Welcome to this year's blog detailing our field season at McMurdo Station, Antarctica! We are a team of biologists from Portland State University who study the fishes of the extremely cold waters of the Southern Ocean. We will be collecting fish from McMurdo Sound, an icy body of water that borders the Ross Ice Shelf at 78 degrees south latitude. Our studies are focused on the impact of increasing water temperatures on the physiology of these extremely sensitive and ecologically important species.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Bravo 308 on ice


It’s been a long week for the team as they made their southerly journey from one continent to another via another, but Bravo 308 has finally made it to Antarctica safely on a clear sunny day with balmy temps of +10F.




 
Today, Dan and Marissa are in Sea Ice Training (pictured right), where they will learn the mechanics of the daily shifting sea ice and how to identify and profile cracks to see what is safe to travel across.
The rest of the team is busy with refresher courses and vehicle trainings, but hope to commence 2011 field operations as soon as possible. Antarctica is a unique environment which doesn’t come without its dangers, so days of trainings are necessary to ensure a safe and productive season.

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