Hump Day

Today is hump day, which marks the midway point of the voyage. It’s sort of a sad thing: from here on out, it’s just science science science and no more icebergs. In a week or two, we’ll have passed far enough north to hit warm waters and shorts weather, but for now it’s a grind: a 3-hour cast followed by a 3-hour transit to the next station, and repeat. Breaks are made only to accomodate bad weather or equipment failure; everyone is on one of two 12-hour shifts so casts and the labs can run round the clock. I no longer see much of the midnight-to-noon ‘night sprites.’

It’s sort of like the famed “sophomore slump”: the weather’s poop and presently there’s little to look forward to but more of the same. We’re back in the rough seas of the Roaring Fifties, which really is not like going to Starbucks, which I’d sure like to do.

Of course, as some guy in The Life Aquatic DVD extras was quoted as having once said, ‘an optimist is someone who sees the opportunity in every challenge’ (while a pessimist sees the challenge in every opportunity). And I’ve discovered a sort of awesome opportunity: there’s a neat option in computer Solitaire that lets you tally your $ winnings over multiple games. Vegas baby! It’s really really fun and I consider myself a lucky person for having found it.

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Here are a few photos taken during our exit of the Antarctic region.

Anthony’s Helium/Tritium collection procedure is pretty cool. The final step is to seal off a sample in a glass bulb (by using a torch).

The CFC sampler wears crazy gloves.

The crew blast ice off the deck with seawater.

This is the optical device that’s cast once a day; it measures the spectrum of light absorbed at different depths, which give information about the types of organic matter present.

The water near Antarctica was very calm, being shielded from currents by ice and the continental shelf.

During our exit of the Antarctic region, we would often find ourselves surrounded by dozens of icebergs. The crew found it rather stressful.

The neatest iceberg we saw.

Another neat one.

We were told to look for splashes on icebergs; they’re bigger than they ought to be.

During some relatively calm water, we sent a Zodiac rescue boat out with Chief Engineer Paul and 3rd Mate Favi. Why? For the scenic opportunity, of course:

(courtesy of JJ Becker) Iceberg! Dead ahead! Yup that’s our boat. We’re within 80 yards of the iceberg.

(courtesy of Jim Swift) ’Guins!