Random Tidbits
Week 15: Tr 1 February 2017, 23:21. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica
SDH: It’s what I call the fur seal puppies that are especially Small, Dark, and Handsome.
2 January: Today Doug, Adam, Sam, Nai, and I had face-to-face interactions with about 10 new people for the first time since we were dropped off on 24 October. Doug and Sam somehow knew how to have conversations with strangers. The other 3 of us hung back, being unsure of what to say. I think we were torn between the feelings of “Get off our island,” “Thanks for the goodies,” and “Who are you?”
It was interesting to see their faces react to being on Antarctic soil for the first time; seeing their reactions to nearby penguins and the crabeater seal sleeping on the beach was fun. It seemed like AGES ago that I’d first landed at the Cape and looked around in rather clueless wonder. I’ve learned so much since then!
The Laurence M. Gould (LMG) arrived with fresh produce, milk, propane, Christmas and care packages, and another pinniped researcher, Mike. Fortunately Nai was busy restocking our “freshies” room as we brought boxes up from the beach; otherwise we wouldn’t have received our tomatoes, zucchini, bananas, apples, or milk. Those losses would have been heartbreaking. The LMG left with all of our trash from the first half of the season. Fair trade, right?
4 January: This was the day I decided enough was enough with constant sniffing and instead began to practice a more efficient technique of clearing the nose: the snot rocket. Most of the crew has done it since the early days, and now I’ve joined the ranks. With such a humid environment and varying levels of wind that make for a perpetually runny nose, the snot rocket is a lifesaver.
8 January: Today I started to panic because it felt like the season was practically over – even with 2+ months to go.
12 January: Date of the storm that brought snow and a top wind speed of 67 mph. Nai and I somehow managed to walk home – most of the time INTO that wind.
29-31 January: Baking accomplishment – Other than the flour Nai used in the crust of a delicious pear tart, I singlehandedly killed a 5 pound bag of flour in 3 days. To do so I baked a batch of my Grandma’s rolls (experimenting a little by substituting some rye flour), a batch of maple walnut blondies, a batch of coconut rolls, and a boule of sourdough. Baking bread is the best!
31 January: I have taken on the task of keeping Mike’s sourdough alive, which is an arena of baking I hadn’t explored in the past. Mike, the primary pinniped researcher who was in camp from 2 January through 26 January, knows how to bake beautiful boules of sourdough. Following in his footsteps means I have to fill some big baking shoes. Somehow I managed to produce my own well-risen boule on my very first attempt! When I pulled off the lid of the Dutch oven at the halfway point of baking, my jaw dropped to see that it had actually risen. Following the Tartine (San Fran-based) recipe was so different from anything I’d done in the past that I didn’t actually think I’d end up successful. It was a proud moment at 00:20 when I pulled it out of the oven.
1 February: The season of false snow has begun! Chinstrap penguins are beginning to molt, so feathers will be in the air for the next few weeks.
1 February: Today I made real progress with the fur seal puppies. At one stop on my skua rounds I convinced a few pups to sniff my trekking pole. When I encountered the next group of puppies, I sat down and encouraged 4 puppies to leave their safe swimming hole to come check me out. 2 of them sniffed the pole and then checked out the soles of my boots. Naturally that’s when my camera battery died. Still, it was an adorable moment.
The best interaction of the day came on Chungungo Beach. 2 puppies came running toward me as I passed by, so I sat down and asked them to come play. The first sniffed the pole and then my boots before deciding he wasn’t sure. As he backed off, a smaller pup decided the boots might be safe. While I was “distracted” by that cute face, the first pup circled wide around me before chancing a sniff of my backpack and butt. I got a butt sniff! I call that winning.