Two days ago, we were sampling in the sheltered waters of the French Passage and had this wonderful encounter with four Humpback whales. Karen Pelletreau and Jen Salerno were able to capture the experience in this series of photos. Humpbacks are baleen whales that eat mainly krill and can be recognized individually by light/dark patterns on their flukes (the tail) and fins. Viewed: 665 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average	Sediment trap recovery. Sediment traps sit 350 meters deep and collect particles falling down through the water, which include dead algae and zooplankton and their fecal pellets. This constant marine "snowfall" nourishes the animals in the deep sea and pumps CO2 out of the atmosphere. The left panel shows the yellow "hard-hat" floats that keep the mooring array straight up-and-down in the water. The right panel shows Eric and Greg bringing the trap itself up out of the ocean. (left to right: Kevin Pedigo, Eric Hutt, Andy Nunn, Joel Lenorovitz, Greg Buikema) (Photos by Shana Rapoport; caption by Hugh Ducklow)* Viewed: 695 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average	One of the scientific objectives of the cruise is to conduct several 24-hour "Process Stations" where selected biological processes are investigated in greater detail. The seabird researchers jumped ship for the day, just South of Renaud Island, taking a Zodiac boat to a series of islands called the Armstrong Reef. There were around 10,000 Adelies in the area, along with several breeding giant petrels, south polars skuas and kelp gulls. Top left: Birder Brett Pickering leaps over the gunwale into the Mark V Zodiac. Photos and text by Hugh Ducklow and Heidi Geisz Viewed: 625 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average
This might seem a bit unusual (in fact, there are many unusual aspects of this photo). When your life for a month revolves around one small lab crowded with equipment and tired workers, all in constant motion, extreme measures are needed to maintain sanity. Enter Sheila. Sheila is more than a leg coddled in a red snude with a fern growing out of her. She is a constant reminder that it is not worth losing a leg over science. Sheila was part of a science test "smarty" (for she was no dummy) used to test the aggressiveness of Antarctic predators. Peter Horne rescued her leg and gave her a home. Picture by Heidi Geisz; caption from Dr. Joseph Gyzymski ("JoeG"). Viewed: 563 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average	This photo depicts the number of support people necessary for a successful CTD deployment. Cooperating via VHF radio, we have in the upper left - Jesse, on the bridge, upper right - Elfrem running the winch, lower left -Kevin monitoring the depth and other electronic information, and lower right- Greg monitoring the physical deployment. As Jesse strives to keep the ship exactly on station given variable wind and sea, Greg makes sure all the mechanics are performing correctly. Meanwhile, Kevin monitors the CTD depth and requests winch movement up and down from Elfrem as necessary. Photos and caption by: Heidi Geisz Viewed: 694 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average	As we neared the Antarctic Circle, we suspended operations for about 12 hours while experiencing winds blowing a steady 40 knots gusting to 55, with 20 foot seas. We rode it out, resuming operations the following day. The top picture shows the isobar analysis for 22 January. The black dot is our approximate position. The lower picture suggests why we cannot go on deck during a storm. Map courtesy University of Wisconsin. Photo from palmer Station image archive. Caption by H. Ducklow. Viewed: 584 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average
These cruises aren't all fun and games -- but sometimes they are. Some of our people brought musical instruments along and here they are getting together for some impromptu Antarctic Bluegrass music. From left to right: Peter Horne, guitar and phytoplankton; Nikki Middaugh, violin and biogeochemistry; Eli Loomis, washboard and phytoplankton, and Eric Hutt, mandolin and Sci-Tech, playing in our video lounge. Note also the nice new sofas and recliners purchased this season! On the wall above Eli is the portrait of our namesake, Laurence M Gould, polar administrator. * Viewed: 709 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average	Rothera Station on Adelaide Island (67 34 S; 68 08W). Rothera is the home base of the British Antarctic Survey, with a current population of 77. Each year LM GOULD calls at Rothera for a day of scientific collaboration and a big party at night. This year the visit coincided with a celebration of Scottish poet Robert Burns' birthday. Lower left: The science party relaxing outside the main building. Upper right: Raytheon techs Kevin Pedigo, Andy Nunn, Eric Hutt and Jamee Johnson, modeling their Robert Burns Night party clothes, fashioned from various blankets, cold weather gear and various ship items. Lower right: our Rothera colleagues engaged in a Scottish ritual. Photo credits: Nikki Middaugh and Anne Mills Viewed: 709 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average	Testimony to the prevalence of color in Antarctica, this photo shows one of the many icebergs that decorate our offshore skyline. Beautifully silhouetted in the midnight sun, the iceberg sits about one mile from the ship in this photo - a testament its size. Small, however, compared to the Connecticut size chunks of ice satellite imagery has captured breaking off the other side of the continent in recent years. Viewed: 612 times. Vote for this image << Vote >> Excellent Very Good Good Average

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