Hello from the Frozen land of Antarctica! We're experiencing some technical difficulties with the blog and exceeding google storage space so, this is a short update until I can figure it out.... any google experts out there?
We now have patches of open water along the bay. The sight of moving water has been very peaceful and exciting since it bring with it tons of new wildlife that are eager to explore the seasonal hunting grounds beneath the ice. We've seen tons of Weddell Seals and Adelie penguins have started making short appearances. More photos to come on these visitors!
On New Year's Day, Aaron and I hiked around station and enjoyed a morning beside the open water. Our patience was rewarded with the sight of swimming Weddell Seals. They look like giant sea slugs on land but are so graceful in the water. They dive and glide like they are birds in the open sky with no obstacles.
This is MAAG - McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery. The Carpenter's shop put this amazing event of every year and invites the community to contribute their own original work to the collection. It was like an amusement park met with multimedia explosions. There were paintings, short films, photographs, interactive submarines, a bowling alley, and a recycled fashion show. It was awesome!
Our pal Michelle with her and her husband's piece on re-purposed trash here on station - a woman after my own heart!
The skua bird. These scavengers have been dive bombing unsuspecting pedestrians who may be carrying blue trays of food out of the galley. They're vicious and very intelligent. I've seen four different attacks thus far and they stop at nothing to get a free meal.
Our beautiful McMurdo sound with the seasonal sea ice that is slowly melting
Hiking with friends along the Hut Point Ridge Loop
The wind was really crazy that afternoon! Antarctica is the highest, driest, windiest continent in the world.
One more trip the Pressure Ridges - they are so beautiful and change often due to the moving sea ice colliding with the Ross Ice Shelf. The two masses of ice slam into each other along the shoreline and cause the ice the buckle and crack. So beautiful!
One month to go before we leave the ice and get to go play in New Zealand and Hawaii for a bit. More photos to come soon. Thanks and have a great week!
