Week 12. Su 16 February 2020, 8:20 in the morning at Cape Shirreff Working seasonal field jobs is obviously quite different from following a typical career track. Every job studies different animals in different locations for different types of studies. Although I took wildlife biology courses at the university, being able to work in the field has honestly come down to having the right personality and being able to follow…
Weeks 2 – 5: Second week of December 2019 through first week of January 2020. Cape Shirreff, Antarctica. When you return to open the same camp with 4 of the 6 people who closed it in March, the definitions of time change. Being back for a third stint that wasn’t originally expected takes the peculiarity to another level. Some camp opening activities are the same, but others are different or…
Week 9 (?) Su 26 January 2020, morning at Cape Shirreff Somehow Friday marked the halfway point in my third season here at Cape Shirreff. Having experienced the glorious full length season of late October to mid-March my first year, these shortened seasons of early December to mid-March are difficult to fathom. The drastically lower amount of snow at the start breaks my spirit; there’s not enough for skiing to work,…
Week 1: M 2 Dec 2019, evening. Aboard the Laurence M. Gould near the Atlantic entrance to the Straits of Magellan The time was just before 01:00 when Laura informed me that I had 3 minutes before she wanted us to leave the hotel bar of the Cabo de Hornos and head to our new beds aboard the Laurence M. Gould. After a fantastic lamb dinner, we’d walked to Plaza…
Week 10: F 15 February 2019, 22:50. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica A few years ago I caught a ride from Fairbanks to Seattle on craigslist. Due to an unusual medical condition that kept him unable from easily getting around, the driver was offering a free ride in exchange for some help with driving and assistance with getting gas. We’d spend the few nights of the drive camping in his…
Week 9: Su 3 February 2019, 8:13. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica Imagine you’re sunk in a Kelty camping chair – the kind you spread open and sit in around a campfire – in a 6-man American Antarctic camp. From the coziness of your navy blue fleece sleeping bag (blankie), you’re watching “The Big Bang Theory” with your crew. Being 22:30 in late January, you didn’t need to close the…
Week 8: Su 27 January 2019, 8:13. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica #1 We arrived offshore on 10 December but didn’t move on-island until 11 December because the wind and ocean’s swell were too high for safe operations. #2 We’ve been busy, and I haven’t been doing any writing, journaling, or reading. #3 When I made my first trip to the intertidal zone to poop back on December 11, there…
Week 17: Sa 17 February 2018, 19:34. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica After months of careful observations and thought, I’ve figured it out. Between Antarctic fur seals, penguins, and brown skuas, I know which animal’s offspring-rearing strategy is the most appealing. Though penguins are diligent parents, they don’t offer their chicks any freedom. Their protection from skua predation is essential for the first 3-4 weeks of the chicks’ lives, but…
Week 18: Sa 24 February 2018, 15:42. “Little Chile” aka Guillermo Mann Chilean Base, Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica Here I am in Little Chile, proofing data in the depths of Microsoft Excel while drying my face of tears. The “Lord of the Rings” soundtracks are what kept me ticking through the studies of college life, and today they’ve carried me along through Rite in the Rain notebooks of data….
Week 16: Sa 10 February 2018, 18:18. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica Considering chinstrap penguins and gentoo penguins come here for the same purposes – procreation and chick rearing – it’s pretty entertaining to see the number of ways in which they differ. I generally prefer gentoos to the chinnies, but Nai feels the opposite. In terms of appearances, I consider gentoos to be one of the bird species I’ve…