Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Underway



Although our science starts near Palmer Station in Antarctica, the voyage actually began in Punta Arenas, Chile. This is because it’s easier to take large amounts of people and gear by ship than by plane from South America to the peninsula of Antarctica.

Our voyage so far (in red) and where we’re heading (in black).

We left port at 15h00 Monday and headed east through the Strait of Magellan. We’ll spend the next ~4 days crossing the Drake Passage. Along the way we’ll drop off some people who study birds (including penguins!) at Cape Shirreff and then continue on to Palmer Station. Until then we’re busy setting up our lab spaces, making final science plans, attending lots of safety/orientation meetings, and looking for wildlife from the deck!

Me and Jessica Fitzsimmons (Rutgers U.) watching us leave Punta Arenas.

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