[Sksouth-l] Getting it in gear

[Sarah Kaye]

Hi folks,

It's been a while, guess I owe you a letter. No big
adventures to report like last time, but that's okay
with me. I just got back in from a really nice walk up
the glacier and then around the Backyard, the rocky
area between station and the glacier. Not much wind,
sun breaks. From the top of the glacier I could see
the open water - it's out there, although the whole
area around station is still covered with bergy bits
and floating slush. We have some new neighbors: Gentoo
penguins, Antarctic terns, and skuas have all recently
joined our previous menagerie. I've got my tent set up
just below a ridgeline and on calm nights I can hear
the penguins chattering, elephant seals growling
(think a really big, husky giant with bad
indigestion), other seals barking, and birds hooting.
I like sleeping out but only once or twice a week
cause I don't sleep so well out there.

We did get our big boatload of science two weeks ago,
gaining most members of the science projects and
losing almost all of our remaining winterovers. The
station is so small that it only takes 8 people out -
19 in to change character. We're busy, people are full
of pep, and there's science everywhere. Science here
is a little bit easier on the brain than the projects
at the South Pole: it's all at a very high level, but
you don't have to get through a whole physics lecture
just in order to understand what people are talking
about. Here they're studying things like seabirds,
krill, and bacteria. Palmer is a big source of climate
change information because scientists have been
recording both weather and biological data since the
1960's, and there aren't too many places like that in
the neighborhood. Nobody argues with global warming
here, it's literally in our backyard: the glacier has
receded a lot since the station was built, and we're
even getting different penguins. The Adelies are
moving out and the Gentoos are moving in, both
shifting southwards. When the Bahia Paraiso wrecked in
1989 and released 200,000 gallons of oil into the
water half a mile out, species that were already
stressed took a big hit and haven't recovered since.

Well that's a downer. Um....  the good news is that
I'm having a great time, learning about the various
projects bit by bit by helping them get set up so they
can do their work. The people who come here are
generally interesting to talk to: some pursue their
work by doing sequential projects in different parts
of the world, some come back here every year. There's
a lot of work going on and also a lot of fun. Our
Halloween party was attended by many interesting
characters including Team America (characters from a
movie), Elvira, a valkyrie, Captain Zodiac (complete
with patch kit), our new science building, and of
course Elvis. This week, I was the guest bartender at
the weekly station cocktails: I found a recipe for a
drink called a Nerd, and they were a hit. So now I can
say that Nerds are popular at Palmer Station. What did
you expect from me, actual humor? Nope, you're stuck
with my dumb jokes instead.

Before you all go for the Delete key I'll sign out
now. Dinnertime!


Best,


-Sarah


		
__________________________________ 
Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page! 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs