Springtime at Palmer Station

Henry Malmgren photographs an elephant seal in Antarctica.

Socially, it’s interesting to watch the integration between the summer and the remainder of the winter crews. This has really got to be the easiest transition I’ve ever seen on the ice. Most of the people who’ve arrived are old hands at this station, and those that are newbies are adjusting really quickly. Normally most of the winter crew would only stay for a couple of weeks at most, but due to mechanical problems with the ship, we’re going to have to stay until the end of October instead of the middle. This has screwed up a couple of people’s travel plans, but personally I’m thrilled. The wildlife is finally starting to come back in force, and the water has opened up enough to get out and go explore the islands again.

Last weekend was actually one of the best boating weekends I can remember down here. I probably spent about six hours out on the water driving all over the place, taking pictures of the animals, and just enjoying the feeling of being off station for a while. The water was the absolutely clearest that I’ve ever seen…when we wandered over to the shipwreck of the Bahia Paradiso we were actually able to see the entire ship sitting on the bottom, and get a real feel for how huge it was before it sank. We also saw a huge elephant seal sitting on some rocks near shore that we had to get a photo of. I’d never realized how big these guys were up close, and how mobile they really are. Apparently later in the season it’s not unusual to come across two big bulls fighting over rights to have their own harem.

Unfortunately there hasn’t been that much boating since that first day. Since last Monday, the weather has been the worst I’ve ever seen down here. It’s been nearly five straight days of winds averaging around 30 knots, gusting to about 45. We even had one hurricane force gust yesterday of 75 miles per hour! This morning the winds have died down a bit, and we’re optimistic that this Sunday will turn out to be pleasant for going outside.