The McMurdo sign...behind you can see the sea ice. The smudges on the ice are buildings associated with the sea ice runway. This is as dark as it gets this time of year. The sun has dipped below the mountain range (the Royal Society Range) to the west but not below the horizon so there is no true dark. Eventually the sun will be up 24 hours a day.
Today we were signed up for our sea ice training. This is a course conducted mainly out on the ice, where we hone our skills scouting out cracks in the sea ice, drilling to determine their depth and deciding whether they are safe to cross. Our field sites are 10-15 miles from station, and we take either snowmobiles or tracked vehicles called Pisten Bullies to and from out fishing sites. Unfortunately bad weather blew in and our sea ice training was cancelled today, postponing our start to the field season.
This week, I will arrange with the station's field operations personnel to have our fishing holes drilled.
At this point in the austral spring, the sea ice is "mature", meaning thick and cold. It may be 10 to 20 feet thick in places, so although we can hand drill holes for fishing, we tend to rely on a diesel powered drill. We place heated fish huts over the holes and can comfortably collect fish for the entire season. I'll post pics once we get that scheduled and in place.
Hope all is well back home! - Brad
No comments:
Post a Comment