen. I also walked a bit up the ridge to see the 2 skua twin chicks that are all fluffy balls of down, and very cute. In the distance I could see the ice breaker chugging along

1/8/19

The Icebreaker arrived to station today.

Inside the LC-130

WAIS divide camp

taking the tour

fuel pits

british twin otter

logistics center

me the softball trophy and an lc-130 hercules

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