We left Palmer Station aboard the Laurence M. Gould and spent 4 days at sea — watching movies, reading books, and adjusting to the rolling sea. The trip across the Drake Passage seemed to go much quicker than on the way south. Once back in Punta Arenas it was nice to see the statue of Magellan once again in the Plaza de Armas, eat a “hamburgesa completa” at Lomit’s, and have a hot chocolate at Chocolatta.
After a few more days, and several plane flights, I was home again. It is great to be home, and to be able to reflect back on the great experience I had at Palmer Station.
I hope you enjoyed this blog, and learned a few things about life at Palmer Station, Antarctica. Stay tuned for the next trip…
Well, it is almost time to leave Palmer Station. The Laurence M. Gould has returned and today I have been very busy moving cargo between the boat and shore, cleaning up my lab space and the aquarium where I have been keeping animals, and packing up my clothes. It is sort of sad to leave this amazing place, and all of the good friends I have made here. But, it will be good to get home.
Last night I thought it would be fun to try and photograph some krill producing light from their light organs (photophores). I mentioned earlier in the blog that krill produce bioluminescence on their belly, and they most likely use it to blend in with the skylight when a predator views them from below. For more information on bioluminescence, check out http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/. The photo above is of Euphausia superba (Antarctic Krill), taken in the dark when it was producing light. The first two double dots are photophores below the eyes, then there are 2 additional sets of double photophores on the body, then single photophores along the tail. Amazing, isn’t it!! I was running around the station trying to find everyone I could to show them this great biological fireworks display! Perhaps one of the things krill are looking at underwater with their eyes is bioluminescence? The data I collected during this trip on the capabilities of krill vision can help to answer that question.
I saw a few people gathered outside my lab window this morning. When I went out to see what was going on, I found out they were looking at a little elephant seal on the rocks. I took this video of it. I wish I could have recorded the smell as well as the picture and the sound! Enjoy!
Students in Mrs. McLaughlin’s 6th grade E-block science class at Berkeley Prep asked:
“What is done with the salt from desalinating your water?”
I am pretty sure it is added to the freshwater waste that the station produces (from showers, cooking, etc.) and is returned to the ocean. That way, the wastewater we add to the environment is of the same salinity as the ocean water itself.
Students in Mrs. McLaughlin’s 6th grade F-block science class at Berkeley Prep asked:
“Which type of krill is your favorite and/or fascinates you the most?”
“Why do you pay attention to their eyes in your research?”
I like them all, but I would have to say the big-eye krill, Thysanoessa macrura. Its body is almost clear, so it can hide from predators, and it has a really neat eye with a part that looks up towards the sky and another part that looks down. See the picture earlier in the blog for a view of it. My research deals with eyes and vision, so this animal makes a lot of sense to study. All of the common krill species in this area form large swarms to help avoid predators, like whales and penguins. Vision plays a role in keeping the swarms together, so learning more about how these animals use their eyes will help us to better understand the swarms and how krill use them to avoid becoming a penguin’s next meal.
Experiments are coming to an end, but some more great questions have arrived.
Students in Mrs. McLaughlin’s 6th grade B-block science class at Berkeley Prep asked:
“Do you like being in Antarctica, or do you consider it something you have to do?”
Interesting question. I definitely like being here, and don’t consider it something I have to do. Rather, I consider myself very fortunate to be able to experience this place, and conduct scientific research here. Not too many people are lucky enough to spend time in the Antarctic, and even fewer get to experience this particular place - Palmer Station. In fact, I consider myself very lucky to be a scientist - I get to think up interesting questions about really amazing animals, then look for the answers. What a great job!! Being able to do it down here is sort of like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae!
“Has anything changed since your last trip to Antarctica”
That is a really tough question to answer. The easy answer is that every trip is different and unique — in fact every day seems to bring something unexpected. The harder answer has to do with location. My first trip down here was spent at McMurdo Station, which is further south. So, it was much colder and all the water was covered with ice as far as you could see. My second trip was also to McMurdo, but the ice had moved around, and there was still a lot of ice, but a little more open water, and with it some penguins and whales and all the little critters they feed on. This trip I am on the Antarctic peninsula, which is further north, and has been experiencing a warming climate over the past 50 years. Because this is my first trip to Palmer Station and Antarctic peninsula, it is hard to really see much change. People who have been coming here for years have definitely seen big changes in the ice, as well as the organisms that depend of it. It will be interesting to come back here in the future and measure these changes myself.
Students in Mrs. McLaughlin’s 6th grade C-block science class at Berkeley Prep asked:
“Do you prefer the climate of Antarctica or Florida?”
There are parts of both that I like. I like being able to wear flip flops outside all year round in Florida, but I love the sunshine and scenery of the Antarctic. Everywhere you look there is an amazing view — it’s hard to show you that in photographs, you just have to be here to appreciate it! It snowed today, which it has not done that often.
“Are scientists from other countries at the station with you, and what are they working on?”
At the moment, all of the scientists at Palmer Station are from the United States. In addition to me, there are people studying bacteria, phytoplankton, insects, and birds, as well as several long term experiments measuring the earth’s magnetic field, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and ultraviolet light. We did just have a quick visit from a Spanish naval ship. They joined us for lunch, and there were some scientists as well as the ship’s crew. I was talking with one spanish scientist who studies seals, and it turned out we have a few friends in common. It’s a large planet, but a small world!
I am trying to finish my last few experiments before having to pack up. While I was waiting for an experiment to begin, I took a little video of an Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba) under the microscope. On the animal’s back (dorsal surface) you can see the heart beating, and its gills (for obtaining oxygen) are the frilly things on its belly (ventral surface). The legs near the eye form a filter basket used to feed on plants in the water (phytoplankton).
What a great day yesterday!!!
I found a big swarm of krill and was able to collect a bunch for experiments. Above is a picture of the image from the fishfinder I use to find krill swarms. The fishfinder sends out a sound, and listens for it to bounce back. It gives you a map of what is below the boat. You can see the surface at the top, the sea floor at the bottom (80 meters deep), and a big area of krill in the water column between 10 and 30 meters depth. I towed my net through the swarm several times and came up with a bunch of krill. I was getting a little worried because I need to pack my research equipment up at the end of the week and get ready to return home. I hadn’t had much luck collecting krill the past few days, but I now have enough to finish my experiments!
Even though there is some light here 24 hours each day, there are differences during the day and night. Here are pictures taken from the same spot during the night and during the day. Enjoy!
Experiments are going well. Hopefully I can get out this evening to try my luck at krill collecting.
KRILL SUCCESS!
Well, sort of. After much work, I finally was able to find a krill swarm (a HUGE group) and net some Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). The swarm was pretty amazing…whales, penguins, and birds were all around feeding on it. I have a “fishfinder” on the zodiac that shows me the depth and size of the swarm, and when I see it I try to move my plankton net through the swarm. This is a challenging thing to do, but the fishfinder makes it a little easier — think about trying to catch a grasshopper with your eyes closed — that is what it feels like fishing for krill under the ocean! Above is a picture of me and two other scientists in our zodiac towing the plankton net, with a penguin watching. Anyway, I got some of these krill, and am doing experiments on how well their eyes work. While it is great to get these “Antarctic krill”, I still need some more “bigeye krill” for my experiments. Hopefully I can get some in the next few days. I have one week of experiments to go before the ship comes back to pick me up!
Another long day of trying to catch krill, again with no success. Lots of really cool plankton again, including a neat worm that lives in deep water…but no krill. Science can be really difficult at times, but you just keep on working and eventually things work out. I am still working hard to find the krill, but have started another set of experiments with amphipods as a backup.
More great questions:
Students in Ms. Pagoota’s 2nd grade class at Sherrills Ford Elementary asked:
“How close does wildlife come to Palmer Station? Are they approachable? Are the scientists in any danger from wild animals (leopard seals for example)?”
The wildlife comes very close to station. In fact, penguins and seals commonly come onto the rocks along our shoreline. The Adelie penguin above hopped onto a piece of ice, only to find the leopard seal laying there!! It quickly jumped off and swam to shore not far from me, where I took its picture. A diver was in the water filming the leopard seal. Would you want to be that close to the seal? Typically the wild animals are not dangerous — we leave them alone and they leave us alone. Many of the animals here are very approachable because they do not have much contact with humans. But, we don’t get too close because we don’t want to disturb their normal behavior. Sometimes, scientists need to get close to the animals to conduct experiments. The diver above is a good example.
Students in Ms. Sipe’s 6th grade class at Berkeley Preparatory School asked:
“Do you name any of your animals in your experiments?”
Sort of, but I don’t name them with common American names. They all have scientific names which are in latin. For example, the “bigeye krill” I am studying is called Thysanoessa macrua, which is latin for “small tassell, long tailed” and refers to the long legs and tail of the animal. It was officially named in 1883 by a scientist named G.O. Sars. I shorten this name to “Tm”, and give each animal I work with a number. So, the 5th bigeye krill I worked with on this trip was “Tm5.”
It has been a long day, with several zodiac trips to try and collect krill for my experiments. Not much luck with krill, but I caught all sorts of really neat plankton! This video is a pteropod or “sea butterfly.” It is related to snails and clams, and it uses its “wings” to swim! In the background you can hear people who are out on zodiacs talking on the radio…that is how we communicate when we are on the boats.
