flight to Antarctica: Take 2

Fri 8 Jan 2010

I am about 1 hour into the 5 hour flight now, and I am stoked on my seat. I really wanted to make sure I got a cool side seat, and not the more traditional middle seats that face forward. The potential problem was that we have 30 more people on our flight now who arrived into Christchurch this past week when we have been waiting/trying to fly out. I was in get-a-sweet-seat mode when I got off the bus that took me from the CDC screening area out to the jet way where the giant C-17 was waiting to take us to the Antarctic. I also wanted to get close to an electrical outlet in case I needed power during the flight.

I am also pretty happy about the people sitting around me. My new friend, Tara, a post doc with Dr. George Church at the Harvard Medical School who re-engineers organisms (microbes) to do what she says, is on my left, and Nishad (mentioned and pictured in a previous post) is on my right. Flying to Antarctica is tough....haha.

Dr. Mark Denny is beside Nishad, and I am hoping that increasing my time in Mark’s general vicinity might make some of his genius brain energy accidentally trickle through my ears and into my brain. Except I just realized that we are all wearing earplugs, so hopefully foam does not block brain energy waves.

Across from me is a row of sideways seats that face me, and one of the CBS reporters is directly across from me. His name is Josh, he lives in New York City, and reports for CBS and has traveled all over the world for his job. He’s rad too, and he is getting to fly directly to the South Pole station after we land (which I am confident we will do) in McMurdo.

The cargo on this plane is pretty funny. There are all of our bags palletized, which is pretty normal, but then there are several pallets of food, and some of it is pretty disturbing….why is there a giant pallet of mayonnaise going to McMurdo?

I am in Antarctica!

Kiwi Mex

Fri 8 Jan 2010

It is 5:45 am and we are scheduled to be at the CDC in one hour, so I am thinking this really might be it. I think we would have already received word if we were going to be out on 24 hr delay.

My Biomechanics module wanted to get a jump on our research, which I will explain in great detail in my next post (it has to do with anchor ice, a huge source of disturbance in the <30 m subtidal system, formation on various biological surfaces), so we spent most of yesterday meeting, reading the limited literature that exists on anchor ice (including several papers by Dr. Paul Dayton, a legendary marine ecologist whose early work paved the way in both temperate and polar marine ecology), and meeting some more to discuss research ideas and plans (more on group dynamics later). By 5:00 pm we were ready for a change in scenery so we headed into Christchurch to try out the local fare....Mexican food, HUH? In New Zealand? It was NOT my idea, and I was actually advised against Mexican cuisine in New Zealand. BUT Damien and Idan, who both lived briefly in Austin a few years back, have been really missing Mexican food (no doubt!), which is unavailable in Europe, and were desperate for this sweet sweet fare, so off we went in search of beans, rice, salsa, guac, and tortillas. As shocking as this might sound, it was actually really good! The guacamole was definitely the pre-made-many-moons-ago variety -- for you avocado lovers out there, you know how fresh guac has a darker olive color? This guac was the more fluorescent green color that only a packaged guac can boast -- but even that was pretty tasty...and it was spicy (not the guac, but the salsas and veggies). The funniest part of dinner was the pitcher of margarita we ordered. We were a table of 6 and thought a pitcher was the way to go. Also, Mario from Italy had not ever had a margarita and we thought it was high time he be introduced to this beverage, so the pitcher arrives and it is the smallest pitcher we have seen. It was all I could do to not burst into laughter.


For scale, pay mind to the bottle of hot sauce. This is Mario (left) and Idan (right).

Anyhow, we ended up being out a bit late, and missed the bus, but got to have a hilarious taxi ride back to the hotel (which is near to the CDC and the airport about 15-20 min from town).

So here we go....ice bound we hope!

still smiling

Thurs 7 Jan 2010

And no ice again today. We are on 24 hour delay. We were supposed to be on the ice Tues 5 Jan 2010, but had a 24 hr delay, we tried yesterday (Wed 6 Jan 2010) and had to boomerang, and today we are on 24 hr delay again (Thurs 7 Jan 2010)....fingers crossed for tomorrow (Fri 8 Jan 2010).

It is impossible to feel disappointed though. I am sitting at a table with 3 new friends and colleagues discussing biomechanics, the physics and ecological consequences of ice formation, and general marine science. We are from the U.S. (that's me), Austria (Stefan is now at Oak Ridge Associated Universities), France (Damien is at the Université de Nantes), and Spain (Idan will start May 1st -- after an epic climbing journey along the east coast of Africa -- at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA) in Mallorca). I am fully engaged beyond imagine...

p.s. I realize I keep using the same words over and over....exhilarated, exquisite, beautiful, amazing, awesome....I apologize for my unoriginality and lack of creativity. I am finding it so hard to put into words how I am feeling. Maybe I should try a different language...

Mis ojos nunca han visto tanta belleza. Nunca he sido tan feliz e inspirada.

24 hr delays: 2, boomerangs: 1

Warning: This is a really long post because I felt that I really wanted to try to describe what I have been experiencing….feel free to just check out the pictures lest you are bored to tears.

Wed 6 Jan 2010

As I type this we are en route to the ice, to the Antarctic continent. We were actually scheduled to depart yesterday morning. I took full advantage of my last true “night” by staying up until past 1:00 am waiting for my lost luggage to arrive, but at 4:45 am, when I had just finished packing up and was on my way out the hotel room door to head to the CDC for a briefing and to board the flight for Antarctica, the telephone rang and I was told that our flight had been delayed for 24 hours due to a large snow storm that was occurring on the ice. I was a bit bummed, but also happy to have another day to explore New Zealand.

At 6:00 am, the hotel restaurant opened for breakfast, and my roommate, Astrid Hoogstraten from the Netherlands (Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee), and I headed over for coffee. We were happy to run into several other grantees that were also feeling the need for adventure and to explore. We devised a plan over the potent New Zealand coffee to rent a car and drive NW up to Arthur’s Pass National Park for some “tramping” (this is what Kiwis call “hiking”). We sadly discovered that every car for hire (this is what Kiwis call a “rental car”) in the greater Christchurch area was being used. At this point our only way to explore was to hitch, a practice that is apparently quite common in New Zealand. The problem was that we were amassing quite a crew, and were not sure how the success rate of 11 persons hitching would fare on the highway.

I decided to do a bit of investigating and went to speak with the hotel clerks at the front desk. After a bit of chatting I somehow had not only acquired us a shuttle to use for the day, but it was free of charge and handed over with a smile and a laugh. Before I knew it we had a group of 11 and keys to the Copthorne Commodore shuttle. It was remarkable because the hotel owns 3 shuttles, one was at the shop, and they require 2 at all times. One of the clerks offered his personal vehicle to the hotel for the day, and instantly and simply the shuttle was ours. Amazing generosity and an appreciation for exploration!

I was a bit apprehensive to take this shuttle on the road, but there were plenty of folks joining from countries where driving on the left is the rule, so we were good to go. It was a glorious drive up to Arthur’s Pass through fields of green where sheep were grazing,

and then into the Southern Alps.

We had a bit of a mishap when stopping at a shop to buy a flashlight, and the shuttle lost some paint and got a bit dented, but otherwise we were no worse for the wear.

We had a chance to explore Castle Hill, an extraordinary climbing area on the way.

It took my breath away, and a few of us who climb had a tough time just passing by, but we’ll be back in a month and will get our fill of climbing then.

There were several options for tramping around the National Park, and 5 of us decided to take the more difficult route up to the Avalanche Peak summit. It was certainly worth the climb. We saw cascading waterfalls,

beautiful vistas,

interesting looking trees,

and lots of the NON-volcanic rock (thanks, Berto! I think it is actually slate.) that the Alps are made from.

When we reached the summit we were rewarded with a breathtaking 360^o view,

the sight of a glacier,

and 3 overly friendly Keas, alpine parrots that only inhabit the upland and mountainous areas on New Zealand’s South Island.

The climb down was fast, and equally beautiful.  It even included a snowball fight with my new mountain goat-esque friend, Idan. On the way to the bottom of the peak I was completely overtaken by the beauty and vastness before my eyes. I found myself alone on a ridge, 900 m above the river below, with my heart bursting with love and contentment. I had to stop and take a seat to fully soak in the energy of what I was feeling.

Being on the ridge top yesterday, and really feeling the exquisitely beautiful landscape down to the core of my bones, allowed me to find myself once more. What I was seeing before my eyes, although it was not a vast ocean, was the reason...the reason I have spent the past 11 years getting trained in graduate school to become the best marine ecologist I can be. Knowing that in some small way that I might be able to contribute to the preservation of even one living creature or a tiny bit of land is enough.

Sunburned and exhilarated we headed back to Christchurch for what was to (hopefully) be our real last “night.”

This morning (still Wed 6 Jan 2010) I awoke feeling more excited than I can ever remember, knowing that I was headed to the Antarctic continent.

Remembering the lessons I had been taught by the rocks and trees, I felt exhilarated to have the opportunity to learn about the Antarctic, to conduct research in the Antarctic, and to interact with the brilliant minds that surround me. I am sitting on a U.S. Air Force C-17 plane

with Sir David Attenborough, one of my heroes,

a BBC film crew heading down to the ice to make a documentary film about Polar research, including Alastair Fothergill, the producer of Planet Earth and Blue Planet, many MANY well known and respected marine scientists that I have looked up to for so very long (this is Dr. Mark Denny from the Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station who was actually my Ph.D. advisor's (Dr. Brian Gaylord) Ph.D. advisor...I guess that would make him my academic grandfather-?),

and my extremely talented and diverse peers in the course. I am feeling over taken and overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness.

p.s. We have been flying for about 4.5 hours and I just got to look out of the small circular window and see the Antarctic continent for the first time. It is indescribably beautiful. It is a bright, sunny day; there are almost no clouds in the sky. The Transantarctic Mountain Range is unlike any mountain range I have ever seen. It is so exquisite that it looks fake, make believe.

This note requires more than just a postscript. We have been circling over the Antarctic continent for 20 min, and were just told that we are going to “boomerang,” which means that we are turning around to head back to New Zealand because the weather on the ground is preventing a safe landing and/or the ability of vehicles to come out and get us off of the ice and into shelter. This is what traveling to the Antarctic is all about. It is not an easy place to reach, even with our 21^st century advances in technology. It took explorers 47 years of truly active searching to discover that this land mass even existed, and that is not counting the many years before Cook’s expeditions in 1772 and 1773 when he spotted his first “ice island” (iceberg) and crossed the Antarctic Circle for the first time, when expeditions roamed the icy waters of the Southern Ocean. Now we have been delayed 24 hours, and have now experienced a boomerang. We were scheduled to be on the ice Tuesday (yesterday) afternoon and at this point we are hoping for Thursday (tomorrow) evening. Getting off the ice can be just as unpredictable. This is part of polar research! We came VERY close to standing on the continent, I have the pictures to prove it, but instead I will soon be arriving in Christchurch for the second time in one week. The record for boomerangs in one week is 7; positive thinking leads me to believe I will be on the ice by the end of the week.

Christchurch, New Zealand and more Antarctica prep

It is hard to believe that the time has (nearly) arrived. In a few hours we will get shuttled over to the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) to board our flight for the ice...hopefully. Weather could hold us back from taking off, or we could "boomerang" which happens when a flight takes off from Christchurch bound for the ice and has to turn around mid flight due to weather turning bad in Antarctica.


I have spent the last 2 days in Christchurch, New Zealand, the portal to the US McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This picture is of another grantee, Nishad, a graduate student at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, and I in front of the Robert Falcon Scott statue in downtown Christchurch. Scott was a British Royal Navy officer and number 2 to reach the South Pole on 17 January 1912.

We arrived into New Zealand without too much trouble, although my luggage did not arrive until about an hour ago, a small price to pay for this opportunity. The past 2 days here have been a nice time to get to know the other grantees in the course. There are graduate students, post docs, and some early faculty members participating, and they hail from Spain, Italy, China, Sweden, England, Wales, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, France, The Netherlands, Canada, the U.S...an extremely diverse and interesting group of scientists. I am feeling extraordinarily blessed to be surrounded by these individuals.


This morning we went to the CDC to get briefed on how Antarctica "works" (the first of many briefings we will have over the next 2-3 days) and to try on and get-to-know our Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear. I now have 2 bags stuffed full of fleece and down...and of course, my bunny boots.

This afternoon 5 of us decided we needed to get our fill of foliage and warmth, so we went a bit out of Christchurch for a hike in the nearby port town of Lyttelton on the Banks Peninsula, which has super cool geography actually (check out this map). I really like all the bays, and want to explore more here when we get back from the ice, especially the French town of Akaroa. It was really disorienting once we hiked up to the top of this hill on the Bridle Path and looked down into the harbour at all the bays. Being confused in a new place can be nice sometimes.

This picture is looking out towards Sumner Beach (not labeled on the map unfortunately but east-ish of the harbour). Sumner Beach was going off (=BIG WAVES) and then we read in the paper that 8 different people had to be rescued and one fellow died. CraZY!

This picture is of the much calmer Lyttelton Harbour.

The weather in New Zealand, at least in the summer, is confused. It does not know if it wants to be very sunny and warm, windy, downpouring rain, or overcast. I suppose the extreme diversity in weather is nice before heading to the ice...maybe the US Antarctic Program chose Christchurch as the portal for this reason. Fill us with as many different types of weather as possible in a very short amount of time to help with our mental well being on the ice?? I got both sunburnt, very cold, and drenched today. It was a very good day.


For the course, we were split up into groups of 5 (there are 25 of us total) and paired with one of the 5 professors affiliated with the course for our research we will conduct. I am in the biomechanics/environmental physics group with Drs. Mark Denny and Jim Leichter. My group is fantastic and academically diverse.


I should have been asleep many hours ago, but I am too excited....


Hopefully the next time I write it will be from the ice.

exploration

Following the advice of a friend who spent 2 seasons on the ice, I have been filling my brain with as many tales of Antarctic adventure and exploration as possible. Luckily there is a phenomenal library system in Sonoma County, and I head to the nearby library weekly to pick up new books to read and movies to watch. It is hard to believe that in 2 weeks I will be headed to the same place, where 98 years ago (as of yesterday), 2 men and their crews raced to reach the South Pole first. It ended up that the Norwegians beat the Brits by a mere 34 days. Roald Amundsen and his party were the first humans to successfully reach the pole on December 14, 1911. The second group, led by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, reached the pole on January 17, 1912, and sadly, on their way back, Scott and his party perished. Both of Scott's huts are located not too far from McMurdo Station where I will be based, and both are well preserved and still hold many artifacts.

prep for Antarctica

I am gearing up to head to Antarctica on about Dec 31 (we do not get our actual deployment date until 2 weeks out) to participate in the NSF-sponsored Antarctic Biology Course, and part of the preparation includes a lot of medical and dental exams. Today my teeth were x-rayed.