Just A Post

It's been awhile since the last one, however, there's more posts to come. I've been busy at work. Homestar is, as always, the best correlation for my career in Antarctica.

Carry on.


http://www.homestarrunner.com/bestcaper.html

Just for Fun

more cat pictures

Work Related Stuff

Hi All,

I haven't posted much lately (read: not at all) as I've been a bit preoccupied with job searches and wedding related activities, but I'm happy to report that I started work last week at
California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. I'm supervising the pathology lab at the California campus, and learning the ropes. This is work that I've done before, and working at a complex and important (not to mention private and non-profit!) hospital is work that I find very meaningful and gratifying. However, it's going to seriously cut into my fishing time, pictured here on the Merced river in Yosemite a couple of weeks ago.

Volunteering

Hi All,

I volunteered today aboard the R/V Robert Brownlee, the vessel that the Marine Science Institute uses to gather fish and teach students about marine science. I helped measure and identify fish (flounders, sardines, and a couple of tiger sharks), and had a great day on the Bay.

Gigantor: Struggle at the South Pole!

Gigantor was my favorite cartoon when I was a kid way back in the 1960s. Posted below in four parts is Episode 1: Struggle at the South Pole!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc8ObvMTUOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbKqI65ejDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36EW9HvK1PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emC1sU1grPM

I wanted to just embed this episode here on the website, but the owners don't permit embedding.


Anyway, somehow it appears inevitable that I spent a good chunk of time working in Antarctica, even though my first time going there was random at best. In 1992, when I was working in Oakland/Alameda at the Naval Supply Center/Naval Air Station Alameda for Laidlaw Corp. as a field chemist, one morning at 0730 my manager walked into my office and asked me, "So, Dave, you want to go to Antarctica?" Looking up from my desk stacked with paperwork (after not enough coffee) I hazily replied, "Of course, I'd love to work in Alaska. What's going on up there?"

"No, Dave, South Pole. We're bidding on a contract there..."

More later,
Dave

PS: Of course, I accepted the offer and began my career in the USAP.

Hey! It's Mark Furnish on CBS!

Huh.

You never know what's gonna be in the news these days.

Mark Furnish is an old friend (and yes, my manager) from way back in the heyday of Hazardous Waste Management: ANTARCTICA. In the video below Mark explains the nuances involved with processing, recycling, and transporting all of the waste from Antarctica (specifically, McMurdo Station/South Pole) back to the CONUS. The bottom line here is that we should all do our best to recycle and reuse all that we can.

RIP, Sir Edmund Hillary

Like many of the folks who travel to Antarctica and parts thereabouts, I was lucky to meet Sir Edmund Hillary. He was at McMurdo Station in summer 96/97, and gave a great lecture in the old Galley about what it was like leading a traverse to South Pole and helping to establish the New Zealand station, Scott Base.
My one anecdote about Sir Ed is that when I went to greet him after the lecture we shook hands. In my hand I was holding the St. Christopher medal that I've had since third grade, and still wear everyday. This St. Chris has been all over the world with me, and I've sometimes loaned it out to friends to guarantee their safe travels. I also have a Kiwi 5 pound note that he graciously autographed for me. It's not often that you get to meet a living legend such as Sir Ed, and my world is much richer for our brief encounter. He was a great old soul.

Close Calls

Every now and then something happens which reminds you that life is short, and that you need to cherish every moment that you get on this good, green/blue/white Earth. Last night, while driving a friend home from the Cake/Lovemakers concert at the Warfield, Gwen and I were hit by a driver who was looking for street signs while blazing around downtown SF at 40+MPH, running a red light, and auguring into us on the passenger side. We're all OK, but it could have been bad. A foot or more into the intersection and I would have definitely been in the hospital. As it was, our VW Golf had to get towed out of the intersection, and my sis and her beau came to pick us up at the corner of Page and Gough. Finally, we all got home to reflect upon another close call, and with a hearty helping of gratitude, began 2008 with a nice bottle of champagne. The photos here are a reminder to myself of all of the wonderful things that can happen in life.

Be grateful.

Happy New Year!

We're leaving in a moment to meet friends and see Cake and the Lovemakers at the Warfield in SF. Hope you all have a great time this evening, and best wishes for the year ahead. What a year it's been.

Love, Raytheon

Hi All,
I received a much unexpected kudo from Raytheon in the mail yesterday:

Greetings,
Please accept this coin, pen, notepad, and safety kit as small tokens of appreciation for making the 2007 winter one of the safest seasons the U.S. Antarctic Program has had. Your awareness of hazards and eagerness to continually improve the work environment is critical for everyone's safety.

Just as the emperor penguins work together to protect their young, we too must work together to protect each other.

Sam Feola
Program Director, Raytheon Polar Services

Errata

Hi All,
The last few weeks have been filled with many small adventures, including the picture at left, where I took Gwen's nephew Damon fishing up at Lake Cuyamaca near San Diego, and last night's venture up to the Marine Mammal Center near Sausalito, where Gwen and I assisted with the care and feeding of a few pinnipeds. As most people are now aware, there was a fuel spill in SF Bay a few weeks ago, which sent approximately 58,000 gallons of low-grade bunker fuel into the Bay, just in time to mess up the crab season, migratory bird season (there are few things more sad than a bird flying thousands of miles only to be caught in a layer of oil) and the general atmosphere of what I consider to be one of the best places to live in the world.

Well. The best way to deal with this sort of disaster is to help, when you can. So we went to the Marine Mammal Center to assist our friend Lia with care and feeding of some seals . None of the seals there were victims of the spill, but help was needed, nonetheless. We had a nice time, and lo and behold, I ran into a veterinarian there who knew another vet from Santa Cruz (Dr. Dave Schuman, D.V.M) who was my temporary roommate at Palmer Station back in April 2007, where he assisted with anaesthetising seals for Dr. Dan Costa's work. A small world, indeed.

What a Month Can Do

Hi All,
This blog has been a really great exercise in writing for me, and though I thought about letting it stay as it is, an imperfect record of my time in Antarctica, I've decided that I want to maintain it so that I can keep up with the practice of writing.

Oh. And I also want to keep in touch with my people.

So here goes, an abridged version of the last month, with pictures, ta boot! Let's start with November 10th, and go backwards from there. It all started at the Swearing Festival at the Edinburgh Castle Pub in the Tenderloin District in San Francisco. Gwen and I were working the door at this annual literary event hosted by Alan Black, the proprietor of the Castle. Basically, the event is pretty straightforward: Local writers get up on stage and swear/curse in what is (generally speaking) a creative manner. My job (volunteer, of course) was to rubber stamp everyone with an identifier and assist Gwen, who was collecting the cover charge, with a bit of crowd control at the door. Easy enough, but all of the sudden there was a huge noise that sounded like a shotgun going off, and like the good First Responder that I am, I ran up Geary St. to the intersection at Larkin. An accident had taken place:









It had been raining all evening, and the driver of this vehicle had somehow forgotten the Cardinal Rule of Driving: Shiny Side Up. When I got to the accident scene, I sized it up and crossed over to the car to look for the victim/s, but the victim was all ready out of the car and walking around with his cell phone to his ear (probably the cause of the accident in the first place). I asked him if he was alright (he was), then waited for the FD to arrive.

Back to the Castle, and more swearing/cursing. The evening went well with lots of funny monologues and short skits demonstrating the human need to use the seven words you're not allowed to say on television (unless you're on cable, of course).

Earlier that day, I gave Gwen the beautiful engagement ring that I had bought for her, officially sealing the deal in her efforts to make me an honest man. We went out for a walk in the rain at Crissy Field, and standing near the Bay under our umbrellas, I placed the ring on her finger and told her once again that I love her.
More later...Dave

Welcome Back to the World

Hi All,
It's been a whirlwind the past few weeks, and I'm once again astonished and in awe at the places and experiences that living life can present. Just a few weeks ago I was living life at Palmer, and now I'm back in California, happily swimming and reacquainting myself with life in the good 'ol USA. The pictures here are a testament to how much things change:
This is me (above) at the satellite dome at Palmer Station. The picture was captured by the PRIMO webcam, courtesy of Phil Spindler, on 21 Sept. 2007. Now, here I am at Half Moon Bay (4 October 2007) wondering, "how cold is this water?

HAH! The water is about 52F, but as you can see I'm testing the waters before I jump in. I recommend jumping in.

The Drake Passage

Or as I'll think of it from now on, the "Straits of Insanity". We had a really rough trip across the Drake, but we made it back to Puenta Arenas on Saturday, October 1st, after staying in the harbor in a holding pattern, unable to dock due to high winds. We finally got off the ship at 7:00 that evening after being checked through Chilean customs. After a night on the town, most of us got on planes the next day to go home to friends and loved ones. Below are a few notes I made during the voyage, but by day two of the trip I was too busy trying not to fall over to write much. No seasickness for me, but I'm still feeling "dock rock" after being off the ship for four days. Oh, and I got my finger fractured after being attacked by a 45 degree couch in the ship's lounge. I'm now back in California, enjoying some some rest and vacation, and looking forward to catching up with everyone.

24 September 2007-Aboard the LMG:

My fellow winter-overs and I left Palmer Station via Zodiac last night and spent the night aboard the LMG. This morning we all had breakfast, and then the ship went close to the Palmer pier so that our friends from the summer crew could do the traditional Polar Plunge as each boat leaves station. Lots of jumpers this time, including winter-over Station Manager Eric, who has to stay behind and help train the new Station Admin., Chris.

The forecast for our crossing of the Drake is bad. Definitely going to have a rough crossing, but since I’ve usually had easy crossings, I’m up for it. We may make a stop at Deception Island on the way home if we’re able to get to Neptune’s Bellows, (pictured left) the entrance to the harbor.

25 September 2007-Aboard the LMG

It’s going to be a really rough crossing. We’re not even to the Drake yet, and already the waves are above 5 meters. The weather forecaster for our voyage back in South Carolina says that it’s “definitely going to be a rough crossing”. Happily, we stopped at Deception Island for about an hour today. This island is actually an active volcano, or, a “restless caldera”. It’s the only volcano in the world that you can pilot a vessel into. The island has a long history of human activity since 1820 including exploration, sealing, whaling, aviation, and scientific research. The entrance to the caldera is a 500 meter wide channel called Neptune’s Bellows, and it can be treacherous to navigate. A cruise ship ran aground there last year. We made it through the Bellows into Whaler’s Bay, which contains numerous ruins of historical significance. The Norwegian whaling station Hektor was founded there in 1912 and abandoned in 1931. In 1928 the Australian Sir Hubert Wilkins and the Canadian Carl Ben Eileson undertook the first powered flight in the Antarctic, taking off from the flat beach at Whaler’s Bay. In addition there is a small cemetery used by the whalers, and most interesting, an airplane hangar built on the site by the British in WWII as part of a top secret operation known as “Operation Tabarin”, an effort to combat Nazi warships that were attacking and capturing Norwegian whaling vessels. As part of Operation Tabarin, the British established a permanent base in Whalers Bay, “Base B” in 1943. Operation Tabarin was terminated in 1945, and Base B was turned over to the organization that later became the British Antarctic Survey. The station was abandoned in 1970 when the volcano erupted and destroyed much of the site.

After the LMG got situated in Whaler’s Bay, we launched a Zodiac, and most of the people on board got taxied to the landing on the beach, and we all walked around the ruins for an hour or so as the weather began to deteriorate. In 1969-70, numerous eruptions occurred in the caldera, and the British base was abandoned, and some of the buildings were destroyed. It was amazing to walk around and see a bit of Antarctic history. Just as we arrived a small group of Gentoo penguins was arising out of the water as if to greet us. They walked up onto the shore about 100 meters or so to lie down for a break. We also sighted one emaciated looking fur seal sleeping under the hull of an abandoned whaling ship, and one indifferent immature elephant seal. We left just as the weather took a turn for the worse, and carried on into the Drake.

26 September 2007- on board the LMG

The weather forecaster was right. We are getting into some rough ocean. Today at lunch the captain of the LMG got up from the table and said, “well, lets go get our asses kicked” as he proceeded to the bridge. He wasn’t kidding. The waves are anywhere from 5-10 meters, making it difficult to walk around, or sit down, for that matter.

Goodbye Palmer Station

Hi All,

In about a half hour I'm getting on board the Gould and sailing home. I'll be out of email contact for the next 4-5 days. You can follow the boat's progress through the Drake Passage using the cool web utility from an earlier post. I can't wait to see all of my friends and family, and hope that you're all doing well. I have to go now and say goodbye to all of the great friends I've met here.

Take care,
David

Winter Comes to a Close

Hi All,

Well, the R/V Laurence M. Gould arrived at Palmer Station on 19 September, and it was a beautiful sight to see as it came around Bonaparte Point. However, while we were tying the ship up to the mooring pins during some heavy sea surge, not one, not two, but three mooring pins snapped off. As I was assisting with installing the gang plank, the stern pin (the pins are 4" diameter steel embedded into solid rock. It takes ALOT of force to snap one off) snapped off, and we quickly disconnected the gangplank and the bow lines and the LMG went back out to sea while we scrambled to rig up a spare stern pin. The LMG came back to the pier, and we repeated the docking procedure...then again, while we were installing the gang plank, the two bow pins snapped off simultaneously, and we again quickly disconnected the pier lines and the stern lines and the boat set out to sea again. This whole series of events was unheard of, and the bottom line was that the boat was unable to dock at the pier because we couldn't tie it up with only the pier pins.

Plan B was set into motion.

All of the cargo was to be sling loaded onto Zodiac boats and carried to station, then sling loaded onto station with a Skytrack. SO, I went to work with our Boating Coordinator, Ryan, and two Marine Technicians from the LMG. We spent two days loading and unloading vital cargo. Call it Dave's idea of a perfect end of winter day: running around in a Zodiac playing Fed Ex Antarctica. Serious "Only in Antarctica" style activities. Below are some pictures which tell a little bit about my experiences over the past 4 days, which ended tonight with a birthday party for our station doctor, Shawn, and me in the lap of an old friend, Chris Hush, who started in the Antarctic Program the same year I did: 1992. Time flies by. For the last four days I've been performing turnover with my summer counterpart, Phil Spindler, and hauling cargo around by Zodiac. I'm truly exhausted, as many a winter-over can appreciate, but exhilarated at the same time, and I still have to pack up all of my belongings and get ready to get on the boat tomorrow. We leave for Puenta Arenas on 24 September, if all goes according to plan. But the plan is subject to change, as the past four days attest. This may well be my last blog entry from Palmer Station, but I'll update this whole story later when I get back to the States. I hope to see all of my family and friends soon, but I'll miss this place and the new friends that I've made here.

A Big Orange Boat

Hi All,

Linked here is a cool web utility that we use to track where the R/V Laurence M. Gould is located. Right now they're about 90-110 km from Palmer, but they're sailing through the Gerlache Strait, and there may be some heavy sea ice built up around that area. At any rate the boat was due to arrive here today, but has been postponed till tomorrow morning. It's slow going for them, but they'll be here soon, and some happy but tired Palmer winter-over folks will be sailing home next week.

Oh. And here is a link to the Polartrec website. The teacher on board the R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer for the SIMBA cruise, Ms. Sarah Anderson, interviewed me for her ongoing journal while the Palmer was here last week. It sounds like the SIMBA cruise will be able to carry on once the soot is removed and the damage repaired after the devastating fire the boat had.

A Warm Day

I know this is anecdotal, but it was so hot here today that after I turned the heat off in my bedroom, I still had to open up the window to get some relief. And there I was, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Granted, there were few clouds in the vicinity and the sun was shining directly onto my side of the building, but still...September is on average supposed to be the coldest month of the year. Global climate change, or just a warm day? Looking out my window directly across Arthur Harbor is a piece of land that was once called Norsel Point. It's now been renamed Amsler Island, as the Marrs Glacier has receded so much that its readily apparent that there's an island there. We're melting...

Countdown

Someone wrote this on the community whiteboard a couple of days ago, and ain't it funny and the truth. We're all ready to leave Antarctica and head north to warmer climes and see familiar (and perhaps unfamiliar) faces, perhaps spending some time lounging around on a warm beach or hiking through a forest somewhere. We're expecting the LMG to arrive here on the 18th or so, depending on the ice conditions, and then we'll have a week of turnover with the summer folks and then it's buh-bye.

Tonight we had our last Saturday dinner together, and as I do every Saturday evening I hosted "Science Happy Hour". The bar here at Palmer is self-serve, but on Saturday nights I get to play bartender and serve up some adult beverages in the galley, while our chef, Diane, makes some great appetizers. Usually I try to have a theme of some sort for the occasion, so tonight I decided to whip up some Pisco Sours, which is a traditional Chilean beverage consisting of Pisco, lemon juice, sugar, egg whites, and bitters. Since we'll be back in Chile in a couple of weeks, it seemed like a good idea, plus we made sushi tonight, and Piscos are a light beverage which went well with it. The sushi was incredibly tasty, and reminded me of my favorite sushi restaurant back in San Luis Obispo, Tsurugi's.
We also have a pool going, to see who can guess what time of day the LMG will call us when it gets close to arrival. Usually they call about an hour or two before arriving in here. I chose 11:00...

Penguin Extinction

Here is a link to an article I found on MSNBC earlier today. Bill Fraser, the Principal Investigator (PI) interviewed for this story, left Palmer shortly before I arrived in March, but it was his research I was supporting when I was weighing giant petrel chicks last April/May out on Humble Island. When I arrived here there were still some Gentoo and Adelie penguins to be seen, and occasionally they would even come onto station and hang around the pier. But as Dr. Fraser attests, the local penguin population is quickly dying out as a result of global climate change. The Adelie penguins at left, appearing to bow in homage to the skua, may be a thing of the past here at Palmer within eight years.