We look forward to hear from you!
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What are growlers?
How much night darkness is there?
We look forward to seeing a response
in the blog!
—Debbie from Arden, North Carolina
Hi Debbie,
After reading through Petey’s post, I saw
that growlers are chunks of ice that protrude about 1 m above the sea ice.
After reading that, I went through all of my photos of ice that size and then
proceeded to the bridge to ask Vladimir, the Ice Captain, to help me understand
growlers better. He told me that growlers originate from freshwater sources as
opposed to seawater sources (they originate from glaciers rather than sea
ice). That means that a growler is
formed by small pieces breaking off of glaciers or icebergs (which originate
from glaciers). I’ve included a photo of a growler, located in front of an
iceberg.
A
small iceberg, with a growler in front of it. Photo credit: A. Margolin.
If I happen to see more growlers when I
have my camera with me, I will take more photos and post them on the blog.
—Andrew
The sun set for the first time this
austral summer around the 17th of February here in the Ross Sea, so
up until then there was no darkness since we arrived at McMurdo Station in
early February. It was definitely
strange those first couple weeks getting used to 24 hours of daylight. And at first the night wasn’t
completely dark because the sun didn’t set too far down past the horizon. Since then, however, the night has
lengthened by about 15-20 minutes each day so we’re rapidly approaching a
‘normal’ light/dark schedule. And
then in a few months it will be dark all day here (but we won’t be around for
that!). So for now we enjoy some
pretty spectacular sunsets on clear days, which have lately been occurring
about 9:30 PM. The sunsets typically fill the sky with an array of beautiful
colors that linger beyond midnight due to our high southern latitude that keeps
the sun near the horizon for hours. Most of us are sleeping for sunrises, but I
have been told that the sunrise is typically around 6:30 AM, but it starts to
get light at 3:30 AM, leaving us in pure darkness for only 3-4 hours per day.
Sunset
on February 17th. Photo credit: A. Margolin.
—Roberta
Is there actually a gym on the boat?
–Dave from Miami
Hi Dave,
Yes! There is a gym on board, along with some workout
equipment scattered throughout the ship. I took some photos of the gym,
treadmill, and pull-up bar so you can get an idea of the facilities we have on
board.
The RVIB Nathaniel
B. Palmer’s gym. Photo credit: A.
Margolin.
Geoff running on the
treadmill in the helo hanger. The treadmill in the gym does not work, and the
ceiling of the gym is too low for this treadmill. Photo credit: A. Margolin.
The pull-up bar and
climbing holds, located in the Marine Technician’s shop. Photo credit: A.
Margolin.
–Andrew
The photo of pancake ice was very interesting. What makes the ice form like that?
–Sherry from Millville, New Jersey
Hi Sherry,
I wasn’t exactly sure how pancake ice forms, so I went up to
the bridge to ask the captain and chief mate. They said that pancake ice forms
when slush (a.k.a. grease ice – which is the beginning of sea ice formation)
moves around by the motion of the water and the slush solidifies in a circular
shape because of that motion. As the ice continues to freeze and jostle around,
the circular pieces of ice bump into each other giving them the rough edges,
making them look like pancakes.
–Andrew
I am curious as to what kind of photography equipment you are using to take the photos that are posted on this blog. And have you experienced any technical issues with using cameras in such extreme weather (e.g. fogging, etc.)?
Hi Jackie,
Between all of us on board, there is a wide range of
photography equipment being used out here in the cold and within the warm
confines of the ship. I would say that all of us probably have a standard point
and shoot camera, some of those being iPhones, while many of us prefer to use
digital SLR cameras. There are also a few of us with GoPro cameras with a
variety of attachments, such as the suction cup, sticky mounts and the tripods
with legs that can wrap around the handrails of the ship.
For the photos I have posted on the blog, the majority of
them have been taken with a digital SLR camera, while some were taken with a
point and shoot. Since I have been getting used to the manual features of my
SLR camera over the past couple weeks of documenting our travels, I don’t plan
to use my point and shoot much during the rest of the cruise. So far I have not
had any issues with fogging since I normally take my camera from the warm
interior of the ship to the cold exterior. I have, however, had fogging issues
on previous cruises (one last summer in the Gulf of Mexico), since the labs
were kept cool, every time I would step outside to take photos my lens would
fog up. I suppose if I were to spend a significant amount of time outside, and come
inside wanting to take photos immediately, I would have fogging issues. When I
was taking photos of the iceberg in 50 knot winds, I had some issues with my
camera (and myself) getting splashed with seawater, which resulted in a film of
salt on my camera, which is probably bad for it. The cold can also cause issues
with cameras, but so far I don’t think we have any substantial issues. Kelly,
who showed us Scott’s Hut at McMurdo Station, recommended sticking hand warmers
to our cameras. I still have you to try that, but so far there has been no
need.
I hope that answers your question! There are many more great
photos to come!
–Andrew