This year, as I prepare to return to Antarctica (I’m leaving just one week from today!), I’m thinking not only about what clothes to take and what science to plan, but also about how to share my adventures with others. Sure, I can write blogs and post pictures, but generally only my friends and family follow me. This year, I wanted my stories to reach a wider audience. Fortunately, I was able to turn to Peter Goff, my former biology teacher and colleague, who works at the Vermont Commons School in South Burlington, VT. Over the next six weeks, Peter’s 8th grade class, plus other members of the Vermont Commons community, will be following my blog posts and asking me questions about life and science in Antarctica. I hope they’ll gain an appreciation for the field research we do, and I know I’ll be learning a lot by answering their questions.
So, welcome, Flying Turtles!! It’s wonderful to have you here. I am looking forward to staying in touch and hearing all of your questions. I thought I’d begin by explaining a bit why I’m going to Antarctica and then how I get there!
First, the why: My adviser, Dr. Ross Virginia, has been traveling to Antarctica for almost two decades to study the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the largest ice-free area on the Antarctic continent. It’s so dry in the Dry Valleys (creative name, huh?) that there is no ice covering the landscape; instead, the ground is bare rock and till (sediment left behind by glaciers – something that you 8th graders will be learning about soon!). So why does an ecologist travel to this desolate place? Well, there’s actually life in just about every part of the Dry Valley ecosystem: in the soil, in the streams and lakes, and even on top of the glaciers!
Scientists come here to study how life can survive in extreme environments. They also come here because, relatively speaking, the ecosystem is not that complex. Remember drawing food webs that end up looking like giant balls of spaghetti? Well, here in the Dry Valleys, there are only a few teeny tiny organisms, so the food web isn’t that complicated.
My adviser, along with numerous other scientists, have collected an impressive amount of data on how the Dry Valley ecosystem works – including the glaciers, streams, soils, and lakes. This project is becoming especially important as climate change threatens to alter how the ecosystem functions. Stay tuned for future blogs describing my little piece of this big project.
Okay, now how do I get there? On Christmas Eve I fly out of the Burlington airport, just as if I were going to visit family (only I’ll have the biggest duffle bag you’ve ever seen full of all my winter gear). After Burlington to Philadelphia to Los Angeles, I meet up with other members of my science team. Then it’s the big flight: 15 hours from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia. At some point during those painful 15 hours, Christmas will come and go – as I cross the International Date Line, poof! it’ll be December 26. In Sydney, bleary-eyed and confused, we’ll get on our last flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. That’s where the fun begins. We’ll spend a few days in Christchurch recovering from our travels and getting our Extreme Cold Weather gear. Stay tuned for the next blog describing the final leg of the journey: our military flight from Christchurch to Antarctica!
But first, think of me on Christmas morning, somewhere en route to Christchurch, New Zealand!
It’s terrific that you can give back and share your Antarctic experiences with Vermont Commons. Good luck with the long journey south.
How cold is it? What is the name of the clostest station? I’ve heard of some stations recording -100 degree temps! Are the penguins cute?
Hi Sevi and Lexi! It might be hard to believe, but it’s actually much warmer in Antarctica right now than it is in Vermont! It’s summer here, so we’ve been having warm and sunny weather: right now it’s 32 F, 23 F with windchill. Yesterday it got up to 41 F! However, 844 miles away at the South Pole, it’s a little colder: right now it’s -29 F with windchill. And yes, the South Pole gets super cold during the winter (our summer).
I’m currently at McMurdo station. Scott Base (New Zealand station) is only 4 km away.
I haven’t seen any penguins yet this year. The ones I saw last year were very cute!
Do you have cute sled dogs? What does it feel like to do something unusual and unique being so remote? Can you name other survival tests you have done? How is the South Pole different from the North Pole?
Unfortunately, no cute sled dogs here in McMurdo.
Your second question is interesting — being here, surrounded by other people, makes it seem like going to Antarctica isn’t that unusual. When I come home and talk to people who have never been — that’s when I remember that I’ve done something that most people never will. And with high speed internet, it doesn’t actually feel that remote!
The South Pole is really different from the North Pole geographically. The South Pole is in the middle of the Antarctic continent, which means that under all the ice, there is actual land. The North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, so underneath the ice there is water. Of course, there are many other differences as well — penguins vs. polar bears to name one!
Thanks for your great questions!
In the Dry Valleys, how many critters per square mile?
Wow, that’s a great question, Caleb! Definitely a hard one to answer. When you look around in the Dry Valleys, you can’t see anything. But when we look at one scoop of soil, we can see a few hundred nematodes (microscopic worms). While this sounds like a lot, it’s way less than in a Vermont soil. In a Vermont soil, there would be too many critters to count in just one scoop!
What is the hardest part of living in Antarctica?
What made you want to study this topic?
Good question, Emma! On a day-to-day basis, it doesn’t actually feel that hard to live in Antarctica at McMurdo Station. We have a lot of the typical comforts of life. However, there are a few things that make it different. First, we’re far away from our friends and family — that does make it hard. And being so far away also means that running a town here is difficult logistically (I’ll explain in a later blog post). It also means that if something were to go wrong, it would be a long trip back to help.
I’ve always been interested in cold climates. Growing up in Vermont, I spent a lot of time outside in the snowy mountains. After my first trip to Northern Canada, I decided I wanted to keep going back. That, combined with my interest in science (which started back at VCS), made me jump at the opportunity to do research in Antarctica.
what kind of plane did you fly in on
-aiden
You’ll find out in my next blog post! 🙂
What is your favorite part of working in Antarctica?
what is the temp in the summer?
Hi Fiona!
I have two favorites. The first is getting to travel to the Dry Valleys. They are incredibly beautiful. I love working outside in the field, surrounded by mountains and glaciers. My second favorite is the feeling of working on a team. We are a group of 10 people all working together to have a successful field season. It’s fun to get to know everyone and feel like we can accomplish something together (kind of like a team sport or an Encounter Week).
See my comment to Sevi and Lexi above about the summer temperatures!
Do you have a pet penguin in Antarctica?
No pet penguins are allowed here in Antarctica. It’s against the law to get close enough to a penguin (or any animal) to disturb its behavior. Scientists studying penguins have to get special permits to approach the animals.
how many penguins do you see a day on average?
Hey Jasper!
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any penguins yet this year. Not one! Last year, I saw two penguins up close (one was waiting for me when I got off the plane!) and a lot (maybe 100) from the helicopter.
There are a lot of penguins here, but they are all grouped together in the penguin colonies. If I were to go to the penguin colony, I’d see thousands of penguins in just one second! But since I don’t have any scientific reason for disturbing the penguins, I can’t get permission to visit the penguin colonies.
how many people are you working with?
Hi Meika and Sky!
There are 10 people in my team. We break into smaller groups frequently, however. In the lab, I work usually with about 3 other people. It’s a nice size group – enough to have lots of company, but not too many to get chaotic.
Here at McMurdo Station, there are currently 760 people, all working in smaller groups.
What was your favorite grade at VCS.
Hi Zac!
Hmmm….hard to say. I enjoyed all my years as a student and teacher at VCS, so it’s hard to pick a favorite. But I liked the leadership opportunities that I got in my later years as a junior and senior.
What did it feel like landing on the runway because it is all ice?
Have you seen the penguins jump off ice cliffs into water?
Hi Liam!
I can’t say that I noticed a difference during the landing – but the entire flight is so different from a commercial flight. My next blog post will explain!
I haven’t seen any penguins yet this year, but last year I did get to see a bunch of penguins scoot off the sea ice into the water. We were in a helicopter and the penguins looked like little ants all scurrying away. It was a very memorable sight!
have you ever experienced a whiteout? if so what was it like?
I haven’t ever experienced real whiteout conditions, although I have been in some pretty bad weather. We mostly stayed in the tent!
Last year during my field safety training, we put white buckets over our heads so we could pretend that we were in a whiteout! We were supposed to walk in a straight line and find a building just a hundred feet away. It was impossible! We wandered all over the place. So even though a bucket isn’t exactly like a whiteout, I know that I wouldn’t want to go outside my tent at all during a real whiteout!
what’s the coldest temperature you have experienced in antarctica?
See my comment above to Sevi and Lexi about the temperatures. It hasn’t been very cold here since I arrived!
Thanks for all the great questions!