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Miscellaneous
Bits and Pieces This
page
is for items that don't really belong anywhere else on the
project site. It'll include segments about living on a boat for a
month, or living on a remote Antarctic island. I'll also update this
page with questions and answers that people may send me |
Life on a research vessel So what is life like on a boat ? It's a lot like being in the military or working at a job with a very strict schedule. Meals, work shifts are all fixed so you don't have a lot of freedom when it comes to setting your own schedule. Most folks on the boat work either 8 or 12 hour shifts, and even when you aren't on shift, there's usually something to be done. In your downtime people read a lot of books and magazines and watch a fair number of DVDs in the TV lounge in the boat. We send and receive email twice a day via a satellite link so we can't surf the web! There's no TV or radio reception in the Southern Ocean although you can occasionally pick up a BBC shortwave radio broadcast. We have a small gym (exercise bike, elliptical machine and some weights) which is regularly used because the food on the boat is very filling and there are 4 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner)! Since the crew and ship are Russian, we get a lot of Russian dishes at mealtime which is a great experience. |
| Life on an Antarctic
island We are grateful to our hosts during the nearshore survey which are the residents of the Cape Shirreff field camp. These 4-6 men and women are scientists who are studying the pinniped (fur and elephant seals) and penguin populations on Livingston Island. They allow us to join them for a week of their 3-5 month stay on the island. Island life entails a lot of outdoor field work in a beautiful environment but without many of the comforts of home. It's similar to very rustic camping with great food and great people. Many of the field camp research assistants are recent college graduates. |
| Crossing the Drake Passage Typically, traveling across the Drake passage (the body of water between Tierra del Fuego (South America) and the Antarctic peninsula is a very rough experience. Waves that are 20' high are typical in this region. This year we had beautiful weather during the crossing and many of us were out on deck enjoying the sun in t-shirts and (a few of us) shorts ! You still have to secure everything in the lab and your cabin since you don't know when the weather will kick up. |
| Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ) Q: How cold is it ? A: Typical air temperatures are 1-3 C, however if it is windy or wet then it will feel a lot colder. Q: How long are the days ? A: We do most of our work around 60 S so the days are longer then most places in the world. Nighttime will last around 6 hours (or so). Oftentimes it's overcast, so even though there's a lot of daylight, you don't see the sun that often. Q: How do you get there ? A: Our ship leaves from Punta Arenas, Chile which is located at the southern end of Chile. This area is part of Patagonia and is next to Tierra del Fuego. It takes the ship about 3 days to travel from Punta Arenas to the Antarctic peninsula, however that can be longer depending on weather, waves, or tides. We travel through the Straits of Magellan and then pass east of Cape Horn (Cabo de Hornos) as we head south. |
| Links to other websites and
information National Science Foundation National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) |