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| W E E K 8 |
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Male seal maintaining and guarding the breathing hole
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Dr. Kanatous keeping the older Weddell Seal under control.
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We leave our lab and head down the hallway of the Crary Lab Building. You can see that we keep our ECW gear outside the lab. For us there are two reasons to do this: (1) easier to keep the bulky gear outside the lab and (2) it gets a little stinky working with all those seals!
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We then turn right and head down the long hallway to the outside. Dr. Trumble is walking down the hallway in front of me. This is a pretty steep angle and the walk up it on the way back to the lab is quite a workout. Who needs a stairmaster when you have to walk up this hallway in ECW gear!
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At the bottom of the hallway is a little room where you can put on the rest of your ECW gear like your balaclava, second set of mittens, etc. Notice the door to the outside. It is a door that you would find on a big walk-in freezer. The first time I saw this it made me laugh because it really is like you are walking into a big freezer!
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We then have to make the long trek to our snowmobiles. In addition to wearing our ECW gear we also have to carry extra ECW gear, water, snacks, two-way radios and of course, our cameras. Dr. Trumble is seen here making the walk to the 'ice transition'.
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The 'ice transition' is the area just outside of McMurdo. It is on the sea ice and is where we keep the snowmobiles. As you can see, Dr. Trumble is still rumbling along!
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After taking the cover off the snowmobiles, checking all the components (to make sure nothing fell off the last time we were out) and radioing 'Mac-OPs' to let them know where we are going and when we will be back, we head off the 'ice transition' and take Cape Evans Track to the Erebus glacier/ Tent Island area.
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Although it is a beautiful day, the peak of Mt. Erebus is covered in clouds. Tent Island is on the left.
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When we get to the sampling site (in this case, the Erebus glacial tongue), we scout the area to find seals of the appropriate age and sex. Notice the seals lying on the ice in front of us and the pressure ridges on the right that are created when the Erebus glacier pushes against the sea ice. You can also see Tent Island in the background.
It was pretty windy on this day and I almost lost my gloves taking this picture! |
Dr. Trumble (left) and Dr. Kanatous (right) trying to keep pace with me (running backwards and taking pictures :-).
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Rebel Runners of 2005.
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Weddell seal pup with mother.
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Icicles forming on pressure ridge cracks.
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Polar Science www.polarscience.ca info@yesican-science.ca |
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