US GO-SHIP is part of the international GO-SHIP network of sustained hydrographic sections, supporting physical oceanography, the carbon cycle, and marine biogeochemistry and ecosystems. The US program is sponsored by US CLIVAR and OCB. Funded by the National Science Foundation and NOAA.
We have increased our basic CTD station spacing to 60 nautical miles, from the original 30 nautical miles. We kept to 30 over the core (and highest priority) part of the cruise plan. We knew, however, that when we crossed into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which we are now sailing in and along, there was little oceanographic damage switching to 60-mile spacing, which helps save time. The station plan includes runs to the continental slope with more closely spaced stations at the ends of the P18 and S4P lines. Ice conditions at the end of the P18 line (see attached file for today’s ice map) may allow us to make it to the shelf break, perhaps a little east of the intended line, within the time we will allot to that portion of the cruise plan.
The pace in the labs is now a little more relaxed. With a plan in place regarding how we intend to complete the measurement program (within the next two weeks), everyone is focused on simply getting the job done.
Temperature and salinity differences with the 1992 Ioffe occupation of S04P continue in a similar vein to those reported earlier: away from the western boundary, the bulk of the water column is a little warmer and possibly slightly saltier now than measured in 1992.
A major activity this week was the deployment of a 4 km string of moored instruments at a specified spot in the ocean for Xiaojun Yuan (Columbia/LDEO) and Janet Sprintall (SIO). Neither PI was on board, but because WHOI mooring expert Jim Ryder was along, they knew - quite correctly - that their project was in great hands. The specifications called for the top float of the mooring to be 100 meters below the sea surface - in ca. 4500 meters of water - plus the mooring needed to be in an area where the bottom was flat, and had to be deployed in reasonably good weather. We used the Palmer’s multi-beam bathymetric mapping system (managed by Chris Linden, RPSC) to map the ocean floor, then we did a CTD cast at the most likely looking mooring deployment spot to measure the water characteristics and verify the bottom depth. There were also a host of XBT casts and one more CTD cast associated with the mooring science program, not to mention the long deployment itself. Add a day of time lost to bad weather before mooring deployment, and you can see why this was quite an operation, and one we are glad to have completed successfully and now have behind us.
A highlight for the science team was tours of the Palmer’s engine spaces this week by Chief Engineer Johnny Pierce (“JP”) and his expert team of engineers. With two of the four large marine diesel engines powered up plus some of the electrical generator diesels, of course hearing protection was needed, and there are hot/dangerous spots to avoid. But ordinary clothes are fine - nothing will get dirty during a tour to the engineers’ nearly spotless work place, as clean and as orderly as can be. Wow!
Holidays can be fun on board, so April 1st got some special attention. Even better, some of us who were “fooled” forgot that it was April 1st, adding to the joy of the conspirators and the fun had by all. Check out Juan’s blog for the fun.
We’re a relaxed bunch, well-fed, tired of stormy weather, happy for the present good weather, and working together to get the job done.
All is well on the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim and Alex
Included with this email:
”” shows the planned P18S track to (and slightly beyond) the shelf break along with the 06April2011 ice conditions. If conditions stay much the same, our “P18S” track would run slightly east of that shown, in more favorable ice conditions. Ice coverage is currently ca. 100% in the area of Stan Jacobs’ moorings. We are not equipped to recover moorings in ice-covered waters.
Read MoreDear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,
We have increased our basic CTD station spacing to 60 nautical miles, from the original 30 nautical miles. We kept to 30 over the core (and highest priority) part of the cruise plan. We knew, however, that when we crossed into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which we are now sailing in and along, there was little oceanographic damage switching to 60-mile spacing, which helps save some time. The pace in the labs is now a little more relaxed. With a plan in place regarding how we intend to complete the measurement program (within the next two weeks), everyone is focused on simply getting the job done.
Holidays can be fun on board. Many of us have celebrated nearly every holiday at sea one time or another (Christmas and New Years included). We’re a bit short of holidays this cruise, so April 1st got some special attention. Even better, some of us who were “fooled” forgot that it was April 1st, adding to the joy of the conspirators and the fun had by all. Yes, they got me, and good, by pasting photos of my head on the body-builder posters in the gym. Chris Measures was genuinely alarmed when the deck tech told him “blue sparks” were coming out of his CTD when he turned it on. And so on. Check out Juan’s blog for more of the fun.
The Big Activity this week was deployment of a more than 4000-meter long string of moored instruments - current meters, CTDs, and the like - with floats, releases, and anchor, at a specified spot in the ocean for Xiaojun Yuan (Columbia/LDEO) and Janet Sprintall (SIO). Neither PI was on board, but because world-class mooring expert Jim Ryder (Woods Hole) was along, they knew
A highlight for the science team was tours of the Palmer’s engine spaces this week by Chief Engineer Johnny Pierce (“JP”) and his expert team of engineers. With two of the four large marine diesel engines powered up plus some of the electrical generator diesels, of course hearing protection was needed, and there are hot/dangerous spots to watch out for. But ordinary clothes are fine
During the mooring-related activities the Palmer crossed (and recrossed) the Antarctic Circle, which we had been south of until then. There is a long marine tradition of marking such events with “initiations” of the “polliwogs” who have crossed for the first time. Of course these affairs are now voluntary and fun (well, mostly). At any rate, our polliwogs are on notice that something is up in their future, and volunteers among the resident “red-noses” (those initiated in the past) are rumored to be plotting their fate.
We’re a relaxed bunch, well-fed, tired of stormy weather, happy for the present good weather, and working together to get the job done.
All is well on the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim Swift
Chief Scientist
NBP-1102 / S04P
Our decision to do a somewhat-shortened version of the 170°W section worked out fine. (We’ll attach a map to show you where we have sampled to date.) The weather was great, we completed the 8th (final) station 6 hours before deadline, and the data showed the features we hoped to measure. We then began a planned 50-hour steam to our next station. Half-way through we had to slow down due to the rough ride in moderately heavy weather. The slow-down used all the hours we had gained and then some, but we finally got back to work.
At our last station on the 170°W line a group of humpback whales swam around us - close by - for a couple of hours (See below). Although we have no way to know, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, swimming by in different positions, flapping fins on the water, making grunting sounds, etc. Just listening to their deep breathing was a treat.
As discussed in past reports, east of 150°W we widened our station spacing from the originally planned 30 nautical miles to 45. We plan to keep to this spacing until approximately 130°W.
If weather were ideal, we would deploy the Yuan/Sprintall mooring at 66.6°S, 136°W tomorrow afternoon, but that seems unlikely. There is list of planned events - bathymetric survey, on-site and regional CTD casts, the mooring deployment itself, XBT deployments along the path we steam - some of which can be in any order and some of which must occur in sequence. The team is very well prepared; all we need is good enough weather, which at present is in short supply. Watch for next week’s report to see how it all came out.
Well presented general information about our cruise is updated frequently on Juan Botella’s blog. Juan is a high school science teacher from Wisconsin who is participating on our cruise as part of the NSF-sponsored PolarTREC program. You will see that Juan is gifted at describing what we do and he is also an excellent photographer. Please see <http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/seawater-property-changes-in-the- southern-ocean>.
Life on board has been fine. We eat well (or a little too well in some cases). There are a few group activities such as a themed movie time. We were recently “killed” one by one in the stealthy tag game “murder” which is popular on research ships. (Juan was the winner, meaning the final “murderer” and last “alive”.) The cribbage tournament is into round two. And there are plans afoot for a couple of other group events or activities. Little things, but it keeps life moving along.
All is well on the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim and Alex
Read MoreDear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,
Our decision to do a somewhat-shortened version of the 170°W section worked out fine. (I’ll attach a map to show you where we have sampled so far.) The weather was great, we got the 8th (final) station done 6 hours before deadline, and the data showed the features we hoped to measure. We then began a planned 50-hour steam to our next station. Half-way through we had to slow down due to the rough ride in moderately heavy weather. The slow-down used all the hours we had gained and then some, but we are back to work in light winds, easier seas, and fog.
At our last station on the 170°W line a group of humpback whales swam around us - close by - for a couple of hours. Although we have no way to know, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, swimming by in different positions, flapping fins on the water, making grunting sounds, etc. Just listening to their deep breathing was a treat.
Some of you have asked for more about life on board. Juan Botella’s blog covers some of this. Juan is a high school science teacher from Wisconsin who is participating on our cruise as part of the NSF-sponsored PolarTREC program. You will see that Juan is gifted at describing what we do and he is also an excellent photographer. Please see <http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/seawater-property-changes-in-the- southern-ocean>.
The Palmer is 303 feet long and 60 feet wide. We work and eat on the main deck level, which includes the outside working decks, the “Baltic room” from which we deploy most of our instruments, 6 principal laboratories, marine tech shops, the galley, the mess room, and some of the food storage areas. The staterooms for most of the science and Raytheon team are on the “01”, i.e. one deck above. The machinery spaces, shops, storage, and tanks are below the main deck, and most of that territory is off-limits for good reason. Although there are other, successively smaller decks above - the bridge (“05”) being the top
There are a few group activities such as a themed movie time. Presently we are being “killed” one by one: a tag game called “murder”, popular on research ships, is in final stages. You are “killed” by the murderer accosting you in private with the Queen of Spades. If you correctly challenge the secret “murderer” before you are a victim, you become the new “murderer”, but if you are wrong, you are “dead”. Meanwhile the cribbage tournament is into round two. And there are plans afoot for a couple of other group events or activities. Little things, but it keeps life moving along.
All is well on the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim Swift
Chief ScientistL
NBP-1102 / S04P
We had a different sort of week than just one CTD station after another. First we enjoyed a transit through all sorts of ice, dodging zones where heavy ice would significantly slow us down, with a gorgeous sunset and moonrise. Then it was time to recover two arrays of bottom-anchored instruments Alex deployed during February 2010.
When we reached the first mooring site, Alex and Woods Hole mooring expert Jim Ryder (we are most fortunate to have him on board with us for our mooring work) went right to work. The Captain brought the Palmer near the expected location as they tried to communicate with the mooring’s release devices. Alex and Jim received only a weak, partial answer so began a search pattern, learning that the releases were more than a mile away from where they had been set down - perhaps an iceberg dragged the mooring sometime during the year. It was then too dark to try to recover the mooring, so we did a short line of CTD stations overnight. In the morning the weather was too iffy for a mooring recovery, so we headed over to the second mooring, about 32 miles away, to try to verify its location. By then the weather was seriously deteriorating and so we were able to do no more than learn that it, too, had been dragged, more than two miles. Further work was impossible and so we headed into the ice pack to wait out an impressively ugly storm. With blocks of ice being tossed about the sea surface in 60-knot winds, thank goodness we were safe on a sturdy icebreaker! When conditions improved, we headed to the first mooring site (the closest), where Jim and his team from the ship (our marine techs and the graduate students) recovered the mooring with few problems. Then we returned to the second mooring site, and in growing darkness its releases were acoustically triggered, and, voila, there was its blinking light beacon! The recovery was trouble free and Alex got back every instrument he deployed.
Readers who are oceanographers may be interested to note that during our lines of CTD stations at each mooring site we saw water at several hundred meters depth that was colder than the freezing point at the sea surface. This can take place when cold water circulates and is cooled under floating, very deep reaching Antarctic ice shelves.
We then had a long steam to the start of our next line of CTD stations during which the students and a couple of other helpers dropped XBTs every 30 minutes over the day and a half transit.
Cruise plan adjustments were at the top of our agenda this week. We get great advice from scientists ashore, but in the end it is our responsibility to manage the cruise. We started with a good plan and are keeping with it to every degree feasible. On the plus side, the station work is going great and we are spending less time in the ice than we thought we might when we planned the cruise. On the minus side we have lost more than 7 days to bad weather. The cruise to date included work of such high scientific priority that we felt compelled to complete it as planned, without reduction, and waiting out bad weather. But now as we begin the second half of this long cruise, we have decided to allot specific amounts of time to each remaining segment of the cruise except for a few “must complete, no matter what” activities. This is one way to get around the unknowns. The Captain is happy to work in a somewhat similar manner: within proper maritime limits he can allocate fuel in a cruise-segment manner roughly similar to our allocation of time. (As nearly all of you know, the ship uses far more fuel breaking ice than traversing open water, and also burns significantly more going, say 11 knots than 9 knots in open water.) Both of us plan when and where we will apply our resources and where we will hold reserves.
We have thus determined that we will have a go at the south-to-north line of stations along 170°W we had been prepared to cut just days ago. We allocated sufficient time to do 8 stations with average 43-mile spacing (but positioned to hit the deeper channels), and we will complete as much of it as the weather permits. Our section across the Ross Sea slope just NW of the major shelf channels has captured cold, fresh, high-oxygen bottom waters of shelf origin on the slope. The coming stations will track this water into the deep interior of the Ross Sea. Then we will move on to the next segment.
We are fortunate to be able to work with this superb team of technical specialists, with our enthusiastic students, with the expert captain, mariners, engineers, and support staff Edison Chouest Offshore provides on the Nathaniel B. Palmer, and with our experienced group from Raytheon Polar Services.
All is well on the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim and Alex
Read MoreReaders of the letter seem to especially enjoy the photos. Here are some additional photos:
Read MoreDear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,
We’ve had a different sort of week than just one CTD station after another. First we enjoyed a thrilling transit through all sorts of ice, dodging zones where heavy ice would significantly slow us down, with a gorgeous sunset and moonrise. Then it was time to recover two vertical arrays of bottom-anchored instruments co-chief scientist Alex Orsi deployed during February 2010.
Each instrument cable was anchored to a heavy weight on the bottom, with subsurface floats pulling the cable taut, instruments were attached to the cable, and an “acoustic release” connects the cable to the anchor weight. In the following paragraph note that to recover a mooring you must first find it (none of it is at the surface while it is deployed), and you must be able to communicate with the release device (done with coded acoustic signals). If those are both successful (by no means guaranteed), you need daylight and reasonably good weather to recover it, which means in statistical terms less than 50% of the time on this cruise. Of course, the long line of instruments will hopefully rise to the sea surface after the acoustic release has been told to let go from the anchor, and you have to be able to see it - not as easy as you might think. And on top of that, you need to be careful when you grab it and haul it in.
When we reached the first of the mooring sites, Alex and Woods Hole mooring expert Jim Ryder (we are most fortunate to have him on board with us for our mooring work) went right to work. Thanks to GPS, they knew where the first string of instruments was supposed to be. The Captain brought the Palmer near that point and they tried to communicate with the mooring’s release devices, but received only a weak, partial answer. After working the ship through a search pattern, stopping every now and then to try again, they learned that the releases were more than a mile away from where they had been set down - perhaps an iceberg dragged the mooring sometime during the year. Trouble was, it was now too dark to try to recover the mooring. So we did a short line of CTD stations overnight. In the morning the weather was too iffy for a mooring recovery, so we headed over to the second mooring, about 32 miles away, to try to verify its location. By then the weather was seriously deteriorating and so we were able to do no more than learn that it, too, had been dragged, more than two miles. Further work was impossible and so we headed into the ice pack to wait out an impressively ugly storm. With blocks of ice being tossed about the sea surface in 60-knot winds, thank goodness we were safe on a sturdy icebreaker! When conditions improved, we headed to the first mooring site (the closest), where Jim and his team from the ship (our marine techs and the graduate students) recovered the mooring with few problems. Then we returned to the second mooring site, and in growing darkness its releases were acoustically triggered, and, voila, there was its blinking light beacon! The recovery was trouble free and Alex got back every instrument he deployed.
Oceanographers reading this may be interested to note that during our lines of CTD stations at each mooring site we saw water at several hundred meters depth that was colder than the freezing point at the sea surface. This can take place when cold water circulates and is cooled under floating, very deep reaching Antarctic ice shelves. This was the first time I had observed such water myself.
We then had a long steam to the start of our next line of CTD stations. Alex brought along several cases of eXpendable BathyThermographs (XBTs), small disposable instruments which provide a temperature profile from a moving ship. The students and a couple of other helpers dropped XBTs every 30 minutes over the day and a half transit.
My chief responsibilities with respect to a research cruise have to do with (a) preparing a cruise plan ahead of the cruise, (b) seeing that an appropriate team with its equipment is put in place to carry out the plan, (c) monitoring progress at sea, and then (d) modifying the plan as or if needed. With respect to (a), I am guided by world class experts such as Alex Orsi, Kevin Speer (at Florida State University), Stan Jacobs (at Columbia University), and the members of the science oversight committee for the US Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat Hydrography program - plus many others - so that goes well. Item (b) is easy with this team: I am honored to be able to work with these technical specialists, with the expert captain, mariners, engineers, and support staff Edison Chouest Offshore provides on the Nathaniel B. Palmer, and our experienced group from Raytheon Polar Services. Item (c) sort of takes care of itself since we keep records of, well, everything. Then there is (d). I remind myself that “if it was a good plan ashore it is still a good plan at sea”. But what do I do when, by my accounting, we have already lost 7 full days due to bad weather? Yet, some other aspects - the station work and time slowed down in ice in particular - have gone remarkably well in our favor. I listen to good advice, and make a decision.
The cruise to date included work of such high scientific priority that I felt compelled to complete it as planned, without reduction, waiting out weather. But now as we begin the second half of this long cruise, I have decided to allot specific amounts of time to each remaining segment of the cruise except for a few “must complete, no matter what” activities. This is one way to get around the unknowns. The Captain is happy to work in a somewhat similar manner: within proper maritime limits he can allocate fuel in a cruise-segment manner roughly similar to my allocation of time. (The ship uses far more fuel breaking ice than traversing open water, and also burns significantly more going, say 11 knots than 9 knots in open water.) Both of us plan when and where we will apply our resources and where we will hold reserves.
I have thus determined that we will have a go at a south-to-north line of stations along 170°W I had been prepared to cut just days ago. I allocated sufficient time to do it, and we will complete as much of it as the weather permits. Then we will move on to the next segment. But no rushing, no change in the way we work. I’ll let you know how this goes!
All is well on the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim Swift
Chief Scientist
NBP-1102 / S04P
Photos this week include moonrise and an iceberg by Juan Botella, Wilson Mendoza’s photo of a line of Adelie penguins, my photo of ice and water at sunset, and Ryan Woosley’s and Juan Botella’s photos of a mooring recovery. In Juan’s photo, co-chief Alex Orsi is on the left, mooring expert Jim Ryder is left of center, and RPSC marine tech Barry Bjork is on the right.
Read MoreOn our first Thursday, March 17th (see below for explanation) we finished our planned line of stations 525 nautical miles straight south from 67°S (roughly the Antarctic Circle) to the Antarctic continental shelf, stopping every 30 miles to make measurements. This completes for the first time the southern end of a long transect of oceanographic measurements extending from Kodiak Island, Alaska, to Antarctica, known to oceanographers as “line P16”. This also completes a key portion of our intended work on this cruise, though there is a great deal more work to do. Data quality remains excellent, and all systems are working well, except that one of the two lowered Acoustic Doppler Current meters (LADCP) is out of service, limiting LADCP profiles now to downward- looking only.
See the attached figure, and its caption below, from Alex for a discussion of some of the scientific findings apparent when comparing the 2011 data with those from earlier years.
We have all enjoyed the good weather. The last group of 5 closely-spaced stations were carried out in highly varied and increasingly more impressive ice ranging from the smallest newly-formed frazil ice that “greases” the sea surface, to new “pancake ice” of various sizes (very easy going), to first (easy) and multi-year (try to avoid) sea ice, to impressively thick pieces of broken off ice shelf (impossible), to mighty icebergs (likewise). The Palmer’s mates and our expert ice pilot Vladimir Repin enjoy the challenge of guiding the ship through the maze of ice day and night. The Nathaniel B. Palmer’s large bridge has great all-around views and is The Place To Be when one has a bit of time off, though the weather has been so good that some have bundled up and to watch icebreaking from the bow or other points outdoors on the ship. The ice and icebergs provide many photo opportunities and we frequently come across penguins and basking seals.
We are at the edge of the footprints of both of the geosynchronous INMARSAT satellites (one over the Atlantic equator and the other over the Pacific equator) that provide our primary email communications, so email may continue to be a bit sporadic until we head back north to the S04P line at 67°S. Although we did our date line crossing some time ago we saved our day/date change to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (Thursday, March 17th) twice on the ship.
Our cruise is now approximately at its half-way point. We are steaming toward the sites where we will recover two strings of moored instruments co-chief scientist Alex Orsi deployed February 2010. We will then resume our CTD work with our third crossing of the Antarctic continental slope. Weather has been good to outstanding most of the past week, and during our few days in the ice all hands enjoyed the wildlife and highly-varied ice. New ice is forming around us, with grease ice consolidating in sheets and pancakes. Meanwhile we motor around magnificent icebergs and slab-like chunks of shelf edge ice.
We continue to enjoy working with our team at sea. This may be a very long cruise but with this team it is a productive and happy one. The entire ship’s company continues to work with expertise, efficiency, and good cheer. All is well aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
We have included Nancy Williams’ photo of an iceberg at sunset (See above left) and Wilson Mendoza’s photo of a group of Adelie penguins (See above right).
Jim and Alex
Read MoreDear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,
A few hours ago we finished our planned line of stations 525 nautical miles straight south from 67°S (roughly the Antarctic Circle) to the Antarctic continental shelf, stopping every 30 miles to make measurements. This completes for the first time the southern end of a long transect of oceanographic measurements extending from Kodiak Island, Alaska, to Antarctica, known to oceanographers as “line P16”. The entire ship’s company carried this out with their usual expertise, efficiency, and good cheer. We have all enjoyed the good weather and lack of equipment problems. The last group of 5 closely-spaced stations were carried out in highly varied and increasingly more impressive ice ranging from the smallest newly-formed frazil ice that “greases” the sea surface, to new “pancake ice” of various sizes (very easy going), to first (easy) and multi-year (hard) sea ice, to impressively thick pieces of broken off ice shelf (impossible), to mighty icebergs (likewise). The Palmer’s mates and our expert ice pilot Vladimir Repin enjoy the challenge of guiding the ship through the maze of ice - they can slide and power easily through the easy ice but of course must not hit the big stuff. It gets spicier at night, which is when Vladimir has his fun. The ship’s large bridge (where the ship is steered) has great all-around views and is The Place To Be when one has a bit of time off, though the weather has been so good that many have bundled up a bit and tried watching icebreaking from the bow or other points outdoors on the ship. The ice and icebergs provide many photo opportunities and we frequently come across penguins and basking seals. Icebreaker novices and old hands alike are enjoying this E-ticket ride (younger readers may have to look up that term).
As we worked our way south we edged closer and closer to the edge of the “footprints” of both of the geosynchronous INMARSAT satellites (one over the Atlantic equator and the other over the Pacific equator) that provide our primary email communications - we are so far south that even though these satellites sit in orbit thousands of miles above the equator, they are below our horizon. Sometimes we can “see” one of the satellites and the RPSC techs do a quick burst of email exchanges. In one sense it matters little - we are self-contained and have everything we need to complete our work - but we do grow accustomed to exchanging information, ideas, and correspondence with those ashore, and so the interruption reminds us how far away we really are here in the far south.
One of the oddities of working west-east (or east-west) in the Pacific Ocean is the date line. Most oceanographers and experienced travelers reading this are well aware of it, but many people ashore find it hard to understand that somewhere (i.e., the date line) the date and day of the week must change by one unit forward, if one is traveling west, or backwards, if traveling east. Indeed, we did that crossing (eastward) some time ago but saved our change to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (Thursday, March 17th) twice on the ship, once today and again tomorrow. (If we had been going west we would have skipped one day/date when we made the adjustment.) This does not affect the times we record with our measurements one bit because for those we use “Universal Time”, which was formerly known as “Greenwich Mean Time”.
Our cruise is now approximately at its half-way point. We are steaming west toward the sites where we will recover two strings of moored instruments co- chief scientist Alex Orsi deployed February 2010. We will then resume our CTD work with our third crossing of the Antarctic continental slope.
It is no surprise that I continue to enjoy working with our team at sea. I may have planned a very long cruise but with this team it is a productive and happy one. All is well aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer.
Jim Swift
Chief Scientist
NBP-1102 / S04P
Photos this week include a beautiful sunset/iceberg photo by Nancy Williams, Wilson Mendoza’s photo of two Emperor penguins, a photo showing several of the many ice types we see, a photo showing the view from the bridge (with second mate Brandon Bell and PO grad student Eric Mortenson), and a photo showing a group of penguins who are living on an iceberg, including a few living surprisingly high up on it.
Read MoreDear Program Managers, Colleagues, Friends, and Family,
We recently lost contact with the INMARSAT satellite the Nathaniel B. Palmer uses for email. My understanding is that this is related to the ship’s position relative to the “footprint” of the satellite’s coverage. Although email may be temporarily regained, perhaps in limited capacity for short messages such as this, it is feasible that we will not return to full email capability for approximately one week.
Emails sent to the ship are supposed to remain queued in the USA until full email service is regained, and are supposed to be sent then without loss.
I will prepare weekly letters and reports as usual, but will not email them until told by RPSC that our regular email service is back in action. Please excuse any delay in hearing from me and others on board. All is well here, and we are making good progress in good weather.
Best Regards,
Jim Swift
Chief Scientist
Nathaniel B. Palmer Cruise NBP-1102 (S04P)