Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Rewind!


Three weeks ago I went out to the ob tube for the second to last time before it was removed. I saw the same small jellyfish looking things floating around as I had seen on previous trips but the new thing was these two small fish sitting on the outside of the window frame. They were each smaller than my finger, one about the size of my pinkie. They didn’t move much, just turned their head to look around. There was no wind that day either so I took a 360-degree video clip of the area. (Available on Facebook.)

Two weeks ago I took a tour of the Crary Laboratories here at McMurdo. We met at 8am and were showed through the building starting with the display cases at the entrance, then going down the 3 phases or levels of the building. Each level is for a different type of experiment or science. We started at the top and moved down. We looked at things like the skulls of the seals found on the continent, marine creatures like giant sea lice, stuffed penguin vs skua, diving gear, maps of the continents, weather, volcanic rock from Mt Erebus, and lots more. We ended the tour with my favorite part… the aquarium and touch tank. We got to touch and pick up different marine creatures that are found around the continent. The tank was a lot smaller than I expected. Only a few inches deep and about a foot and a half square. Still it was really neat and I was so excited I forgot to ask about the things I’ve seen in the Ob Tube and have no idea what they are.
After this I went to the Ob Tube for the last time before it was removed from the ice. I went with a co-worker, Grace, and we got to spend some time watching a seal sunbathe while the other was in the Ob Tube. Neither of us saw anything we hadn’t seen before but the seal on the ice was pretty neat.
My day was then to be continued with a hike. The weather was too nice not to! I did the Hut Point Ridge Loop with 3 co-workers, Kira, Michael H, and Bria. The loop took us about 2 hours including stops for water breaks and to take pictures. We saw 4 seals out on the ice below Hut Point, otherwise no wild life. The view was amazing looking out at nothing but ice and mountains for miles and at another point back at McMurdo.

And my 360 video tour… 


1 comment:

Patty said...

Love it!! Cute tour guide!