Southern Elephant Seals

Mama

Papa

Pup

All 3 together
These 3 Southern Elephant Seals are currently at Bonaparte Point, directly across from Palmer. I skied in 20-40 knot winds up, to the right and down a glacier to get to the Point to see them, especially the 4-day-old pup. The Point will closes to foot traffic Oct 1 to decrease human contact during breeding season.

Home Sweet Home

On a snowy evening we arrived at Palmer Station, home for the next 6 months. There will be up to 44 people living on station which includes the support staff (myself, cooks, engineers, etc.) and researchers.

Palmer Station without the snowstorm. To the right is the "Boathouse" where the boating operations and scuba diving operations are run from. The middle building is "Bio" and houses the labs, some sleep rooms, administration offices and the galley.

Palmer Station is one of the 3 permanent US research stations and is located on the Antarctic Peninsula - the most frequented region of Antarctica by tourists because it is so close to the tip of South America. Starting November, one tourist ship is scheduled to visit us each week.

Smith Island, Antarctica Peninsula

This was our first view of land - Smith Island. Typical of the area, there are high glacial peaks abruptly dropping down to the ocean.

Breaking Ice in Antarctic

After 24 hours on flights and in airports, we finally arrived in Puenta Arenas, Patagonia, Chile. We spent a couple nights in port and then headed south on the Antarctic Support and Research Vessel LM Gould. The next 8 days we slowly sailed south, performing research and enjoying the travel south. As we neared Antarctica, our days were filled breaking ice, watching Fur Seals play "King of the Mountain" on ice flows and looking for penguins.

Denver, Colorado

The adventure begins in Denver where the clouds are amazing. The 3 days included extra dental training, orientation, and filling out paperwork at Raytheon - the support contractor for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and United States Antarctica Program (USAP).