Today we've been busy picking up the field camp from James Ross Island, it's been a little chilly, but after 4hrs we're just about done. Tomorrow we're swinging around another island to drop off a field party for a 3hr recon (to check out a site for a field program next year) and then into the Drake Passage.
Today my larvae experiment finished too, so i'm ready to pack up. Had a minor disaster yesterday too (minor only because I believe the bad weather has already majorly affected the experiment). The CO2 tank i've been working with froze up and leaked all it's gas into the coldvan. Into the enclosed cold van with no vents. I had one of the MSTs come and say there was a funny smell coming from in there. So I went to check it out. Indeed it was a funny smell, and after less than a minute in the van we started to feel lightheaded and realised what itwas. So us out of the van, big fan in the van and open door for ten minutes to extract all the CO2. The problem is it had already taken it's toll, all the larvae I have been working on sat in very acidic water for over 12hrs (because the CO2 had incorporated into all the water in all the tubes in the van, not just the CO2 tubes I had wanted it in), meaning the experiment was a little bust, at least for the last 24hrs.
Crunching through the ice at night. The ice got too thick at one point and we ended up going back and around a different route. The Gould is not an icebreaker, it is just ice-strengthened, so it cannot break through thick ice.
So it goes......
Crunching through the ice at night. The ice got too thick at one point and we ended up going back and around a different route. The Gould is not an icebreaker, it is just ice-strengthened, so it cannot break through thick ice.
The team hauling in the zodiacs to James Ross Island. I got the supervising position, as i'm still unable to lift with my wrist.
Forming the chain and tossing the bags into the zodiacs...
Ice off the bow.
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