Boondoggles!

We've had lovely weather here in McMurdo. It's been sunny and unseasonably warm (18 degrees F/-9 degrees C). That might not sound warm to you, but with all of the sunlight, the lack of wind and the absence of an ozone layer, it's down-right balmy! We've done some great little hikes and Michiel is doing a 2+ hour run every Sunday afternoon.

Aside from the weather, both Michiel and I have been blessed with some amazing boondoggles. Last week, I was invited on an aerial survey of 2 emperor penguin colonies by DC-3 aircraft with a science group that has been researching emperors for over 20 years. The skies were blue and the views were incredible. We did much of our flying over the ice edge (where the permanent ice shelf meets the ocean) and the formations of ice and icebergs were fabulously beautiful.

The Cape Colbeck emperor colony hadn't been visited in 13 years and the last survey counted 5,000 chicks and 10,000 adults. The researcher, Paul Ponganis (from Scripps in La Jolla, California), didn't know how many critters to expect so he was overwhelmed when we found the colony and he estimated 10,000 chicks and 20,000 adults!





Cape Colbeck






Penguins and Poop. Very hard to get good photos with a normal camera!










Beaufort Island - site of a small emperor penguin colony (approx. 200-300)

Today, Michiel is out on a helicopter ride out to the dry valleys, an area of Antarctica that is situated in such a way that it gets no snow or ice. Photos from that trip will be coming soon.