All is back in order... (oh, and the most epic day)

Penguins making a run for safety

It was getting scary down here for awhile, but Frosty Boy is back in order.  Riots have (just nearly) been avoided.  Big Bertha (the dishwasher) did break after 20 years of service, but the mechanics have been working all night to get the new one installed tomorrow.  Internet in the dorms has been down the last few days due to an antenna blown over, but that has (kind of) been fixed.  I finally beat the demon Windows 3.1 software program controlling our weather stations (or at least for one of our sites) and have successfully recorded wind speeds from atop our tower.  We actually had some of the desired "specialized meteorology" for our research and collected blowing snow from our tower.  Rachel and I gave a joint talk (available online shortly) to the station last night and had a great turnout.  All in all, just the normal grind of Antarctica..... WRONG!  Today I received potentially the best birthday present (albeit 1 day early) anyone could hope for.  The last few days have been incredible, but their stories will have to wait for another post as I try to recap today's adventure (I apologize for the length, and will try to post solely a photo journal from today in the coming days).

PENGUIN!

Let's face it: you really came to my blog to hear about penguins and maybe a little about my life in Antarctica (e.g. when did I see the penguins, how many penguins, what was I wearing when I saw the penguins, etc.).  Thus, as you might expect, this epic day started with a visit to Cape Bird, aptly named for the local penguin rookery.  Our original plans called for installing one of our towers here due to the favourable winds.  However, you may recall that our recce flight discovered Cape Bird completely surrounded by open water, and we therefore had relocated to our Butter Point and Iceberg Sites.  Not wanting to miss potentially great data from the region (and of course penguin shoots), we had been plotting how we could return.  At last, Lars and the German Zealanders had empty seats on their scheduled trip to work on their BrO/ozone monitors there, and we quickly designed a mini snow-catching tower to setup on the beach.  Yes... beach, complete with softish rocks/sand, though still mostly covered in snow.  Due to bad weather, this flight had been cancelled nearly every day for over a week, but we all said our prayers, made our sacrifices to the spirit of Shackleton, and I left my penguin hat in the dorms (Rachel thought this was the curse).

Can that really be an efficient way to move?

There are 2 types of penguins down here: Emperors (the tall ones, like in Happy Feet) and Adelies (really awkward creatures who waddle when they walk).  You can tell the difference from a helicopter since the Emperors stand straight and tall, barely noticing you flying overhead.  Adelies think the world is coming to an end and make a B-line for the ocean.  Since they are generally in colonies of tens of thousands, this makes for quite the hilarious site.  The beaches near Cape Bird are all Adelie rookeries, so we got to witness the stampedes.  So far every time we've flown, the helicopter has shut down and stayed with us.  Today, the helo just dropped us on the beach as we exited with the blades still spinning.  It is quite the experience holding down all of your scientific equipment as the winds from the propellers bombard you.  We caught our breath for a few minutes and got to work.  Trying not to be distracted by the silly little creatures waddling and sliding on their bellies, we quickly installed our mini-tower on the rafted ice at the edge of the beach.  Penguins are generally quite curious and will come right up to you, checking to see if this other 2-legged thing is one of their kind (Why did I leave that hat in my room?!)  We had a few minutes for photos, but unfortunately (that might be the only time I use that word in this post), our return helo arrived 30 minutes early.  With the science complete, it was hard to convince them that we needed more time solely for fun with penguins.

Penguin tracks: half footprints/half tummy-print

We returned back to McMurdo, had a quick lunch, and then I drove the German Zealanders back to Scott Base.  I had time for a quick goodbye to Udo (he leaves today), and then it was back to the helipad for our afternoon flight.  Per usual, we first stopped at our Butter Point Site.  Here, we found a shocking discovery, but you will to have to check out the IceKid yourself to see what we found (see links on top left of page).  Although the demon (i.e. weather station) beat me here, I got the best of him at the Iceberg Site.  Our tower at the Iceberg now has a new visitor, a seal who has taken up residency right next door.  We introduced ourselves, completed our science, and then packed up.  As we were leaving, our pilot mentioned that we needed to refuel at Marble Pt.  Having done this a few prior times, I was confused when we started heading further north than usual and at a higher elevation.  Upon reaching 6,000 ft, we finally enquired.  He showed us that from this vantage point we could see into the Dry Valleys (another B-day present).

First glimpse of the Dry Valleys

Now the Dry Valleys are one of Antarctica's most treasured landscapes, one of the world's most extreme landscapes, and shockingly mainly snow-free with jagged mountains, rivers, and frozen lakes (if you are at Dartmouth, you should ask Ross Virginia for more info).  We were totally psyched to get a glimpse into this unique landscape, as there is no scientific reason for us to land in this heavily protected area.  We then refuelled at Marble and then headed home.... but wait!  This epic day can't end yet.  Over the radio, we received a request to pick up a generator and fuel from a lake in the Dry Valleys and deliver it to a nearby field camp.  Reading our minds, our pilot didn't wait to ask us, and we were treated to some of the most spectacular views I have ever seen.  I don't think I would ever become bored of running helo errands in the Dry Valleys.

After such a day, the evening was quite relaxed, although it included a farewell party for someone leaving station and a travel talk about Cuba by another friend. If you made it this far, thanks for letting me crudely put into words the adventures from today.  Hopefully the photo diary in my next post will help share some of these stories with you.  No need to get me a birthday present tomorrow, I already had the best one I could ask for.
Oh, and I saw 6,843 penguins (although only a handful up close) today at Cape Bird and I was wearing bunny boots, two pairs of snowpants, Big Red, flannel shirt, and my Red Sox t-shirt.

Dry Valleys, McMurdo

Sweet glacier in the Dry Valleys