Posted: Fri 29th Feb, Describes: Tue 26th Feb
Today (Tue 26th Feb) was rather a lazy day, as I knew the following few days would be very hectic and I wouldn’t have a good nights sleep for ages! So I did some paper reading and bird watching. According to Huw, there were storm petrels (otherwise know as Jesus birds as they look like they walk on water as they skip across it), cape petrels (very pretty white with black trim!) and various kinds of albatrosses including grey-headed and sooty (unusual) ones. They fly alongside the ship, following us, as the wind currents generated by our passage make it easier for them.
Lunch for me was leek and potato soup. It was Adrian’s (another biologist) birthday this time, so dinner (pepperoni pizza and coleslaw) was supplemented by wine again and he got a bottle of whiskey too, though I only saw it when there was only an inch or two left! Another card was produced, signed by everyone again.
Then most people went up to the bar where we chatted for a few hours, until my swath watch again. We were on station (coring again) so I did some swath processing for Tara – this involves looking at many dots on a screen (pings). Good data looks like the bathymetry of the sea floor, but bad data looks more like a spider has been dipped in ink and then crawls across the screen. This can be due to interference with other acoustic systems, bad weather, the ship turning etc. The processing involves going through several lines at a time (the swath pings every second!) and removing the obviously bad pings and smoothing out the noise as best we can, while preserving the data. In most cases we are going along areas that have not been swathed before, so we can’t afford to lose data. My PhD, especially at the moment, mainly consists of looking at this data so I don’t mind processing too much though it is very dull! Processing is a major part of Tara’s everyday job and is a good part of why she is on board, so we all do what we can to make it easier for her, so she can do other more interesting things!
Then it was off to bed, preparing for an early start as we were due to reach BIO station 1 at about 4am, and I would be doing my first proper CTD soon after we arrived.
Antarctica
Friday 29 February 2008
Passage down the peninsula
Posted: Fri 29th Feb, Describes: Mon 25th Feb
Had a good long sleep until 9am when I woke up to discover that Hilary was gone, and had left me some toast to eat, which was nice as I was starving! Spent the morning catching up on what had happened on the ship and in world while I was ill, then I had a lovely lunch, my first proper meal since the Thursday evening. It was a roast with beef, potatoes, parsnips and other veggies (accidentally ate the parsnips in my hunger…). The afternoon was spent doing some file sorting and checking of the ADCP, which I had neglected. Luckily on the Fri when its properties had to be changed (as we were going into deeper water in Drake’s passage), I was able to come and quickly do it before heading back to bed, so the data wasn’t a mess. Changed the properties back as we were heading towards the slope off the peninsula. During the afternoon, we arrived at the first core site, so most of the geos headed down to the lab to label and cut it up. They used the piston corer, which they lower to the sea-floor, and then the piston gives it a shove and under this force and gravity, it sinks into the sediments. They were pretty pleased with the result and I believe they got down as far as 10m into Pliocene sediments!
It was Rob’s birthday, so at dinner, when he came in, we all sang happy birthday to him and gave him a card, which everyone had signed. He had bought bottles of wine from the bar (a tick-sheet which at the end of the cruise is totted up and the amount deducted from your salary), so every table had one. The swell had got a bit larger, so I wasn’t very hungry and stuck to the welsh rarebit starter and the wine. Sat on the same table as the two Davids (Pearce and Barnes) – both biologists, who I am getting to know and get on with quite well now.
I had a quick power nap after dinner, and then it was time for my first swath (and TOPAS) watch (9pm-11pm). Rob sat with me, going through it all so I knew what to change when the data gets patchy or if the TOPAS loses the sea floor.
Then off to sleep again…
Had a good long sleep until 9am when I woke up to discover that Hilary was gone, and had left me some toast to eat, which was nice as I was starving! Spent the morning catching up on what had happened on the ship and in world while I was ill, then I had a lovely lunch, my first proper meal since the Thursday evening. It was a roast with beef, potatoes, parsnips and other veggies (accidentally ate the parsnips in my hunger…). The afternoon was spent doing some file sorting and checking of the ADCP, which I had neglected. Luckily on the Fri when its properties had to be changed (as we were going into deeper water in Drake’s passage), I was able to come and quickly do it before heading back to bed, so the data wasn’t a mess. Changed the properties back as we were heading towards the slope off the peninsula. During the afternoon, we arrived at the first core site, so most of the geos headed down to the lab to label and cut it up. They used the piston corer, which they lower to the sea-floor, and then the piston gives it a shove and under this force and gravity, it sinks into the sediments. They were pretty pleased with the result and I believe they got down as far as 10m into Pliocene sediments!
It was Rob’s birthday, so at dinner, when he came in, we all sang happy birthday to him and gave him a card, which everyone had signed. He had bought bottles of wine from the bar (a tick-sheet which at the end of the cruise is totted up and the amount deducted from your salary), so every table had one. The swell had got a bit larger, so I wasn’t very hungry and stuck to the welsh rarebit starter and the wine. Sat on the same table as the two Davids (Pearce and Barnes) – both biologists, who I am getting to know and get on with quite well now.
I had a quick power nap after dinner, and then it was time for my first swath (and TOPAS) watch (9pm-11pm). Rob sat with me, going through it all so I knew what to change when the data gets patchy or if the TOPAS loses the sea floor.
Then off to sleep again…
First bit of science
Posted Thurs 28th Feb, Describes Sun 25th Feb
The swell had died down considerably overnight, so woke up feeling much better though still very weak and tired. Slept most of the day until the evening when the first CTD was due to be done. This was mainly for David Pearce (biologist) and Rachel Malinowska (PhD biologist) who wanted some ridiculous number of litres (400?) from 30m down for filtering to get all the algae etc. So although this wasn’t a site I would use the data from, I got water anyway, so that I would know what I had to do for the next one. So I got just the one sample at 500m as if I got a full profile’s worth of samples (min 6), David would probably have had to send down another CTD in order to have enough water. So as you might guess, one sample is useless for analysis apart from the practice. It took about an hour, and the sensors on the CTD got good data. Then it was off to the CTD ‘garage’ to collect the samples. I hadn’t had chance to check everything was ready, should have done it before we left, so didn’t realise the bottles, which are stored in crates, were already filled with de-ionised (distilled) water. So thinking I would have to dry them before using them, I borrowed a large container from David and filled that. I forgot to rinse it several times with the sample water, which is very important in order to stop contamination of the sample. Even one drop of de-ionised water can change the salinity of a small sample by a distinct amount! I later discovered after emailing Deb (my oceanography supervisor at BAS) that I didn’t need to dry the bottles, just empty and rinse thoroughly, so my panic was for nothing. My mistake obviously made the sample useless, but that didn’t matter, as the aim was to find out how things worked.
So now I knew what needed to be done, so I sorted out my lab. It is very nice having a lab to myself even if it is small, especially as there is a sign saying keep out on it, so I am the only one who goes through the door! I think I will have to get a radio down there, so I have something to listen to when I analyse my samples.
Then it was off to sleep as the 3hrs I had spent up, had tired me out completely. But things were definitely getting better.
The swell had died down considerably overnight, so woke up feeling much better though still very weak and tired. Slept most of the day until the evening when the first CTD was due to be done. This was mainly for David Pearce (biologist) and Rachel Malinowska (PhD biologist) who wanted some ridiculous number of litres (400?) from 30m down for filtering to get all the algae etc. So although this wasn’t a site I would use the data from, I got water anyway, so that I would know what I had to do for the next one. So I got just the one sample at 500m as if I got a full profile’s worth of samples (min 6), David would probably have had to send down another CTD in order to have enough water. So as you might guess, one sample is useless for analysis apart from the practice. It took about an hour, and the sensors on the CTD got good data. Then it was off to the CTD ‘garage’ to collect the samples. I hadn’t had chance to check everything was ready, should have done it before we left, so didn’t realise the bottles, which are stored in crates, were already filled with de-ionised (distilled) water. So thinking I would have to dry them before using them, I borrowed a large container from David and filled that. I forgot to rinse it several times with the sample water, which is very important in order to stop contamination of the sample. Even one drop of de-ionised water can change the salinity of a small sample by a distinct amount! I later discovered after emailing Deb (my oceanography supervisor at BAS) that I didn’t need to dry the bottles, just empty and rinse thoroughly, so my panic was for nothing. My mistake obviously made the sample useless, but that didn’t matter, as the aim was to find out how things worked.
So now I knew what needed to be done, so I sorted out my lab. It is very nice having a lab to myself even if it is small, especially as there is a sign saying keep out on it, so I am the only one who goes through the door! I think I will have to get a radio down there, so I have something to listen to when I analyse my samples.
Then it was off to sleep as the 3hrs I had spent up, had tired me out completely. But things were definitely getting better.
Thursday 28 February 2008
Ill/asleep days!
Posted Thurs 28th Feb, Describes Fri 22nd and Sat 23rd Feb (Drake's passage)
Woke up today (Friday 22nd) not feeling very well at all, so decided to skip breakfast and carry on sleeping. We had arranged a quick session learning how to use the swath, at 9am, so got up just before, still feeling dodgy and went down there. We all crowded round a computer screen while Tara and Rob explained it all. After 10 mins I was starting to feel even worse, so sat down hoping it would help, but if anything it made it worse, so I dashed off to the nearest toilet to throw up for 5 mins. Crawled weakly back to my cabin, encountering Ali on the way, looking decidedly green as he went back to his cabin too. Hilary was still in bed when I got back, as she had felt worse than me and had been throwing up all morning. The ship wasn’t rolling and pitching too much so I felt fine lying down. Doc Ruth (ship’s doctor) came round to see us an hour later, changed the pills that Hilary was taking to see if it helped and just told us it was a matter of time.
So over the course of the day, I got up a few times to see if I was improving, and only managed 10 mins each time before having to lie down again. Huw and Claire came in every few hrs to get anything we wanted, which pretty much amounted to filling our water bottles, but it was lovely having company for a bit as I was pretty bored! Slept most of the day, only eating 1 bread roll and 4 ginger nut biscuits, which filled me up!
Was starting to feel better in the evening, until we got properly into Drake’s passage where a storm a few days before had left a largish swell. So carried on the sleeping…
Woke up Saturday (23rd) feeling even worse, and very weak, so didn’t get out of bed at all until 9pm, when Hilary decided to have a quick look outside to see if it made her feel better, and I decided to have a shower to see if that helped! Probably would have done, except it used up my entire store of energy, so almost collapsed back into bed. Food count: 1 beef sandwich, 3 crackers and 4 ginger nut biscuits. Again, that filled me up! Then back to sleep (it will get more exciting soon…)
Woke up today (Friday 22nd) not feeling very well at all, so decided to skip breakfast and carry on sleeping. We had arranged a quick session learning how to use the swath, at 9am, so got up just before, still feeling dodgy and went down there. We all crowded round a computer screen while Tara and Rob explained it all. After 10 mins I was starting to feel even worse, so sat down hoping it would help, but if anything it made it worse, so I dashed off to the nearest toilet to throw up for 5 mins. Crawled weakly back to my cabin, encountering Ali on the way, looking decidedly green as he went back to his cabin too. Hilary was still in bed when I got back, as she had felt worse than me and had been throwing up all morning. The ship wasn’t rolling and pitching too much so I felt fine lying down. Doc Ruth (ship’s doctor) came round to see us an hour later, changed the pills that Hilary was taking to see if it helped and just told us it was a matter of time.
So over the course of the day, I got up a few times to see if I was improving, and only managed 10 mins each time before having to lie down again. Huw and Claire came in every few hrs to get anything we wanted, which pretty much amounted to filling our water bottles, but it was lovely having company for a bit as I was pretty bored! Slept most of the day, only eating 1 bread roll and 4 ginger nut biscuits, which filled me up!
Was starting to feel better in the evening, until we got properly into Drake’s passage where a storm a few days before had left a largish swell. So carried on the sleeping…
Woke up Saturday (23rd) feeling even worse, and very weak, so didn’t get out of bed at all until 9pm, when Hilary decided to have a quick look outside to see if it made her feel better, and I decided to have a shower to see if that helped! Probably would have done, except it used up my entire store of energy, so almost collapsed back into bed. Food count: 1 beef sandwich, 3 crackers and 4 ginger nut biscuits. Again, that filled me up! Then back to sleep (it will get more exciting soon…)
Monday 25 February 2008
Off we go!
Posted Monday 25th Feb, Describes Thurs 21st Feb
Ok, I’m back! Apologies for the long wait, unfortunately I did get a little sea-sick, but more of that later, I’ll try to keep chronological order!
So I think we were up to Thurs: The day we set sail….
I think I missed breakfast that day, got up late and watched an episode of stargate atlantis before lunch. Sorry for the foodies, my memory of the food has gone… Did a couple of bits and bobs, before a short walk along the coastal path in winds that could blow you over – I kept away from the edge… Shore leave ended at 4pm and we had a group meeting at 3pm so I didn’t have much time, however I still managed to find the cara-cara again, this time with its mate, not quite so friendly as before though! Then it was back to the ship. At the meeting we discussed what the plans were for coring and who would have what shift. I got the 4pm-4am shift, with 9pm-11pm on the swath and TOPAS watch. The TOPAS also images the sea-floor but can penetrate into the sediment to get a picture of it, how deep it goes depends on conditions, but several metres can take you back thousands of years! It is not terribly efficient and often ‘loses’ the seafloor at which point you have to tell the software where it is!
Then it was time for a tour around the labs for everyone to explain to everyone else what they are doing in their bit of the lab, when to keep out and what is dangerous. So I had a chance to utter a dire warning to anyone daring to use my lab space as a corridor between 2 other labs as it is temperature controlled – use under pain of death! It was a very interesting tour and I think everyone found that too. I know I plan to visit the bios while they sort and photograph the catches of their epi-benthic sledge (a sledge which dredges the ocean floor to see what is down there!).
As the tour finished, the ship set sail, so I scrambled back to my room to put my laptop in a drawer! Then it was up to the monkey island to watch Stanley drift away. Apparently all the scientists normally watch until we can no longer see the Falklands, but this time we ‘heave to-ed’ and put down anchors for a couple of hours to test the engines one last time. We watched the seascape and surrounding islands for a while, taking pictures. Then there was a cry of ‘penguin’ from Claire, which I instantly photographed until someone pointed out it was flying, and therefore must be a shag. I thought it was a little odd…..Most of us then disappeared down below for dinner (again my memory fails me), then I went to the bar to just sit, as I was starting to feel a little light-headed. Went off to bed at 9.30, Hilary had already gone as she was starting to feel sick and then came the first day of sailing/being sick…
Ok, I’m back! Apologies for the long wait, unfortunately I did get a little sea-sick, but more of that later, I’ll try to keep chronological order!
So I think we were up to Thurs: The day we set sail….
I think I missed breakfast that day, got up late and watched an episode of stargate atlantis before lunch. Sorry for the foodies, my memory of the food has gone… Did a couple of bits and bobs, before a short walk along the coastal path in winds that could blow you over – I kept away from the edge… Shore leave ended at 4pm and we had a group meeting at 3pm so I didn’t have much time, however I still managed to find the cara-cara again, this time with its mate, not quite so friendly as before though! Then it was back to the ship. At the meeting we discussed what the plans were for coring and who would have what shift. I got the 4pm-4am shift, with 9pm-11pm on the swath and TOPAS watch. The TOPAS also images the sea-floor but can penetrate into the sediment to get a picture of it, how deep it goes depends on conditions, but several metres can take you back thousands of years! It is not terribly efficient and often ‘loses’ the seafloor at which point you have to tell the software where it is!
Then it was time for a tour around the labs for everyone to explain to everyone else what they are doing in their bit of the lab, when to keep out and what is dangerous. So I had a chance to utter a dire warning to anyone daring to use my lab space as a corridor between 2 other labs as it is temperature controlled – use under pain of death! It was a very interesting tour and I think everyone found that too. I know I plan to visit the bios while they sort and photograph the catches of their epi-benthic sledge (a sledge which dredges the ocean floor to see what is down there!).
As the tour finished, the ship set sail, so I scrambled back to my room to put my laptop in a drawer! Then it was up to the monkey island to watch Stanley drift away. Apparently all the scientists normally watch until we can no longer see the Falklands, but this time we ‘heave to-ed’ and put down anchors for a couple of hours to test the engines one last time. We watched the seascape and surrounding islands for a while, taking pictures. Then there was a cry of ‘penguin’ from Claire, which I instantly photographed until someone pointed out it was flying, and therefore must be a shag. I thought it was a little odd…..Most of us then disappeared down below for dinner (again my memory fails me), then I went to the bar to just sit, as I was starting to feel a little light-headed. Went off to bed at 9.30, Hilary had already gone as she was starting to feel sick and then came the first day of sailing/being sick…
Thursday 21 February 2008
Free day!
Posted: Thursday 21st Feb, Describes: Wednesday 20th Feb
We were told we could have a free day today, so after getting up at 7am again (and trying the full english and the Jordans Muesli), we all discussed where we wanted to go. A large group of people went off to Gypsy Cove which is 'the' place to see penguins in the FIs. I decided not to as I wanted to see Stanley, go shopping and sort out my flights. It was a 1hr walk to go to Stanley and 1hr in the other direction to go to Gypsy Cove, so I decided to do just one! Also Huw said that when they went this time last year, the penguins had gone, so I didnt want to trek down there and not see anything, though if you look at his blog, you will see the large number of penguins they saw, as well as a seal and a dolphin, hmph! Spent the morning trying to upload photos, it takes so long and is so unpredictable, so I am still experimenting with it. Then after lunch (leek and potato soup and a muffin), I set off for Stanley. Hilary had gone in the morning and as I left the JCR I saw her coming back. She recommended I took the coast path with the possibility of seeing a seal along the way as well as a multitude of different birds. So off I went, stopping every few minutes to creep up on an unsuspecting bird and take a photo. I must have taken a good 50 photos of birds during the afternoon! I shall try to upload the best one of all. A stubborn Cara-cara (which I am told is like a hawk) decided to sit on my path and not move until I got very very close to it, at which point it moved to a fence post where it stared at me creeping towards it, as if to say "you get any closer and I will peck you!" So I took an amazing picture of it sitting there!
So, anyway, I got into Stanley (took 1hr 20mins to get to the high street with all the stopping for photos) and visited 4 different gift shops where I got a gorgeous little cuddly penguin, an FI t-shirt and some postcards, all to remember the FIs by. Then it was off to sort out flights!
The guy at the office had this really great flight deal, where if you use any recognised Stanley-UK route, you can get it for £660 with total flexibility, all you have to do is use the route you specify which for me is Stanley>Punta Arenas>Santiago>Madrid>London. But you can do any flight on any day and stopover for as long as you like at any place, and also you can do side-trips, so I will be doing Santiago>Lima>Santiago to do the tour. The only disadvantage is having to come back to Santiago after the tour to go on to London, but it is definitely worth it!
Then I walked back (taking more pictures!). All the scientists had arranged to eat at The Brasserie in Stanley in the evening so we all got changed and got the free bus from the harbour to Stanley at 7.30pm. We got to the bus early as we thought not everyone would fit in it, but as everyone was wondering what to do about the remaining people, the driver told us that by each set of seats there was a seat which folded down into the aisle. So we stuffed everyone in, just about as we had the same numebr of people as seats! They had arranged 2 tables for us on opposite sides of the room (about 21 of us!) so the biologists went to one and the geologists went to the other. Huw and I thought this was a shame, so did a swap! So I sat with the biologists, learned a huge amount about the reason the UK is in so much debt from a German, and laughed at a few people who (due to misunderstandings) are barred from entering the US! They were all lovely people!
Peter had been there several times before so recommended a few things. I had a starter: Ceviche platter, main: fillet steak (argentinian) with chips, salad and black peppercorn sauce, and a dessert: double decker sundae. The ceviche I was particularly interested to have as it is a delicacy in S. America, but as it is seafood (in this case prawns and kingclip) it isnt a good idea to have it there, so I was really happy to have it here where I know it will be safe! Though now I have discovered how lovely it is, I am going to want to have it again! The steak which I had medium well done, was lovely too. The sundae consisted of cream on the top, then chocolate and vanilla ice cream with brownie bits, then at the bottom was a lovely strawberry sauce and ice cream with marshmallow-y bits. The whole meal was amazing!
After paying, we all trooped off to the Vic (Victory Pub) and had a drink before getting the free bus back at 11.20. While we waited for it (it was 15mins late) we did a bit of stargazing, saw the southern cross and orion (though the 'wrong' way up!). Got back to the JCR, got ready for bed, then Huw came in and said that there was a lunar eclipse in 9 mins (he heard it from Sevy, the russian I.T. guy who is a fount of all knowledge!). So I put some shoes on, grabbed my camera and dashed up to the monkey island - the highest you can get out on deck. Unfortunately I couldnt get any good pictures of it, but Johnnie got some amazing ones which I shall try to get hold of. So after that excitement it was back to bed...
May not update for a day or so, don't know, as we sail today at 5pm and I have no idea if I will get sea-sick. We will see!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We were told we could have a free day today, so after getting up at 7am again (and trying the full english and the Jordans Muesli), we all discussed where we wanted to go. A large group of people went off to Gypsy Cove which is 'the' place to see penguins in the FIs. I decided not to as I wanted to see Stanley, go shopping and sort out my flights. It was a 1hr walk to go to Stanley and 1hr in the other direction to go to Gypsy Cove, so I decided to do just one! Also Huw said that when they went this time last year, the penguins had gone, so I didnt want to trek down there and not see anything, though if you look at his blog, you will see the large number of penguins they saw, as well as a seal and a dolphin, hmph! Spent the morning trying to upload photos, it takes so long and is so unpredictable, so I am still experimenting with it. Then after lunch (leek and potato soup and a muffin), I set off for Stanley. Hilary had gone in the morning and as I left the JCR I saw her coming back. She recommended I took the coast path with the possibility of seeing a seal along the way as well as a multitude of different birds. So off I went, stopping every few minutes to creep up on an unsuspecting bird and take a photo. I must have taken a good 50 photos of birds during the afternoon! I shall try to upload the best one of all. A stubborn Cara-cara (which I am told is like a hawk) decided to sit on my path and not move until I got very very close to it, at which point it moved to a fence post where it stared at me creeping towards it, as if to say "you get any closer and I will peck you!" So I took an amazing picture of it sitting there!
So, anyway, I got into Stanley (took 1hr 20mins to get to the high street with all the stopping for photos) and visited 4 different gift shops where I got a gorgeous little cuddly penguin, an FI t-shirt and some postcards, all to remember the FIs by. Then it was off to sort out flights!
The guy at the office had this really great flight deal, where if you use any recognised Stanley-UK route, you can get it for £660 with total flexibility, all you have to do is use the route you specify which for me is Stanley>Punta Arenas>Santiago>Madrid>London. But you can do any flight on any day and stopover for as long as you like at any place, and also you can do side-trips, so I will be doing Santiago>Lima>Santiago to do the tour. The only disadvantage is having to come back to Santiago after the tour to go on to London, but it is definitely worth it!
Then I walked back (taking more pictures!). All the scientists had arranged to eat at The Brasserie in Stanley in the evening so we all got changed and got the free bus from the harbour to Stanley at 7.30pm. We got to the bus early as we thought not everyone would fit in it, but as everyone was wondering what to do about the remaining people, the driver told us that by each set of seats there was a seat which folded down into the aisle. So we stuffed everyone in, just about as we had the same numebr of people as seats! They had arranged 2 tables for us on opposite sides of the room (about 21 of us!) so the biologists went to one and the geologists went to the other. Huw and I thought this was a shame, so did a swap! So I sat with the biologists, learned a huge amount about the reason the UK is in so much debt from a German, and laughed at a few people who (due to misunderstandings) are barred from entering the US! They were all lovely people!
Peter had been there several times before so recommended a few things. I had a starter: Ceviche platter, main: fillet steak (argentinian) with chips, salad and black peppercorn sauce, and a dessert: double decker sundae. The ceviche I was particularly interested to have as it is a delicacy in S. America, but as it is seafood (in this case prawns and kingclip) it isnt a good idea to have it there, so I was really happy to have it here where I know it will be safe! Though now I have discovered how lovely it is, I am going to want to have it again! The steak which I had medium well done, was lovely too. The sundae consisted of cream on the top, then chocolate and vanilla ice cream with brownie bits, then at the bottom was a lovely strawberry sauce and ice cream with marshmallow-y bits. The whole meal was amazing!
After paying, we all trooped off to the Vic (Victory Pub) and had a drink before getting the free bus back at 11.20. While we waited for it (it was 15mins late) we did a bit of stargazing, saw the southern cross and orion (though the 'wrong' way up!). Got back to the JCR, got ready for bed, then Huw came in and said that there was a lunar eclipse in 9 mins (he heard it from Sevy, the russian I.T. guy who is a fount of all knowledge!). So I put some shoes on, grabbed my camera and dashed up to the monkey island - the highest you can get out on deck. Unfortunately I couldnt get any good pictures of it, but Johnnie got some amazing ones which I shall try to get hold of. So after that excitement it was back to bed...
May not update for a day or so, don't know, as we sail today at 5pm and I have no idea if I will get sea-sick. We will see!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday 20 February 2008
First Day
Posted: Tuesday 19th Feb, Describes: Tuesday 19th
Slept well, got up at 7am (shock horror!) and was very restrained at breakfast, only having some toast, poached egg and beans! Full english's were very popular! Then we all got to work, moving and unpacking crates of equipment. I got set up in my little lab, or should I say partly mine... It has 2 autosals (salinometers for my CTD water samples) and a load of P-series standard seawater for standardisation in it and that's about it, so very small, but it should be nearly always empty except for me.
That was the whole morning (with some standing around trying to find someone to help!), then it was lunch (days revolve around mealtimes it appears!). The FI sea air seems to make me very sleepy and hungry, so i had the full 3 courses - spicy beef and tomato soup, mushroom ravioli with fried rice (veggie option as I didnt want the ribs) and then a Tollhouse cookie, mmmmm...
Then it was back to pestering people for jobs until eventually I gave up and decided to set up my wireless network connection in the UIC (Underway Instrumentation Control - where all the computers are that control all the instuments - so where I will spend most of my time). Got bored and decided that I would walk into Stanley, so went to my cabin to get stuff and changed my mind and had a 2.5hr nap instead! Very refreshing!
Dinner was tomato and cheese ravioli, italian chicken pasta and lemon cake (with meringue bits...) Then I played a little bit of darts in the bar and we got on the 7.30pm minibus to Stanley. I took a quick trip to the main shop to get a few supplies like squash as I will be fed up of water soon, then met up with everyone else in Deano's, a bar with 3 tvs showing 3 different channels - music, Holby City and Real Madrid v Roma, so uiqte nice but rather smoky unfortunately. C-D, Tara, Huw, Hilary and I walked back to JCR (~40mins) and now I am off to bed! It is a free day tomorrow so hopefully we can see a few penguins and get my flights sorted for Peru! Bye!
Slept well, got up at 7am (shock horror!) and was very restrained at breakfast, only having some toast, poached egg and beans! Full english's were very popular! Then we all got to work, moving and unpacking crates of equipment. I got set up in my little lab, or should I say partly mine... It has 2 autosals (salinometers for my CTD water samples) and a load of P-series standard seawater for standardisation in it and that's about it, so very small, but it should be nearly always empty except for me.
That was the whole morning (with some standing around trying to find someone to help!), then it was lunch (days revolve around mealtimes it appears!). The FI sea air seems to make me very sleepy and hungry, so i had the full 3 courses - spicy beef and tomato soup, mushroom ravioli with fried rice (veggie option as I didnt want the ribs) and then a Tollhouse cookie, mmmmm...
Then it was back to pestering people for jobs until eventually I gave up and decided to set up my wireless network connection in the UIC (Underway Instrumentation Control - where all the computers are that control all the instuments - so where I will spend most of my time). Got bored and decided that I would walk into Stanley, so went to my cabin to get stuff and changed my mind and had a 2.5hr nap instead! Very refreshing!
Dinner was tomato and cheese ravioli, italian chicken pasta and lemon cake (with meringue bits...) Then I played a little bit of darts in the bar and we got on the 7.30pm minibus to Stanley. I took a quick trip to the main shop to get a few supplies like squash as I will be fed up of water soon, then met up with everyone else in Deano's, a bar with 3 tvs showing 3 different channels - music, Holby City and Real Madrid v Roma, so uiqte nice but rather smoky unfortunately. C-D, Tara, Huw, Hilary and I walked back to JCR (~40mins) and now I am off to bed! It is a free day tomorrow so hopefully we can see a few penguins and get my flights sorted for Peru! Bye!
Tuesday 19 February 2008
The beginning...
Posted Monday 18th Feb, Describes: Sunday 17th and Monday 18th
I have arrived on the other side of the world!!!
After a long day packing and trying to work out what I inevitably must have forgotten (still not worked it out yet...), me and Laurence took a taxi to BAS with my 6 items of luggage. I showed Laurence round BAS (stuffed albatross and all..), then we loaded up the mini-coach and it was time to leave (5pm). We were waved off by a decent number of people, a few of whom came in specially! After a ~3hr journey we arrived at RAF Brize Norton ((Oxfordshire). I was starving, as I assumed we would stop off on the way, so got some food from the cafe there. It all looked exactly like a normal airport terminal, just lots smaller and many of the passengers were obviously military! The weight limit was 54kg in total (mine weighed 41kg!) but the hand luggage limit was 4 kg, I had 2 pieces of hand luggage, 6kg each! But they let me through anyway.
We spent 8.5hrs on the plane (Omni Air International - renamed Aldi Air by Huw). Watched Stardust (rather cheesy, but quite good) half and episode of Frasier and slept during the last film, ate 2 ok plane meals, before arriving Ascension Island, where we were herded into a building surrounded by barbed wire (aka 'the cage'). We spent 1.5 hrs there while the plane refuelled - I got a passport stamp (50p!) and bought an Ascension Island T-shirt and postcard (showing the beaches on the other – non-military side of the island). It was very hot and humid, the scenery was bleak but red rock, so looked like Mars! No picture-taking allowed, but we all sneaked a few! Then we were herded back on the plane for another 7.5 hrs and 2 more meals! This time there was
The Bourne Ultimatum and another film I slept through. Arrived at Mount Pleasant (neither a mount nor pleasant in the words of Huw again!) at 5pm GMT, 2pm local time.
Got all our luggage and went through customs where Lewis got a grilling and his apples taken away! Then we got on a minibus and drove for an hour through more bleak, but quarry-like scenery. Strangely pretty though. Arrived at Port Stanley (mainly tin-roofed houses but a population of ~1500!). Then we all formed a nice luggage-unloading train and got to our cabins pretty quickly. I am sharing a quadruple cabin with Hilary, one of the technicians at BAS, mainly here, I think, to crush core samples. It is actually pretty large and I have managed to put all my stuff away.
We all had dinner, I only had 2 of the 5 courses available, which were smoked salmon with dill/salad and lamb roast. Peter Enderlein (PSO-Principal Scientist for the biologists) came in part the way through to tell me Hugh was waiting for me in the UIC, I stupidly said ok, then he left without me having any idea who Hugh was, why he was waiting for me, when I was meant to meet him or even where and what was the UIC!! I blame it all on the long journey! Fortunately Tara tok me there, and I discovered he was one of the oceanographers/physicists on the cruise before ours who was going to brief me on the instruments and processing I would use/do. He was lovely and very useful, though apparently they have really chucked me in the deep end as I have never cruised before. But I can’t mess up the raw data so even if I kill the rest of it, they can always redo it from the raw data!
Anyway (obviously) I have managed to get online but bad news I am afraid, as it will be temporary. We will have internet while the newly-fixed engine is tested and the equipment is brought on board, and for the first week-ish of the cruise though it will be slow and it is unlikely I will be able to upload pictures. Then we lose internet for about 5 weeks, and regain it again for the last week-ish. I will try to find time to do blogs in Word and upload them all when we get back in range. Anyway, must go to bed now, have a long day tomorrow loading the ship up and unpacking the equipment!
Miss you all…
xxxxxxxx
I have arrived on the other side of the world!!!
After a long day packing and trying to work out what I inevitably must have forgotten (still not worked it out yet...), me and Laurence took a taxi to BAS with my 6 items of luggage. I showed Laurence round BAS (stuffed albatross and all..), then we loaded up the mini-coach and it was time to leave (5pm). We were waved off by a decent number of people, a few of whom came in specially! After a ~3hr journey we arrived at RAF Brize Norton ((Oxfordshire). I was starving, as I assumed we would stop off on the way, so got some food from the cafe there. It all looked exactly like a normal airport terminal, just lots smaller and many of the passengers were obviously military! The weight limit was 54kg in total (mine weighed 41kg!) but the hand luggage limit was 4 kg, I had 2 pieces of hand luggage, 6kg each! But they let me through anyway.
We spent 8.5hrs on the plane (Omni Air International - renamed Aldi Air by Huw). Watched Stardust (rather cheesy, but quite good) half and episode of Frasier and slept during the last film, ate 2 ok plane meals, before arriving Ascension Island, where we were herded into a building surrounded by barbed wire (aka 'the cage'). We spent 1.5 hrs there while the plane refuelled - I got a passport stamp (50p!) and bought an Ascension Island T-shirt and postcard (showing the beaches on the other – non-military side of the island). It was very hot and humid, the scenery was bleak but red rock, so looked like Mars! No picture-taking allowed, but we all sneaked a few! Then we were herded back on the plane for another 7.5 hrs and 2 more meals! This time there was
The Bourne Ultimatum and another film I slept through. Arrived at Mount Pleasant (neither a mount nor pleasant in the words of Huw again!) at 5pm GMT, 2pm local time.
Got all our luggage and went through customs where Lewis got a grilling and his apples taken away! Then we got on a minibus and drove for an hour through more bleak, but quarry-like scenery. Strangely pretty though. Arrived at Port Stanley (mainly tin-roofed houses but a population of ~1500!). Then we all formed a nice luggage-unloading train and got to our cabins pretty quickly. I am sharing a quadruple cabin with Hilary, one of the technicians at BAS, mainly here, I think, to crush core samples. It is actually pretty large and I have managed to put all my stuff away.
We all had dinner, I only had 2 of the 5 courses available, which were smoked salmon with dill/salad and lamb roast. Peter Enderlein (PSO-Principal Scientist for the biologists) came in part the way through to tell me Hugh was waiting for me in the UIC, I stupidly said ok, then he left without me having any idea who Hugh was, why he was waiting for me, when I was meant to meet him or even where and what was the UIC!! I blame it all on the long journey! Fortunately Tara tok me there, and I discovered he was one of the oceanographers/physicists on the cruise before ours who was going to brief me on the instruments and processing I would use/do. He was lovely and very useful, though apparently they have really chucked me in the deep end as I have never cruised before. But I can’t mess up the raw data so even if I kill the rest of it, they can always redo it from the raw data!
Anyway (obviously) I have managed to get online but bad news I am afraid, as it will be temporary. We will have internet while the newly-fixed engine is tested and the equipment is brought on board, and for the first week-ish of the cruise though it will be slow and it is unlikely I will be able to upload pictures. Then we lose internet for about 5 weeks, and regain it again for the last week-ish. I will try to find time to do blogs in Word and upload them all when we get back in range. Anyway, must go to bed now, have a long day tomorrow loading the ship up and unpacking the equipment!
Miss you all…
xxxxxxxx
Friday 15 February 2008
Intro
Reason for the blog!:
Well, as most of you will know I am off to the Southern Ocean for 2 months with BAS. It is a research cruise on the JCR (James Clark Ross) going from Port Stanley (Falkland Islands). I am also spending 3 weeks travelling around S. America on the way back.
The trip:
The flight is from RAF Brize Norton (Oxfordshire) on Sunday (17th Feb), I get a space in a coach/minibus which a lot of us will be on which will take us there. The flight leaves at 11pm and refuels at Ascension Island for an hour or so before arriving at the FIs on Mon (18th) at 2pm (their time I think)
The ship leaves Port Stanley on the 19th Feb. It will cross Drake's Passage, go down the Antarctic Peninsula, through the Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea, and if it is free of ice, we will go into Pine Island Bay (very important for climate change research), then north, back east and into Rothera for 2-3 days where we offload some stuff for the winterers (we are the last people to call in there before the winter starts) and take on board everyone who is not wintering (so it will be a busy ship!). We then sail back to the Falklands, and are due to dock on the 10th April!
Science (basics!) - only stuff I have heard about, I am sure there is plenty more!:
Ther are 3 science groups going down:
GRADES-QWAD which I am in: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/current_programmes/grades/qwad/index.php
CACHE-PEP_G: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/current_programmes/cache.php
BIOFLAME-BIOPEARL: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/current_programmes/bioflame.php
The main aims (I think!) are to core the ocean floor at various places (geologists) and do trawls to pick up various creatures off the ocean floor (biologists).
Instruments http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/engineering/html/support_pages/bathymetry/ea600.htm:
swath - 'pings' the bottom to get a bathymetric map
ADCP (me!) - can 'image' the speed and direction of ocean currents through the water column
CTD (half me!) - this stands for Conductivity, Temperature, Depth. It has a load of sensors on it which measure everything from salinity to dissolved oxygen concentration, and pressure to fluorescence! It also has many bottles attached to it. It is slowly lowered to the sea floor, taking measurements as it goes, then brought slowly up, 'firing' bottles (taking samples of the water) and continuing to measure. Other measurements are then done on the samples.
Corers - there are many kinds (piston, gravity etc..), don't know which one we have (I'll let you know!), but they take very deep cores of the sea floor sediment.
I am sure there is more, especially biology related stuff, but that'll do for now...
South America:
If the ship docks on time, i.e. before April 12th as there is only 1 flight out of the FIs every week (Sat 1600), then I will travel around Chile mainly, hopefully do Easter Island (depending on cost and trips available), maybe a little of Argentina and almost certainly some wine tasting (got to do that while in Chile!). Then I fly from Santiago to Lima (20th April), where I join a trip for 2 weeks organised by Intrepid Travel called Majestic Peru https://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/GKP which looks amazing. I get to visit so many places I have always wanted to see like Machu Picchu, the Nazca Lines and Lake Titicaca (and many more) The link gives you the whole itinery, looks so exciting! If the trip is fully booked then I will be travelling in a group of 12 (+ tour guide) but at present only a max of 3 other people have booked on it!
Obviously if the ship docks any time between 12th April and 19th April then I just do Peru then fly back. I am coming back 4th/5th May via Madrid.
Well, as most of you will know I am off to the Southern Ocean for 2 months with BAS. It is a research cruise on the JCR (James Clark Ross) going from Port Stanley (Falkland Islands). I am also spending 3 weeks travelling around S. America on the way back.
The trip:
The flight is from RAF Brize Norton (Oxfordshire) on Sunday (17th Feb), I get a space in a coach/minibus which a lot of us will be on which will take us there. The flight leaves at 11pm and refuels at Ascension Island for an hour or so before arriving at the FIs on Mon (18th) at 2pm (their time I think)
The ship leaves Port Stanley on the 19th Feb. It will cross Drake's Passage, go down the Antarctic Peninsula, through the Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea, and if it is free of ice, we will go into Pine Island Bay (very important for climate change research), then north, back east and into Rothera for 2-3 days where we offload some stuff for the winterers (we are the last people to call in there before the winter starts) and take on board everyone who is not wintering (so it will be a busy ship!). We then sail back to the Falklands, and are due to dock on the 10th April!
Science (basics!) - only stuff I have heard about, I am sure there is plenty more!:
Ther are 3 science groups going down:
GRADES-QWAD which I am in: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/current_programmes/grades/qwad/index.php
CACHE-PEP_G: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/current_programmes/cache.php
BIOFLAME-BIOPEARL: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/bas_research/current_programmes/bioflame.php
The main aims (I think!) are to core the ocean floor at various places (geologists) and do trawls to pick up various creatures off the ocean floor (biologists).
Instruments http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/engineering/html/support_pages/bathymetry/ea600.htm:
swath - 'pings' the bottom to get a bathymetric map
ADCP (me!) - can 'image' the speed and direction of ocean currents through the water column
CTD (half me!) - this stands for Conductivity, Temperature, Depth. It has a load of sensors on it which measure everything from salinity to dissolved oxygen concentration, and pressure to fluorescence! It also has many bottles attached to it. It is slowly lowered to the sea floor, taking measurements as it goes, then brought slowly up, 'firing' bottles (taking samples of the water) and continuing to measure. Other measurements are then done on the samples.
Corers - there are many kinds (piston, gravity etc..), don't know which one we have (I'll let you know!), but they take very deep cores of the sea floor sediment.
I am sure there is more, especially biology related stuff, but that'll do for now...
South America:
If the ship docks on time, i.e. before April 12th as there is only 1 flight out of the FIs every week (Sat 1600), then I will travel around Chile mainly, hopefully do Easter Island (depending on cost and trips available), maybe a little of Argentina and almost certainly some wine tasting (got to do that while in Chile!). Then I fly from Santiago to Lima (20th April), where I join a trip for 2 weeks organised by Intrepid Travel called Majestic Peru https://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/GKP which looks amazing. I get to visit so many places I have always wanted to see like Machu Picchu, the Nazca Lines and Lake Titicaca (and many more) The link gives you the whole itinery, looks so exciting! If the trip is fully booked then I will be travelling in a group of 12 (+ tour guide) but at present only a max of 3 other people have booked on it!
Obviously if the ship docks any time between 12th April and 19th April then I just do Peru then fly back. I am coming back 4th/5th May via Madrid.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
