This is the second day of the second trip of the season. But, because we do so much and see so much, every day feels like two days, which I guess makes this the 4th day of the 4th trip ? Something like this.
I joined the Ocean Tramp in Ushuaia, Argentina at the very end of December. We immediately crossed the Drake Passage (which was mercifully mild) and have been sailing around the Antarctic Peninsula since. We visit glaciers, wave at whales, discuss philosophy with penguins, are harangued by skuas, enjoy 5 hour sunsets, and take 3 terabytes of photos each day. And we do some science! Which is where I come in, more or less.
I’m the guest scientist with Quixote Expeditions for these first two adventures. I’m a research scientist at the University of Washington and study climate and the hydrologic cycle in the Antarctic. It is a tremendous opportunity for my research to join these trips and make measurements of the atmosphere, the ocean, and the snow as we sail around the icy landscape.
We’ve been underway for a couple weeks now, though my personal journey to join the group started long before I hoped off the dock in South America. To conduct my research I brought an instrument (a laser spectrometer) from my University which is both very cool and very expensive. This required several months of trying to figure out Argentinian import laws. I never did figure them out, but surprisingly made it anyway. The instrument is now installed on Ocean Tramp happily humming along and measuring the isotopic ratios of water in the air as we travel. And it does hum. I find it delightful, the sound of expanding knowledge. However, the sound might be slowing driving our Captain Fede insane. We shall see. This is a secondary experiment I’m running.
We’ve had a tremendous time. So much water! Clouds and waves, ice bergs and SO MANY GLACIERS! Oh yeah, and there is also wildlife. The penguins are hilarious. The whales, stately. The fur seals seem like jerks to be honest, but I’m a big fan of the Weddells.
I often enlist the help of the other guests to help collect snow and ocean water samples. This is surely the highlight of the trip for most. Just kidding. That’s the penguins. But the science is pretty fun. I’m very much looking forward to working on all the data we’ve collected.
Yesterday was a big day for data. We met our new group at King George Island and set off on a 24 hour sail down to Enterprise Island. I made measurements the whole way, our longest collection interval yet! Science aside, it was a very fun transit. Through the night we all took watches, keeping an eye out for icebergs. It got fairly dark and misty and occasionally a great mass of floating ice would emerge. It was a great time!
– Brad
