29 November 2008

Stacy Writing

Everything revolves around work here, even the holidays.  So Thanksgiving is celebrated on Saturday, today, and it is one of the two – two day weekends that happens all season.  We planned it as a day of relaxation, with a nice scuba dive at a new site that a film crew has been working and are now finished so we can “skua the remains” or use their hut before it is pulled back into town tomorrow.  The area is called Little Razorback because there is the small remnant of the edge of a volcanic caldera poking above the sea ice, and it is well utilized by Weddell seals as a place to haul out and pup.

A Weddell seal mom and pup relaxing near Turtle Rock.

However we woke to less than ideal weather conditions.  It was going in and out of “Condition 2” in town and definitely “Condition 1” on the sea ice.  So we dithered and discussed whether to dive nearby, where it was safer but more familiar, but finally decided that we would go to Turtle Rock, where I had been before (and we had the GPS coordinates) but the others had not yet dived.  The turn off road there was not flagged as the Little Razorback road was, but with the low visibility we didn’t think that flags would be that much help anyhow.

Maybe flags this closely spaced would have helped us find our way...in a circle.

We were joined by John Weller, a photographer, and Silvain, a scientist who is stuck in town, waiting to get into the field.  We started the drive struggling to see from one flag to the next, about a quarter mile apart.  Eventually we got far enough away from town that the flags were more closely spaced at a tenth of a mile, and that went much better.  We reached the turnoff and then were entirely reliant on GPS.  Visibility was poor enough and with such low contrast that I could not see the terrain which was very uncomfortable for the passengers in the back, because sometimes we would hit the bottom of a sastrugi with quite a bump.  We went very slowly – it took us twice as long as the drive usually takes, but we got there safe.  And near Turtle Rock, the blowing snow was less so we had a bit of visibility.

This beautiful picture of Little Razorback is by Norbert Wu, and is much lovelier than the completely white picture that would have been our view of the same area.

It was worth the drive!  The seals were lounging about with their pups, oblivious to the encrusting snow and howling winds.  The hut was warm and spacious.  And underwater there were ice caves and tunnels and lots of curious seals and pups singing and talking away.  Weddells have a wide range of sounds, trills and hoots and long trailing tones, and thumps that are so deep that you feel them in your chest more than hearing them in your ears.  I was collecting amphipods for a colleagues graduate student who is looking at population genetics, and this area is rich with them because of all the seal poo that they can eat.  So I was busy swinging my little dip net around like I was chasing butterflies.  In the ice caves the amphipods looked like clouds of bees in a meadow full of flowers.  The seals played peek-a-boo, hiding in the chandeliers and cloudlike ice formations overhead, and twisting and turning with incredible grace.  There was one particularly silly one that was following me through the tunnels, playing with my fins every time I looked away, but shying away every time I turned to look at her.

This seal came a visited with Scott and Sylvain in the hut while we were diving.

Because I was focused on amphipods, I saw several beautiful but small species, some striped red and white, some golden, and a huge Glyptonotus isopod that looks like something out of a science fiction movie.  We spent our safety stop investigating the hanging brine tubes and incredible blue crystals just under the ice surface.  It was a long, and lovely dive.

Even before the dive I caught a few amphipods that were swimming around in the hole.

We got back in time to get ready for a nice Thanksgiving dinner. Our group of a dozen good friends gathered and walked over together. The galley staff really goes all out, and there was an amazing array of tempting and yummy foods.  We sat and ate and laughed and enjoyed and hung out and it was an ideal Thanksgiving.

Yum! We are so lucky to have such a delicious meal in such a delicious place with such delicious friends!

I hope your Saturday was full of laughter and leftovers!
Smiles, Stacy