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- Written by: CJ Brothers
In Antarctica, everyday life is closely tied to the penguins, birds, and other wildlife surrounding us. So, what are we doing at Palmer Station to “save the penguins”?
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- Written by: Maggie Amsler
My morning started with the wailing cry of seagulls – not an uncommon sound at seasides anywhere in the world. My seaside however did not include sand between toes or a tropical breeze.
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- Written by: Chuck Amsler
You probably know that Earth Day was last weekend. Our UAB in Antarctica group teamed up with other current Palmerites to do our bit to keep the station’s underwater surroundings clean.
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- Written by: Sabrina Heiser
Once upon a time, on a continent far, far, away, it was a crisp winter morning with occasional little snow flurries swirling through the air. At 8:30 am, 30 minutes before sunrise, the divers and their fearless tenders were ready to head out, to islands far, far away.
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- Written by: Michelle Curtis
You’re out in a zodiac, the air is crisp, the ocean is choppy, the bow of the boat comes down off of a rolling wave to reveal the dorsal fin of a humpback whale in the distance. Trailing close behind is a smaller dorsal fin. You watch from a distance as mother and calf take turns surfacing for air – gracefully soaring along the shorelines of several islands on their way out to sea. Today, you are a whaler!
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- Written by: Jim McClintock
When I arrived at Palmer Station this past February, I set about what has become a routine whenever I am fortunate enough to visit and live at the station: an assessment of how climate change has altered the region since my last visit.
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- Written by: CJ Brothers
As someone who has chronically inhabited graduate student apartments, I have never lived in a house with a backyard. To my delight, Palmer Station has a “backyard” to beat all backyards, complete with seals and skiing!
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- Written by: Maggie Amsler
Question: Is this an antarctic chicken doing yoga on a rooftop?
Answer: No, it is Snow White…..
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- Written by: Chuck Amsler
I gave the weekly science talk on Tuesday night, giving the staff and other scientists on station background about what everyone on our project is doing and why. In my introduction I used one of my favorite but always true set of lines: “Don’t let anyone tell you that there are no forests in Antarctica. There are! They are forests of macroalgae (seaweeds) beneath the sea right outside our station.”
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- Written by: Sabrina Heiser
If you are out at remote field station and you need something specific or something breaks, you are either lucky and have spare parts around or you need to be inventive and build it yourself.
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- Written by: Michelle Curtis
Antarctica seems like such an exotic place. But just how different is daily life at a remote field station from life back at home?
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- Written by: Jim McClintock
Without revealing my age, I confess that my first expedition to a polar region of the planet (the sub-Antarctic island of Kerguelen in the Southern Indian Ocean) provided a glimpse of truly historic ‘comms’ (communications). Here in 1982, at the Port-aux-Français research station, communicating with family and friends was accomplished by sending a telegram.
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- Written by: CJ Brothers
Taking organic chemistry as an undergraduate almost finished my career in biology before it ever started. So, it’s ironic that I am now part of a project that involves both biology and chemistry. Fortunately, I have discovered that the “hands-on” chemistry in this project is remarkably like doing your laundry!
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- Written by: Maggie Amsler
It has been said of Palmer weather “if you don’t like it, wait a few minutes”. This was obvious the other day as not only Station’s weather changed, but so too its climate! David Bowie sang: “Ch-Ch-ch-changes …. time can change me, but I can’t trace time”. Nonetheless, I will try to trace some rather dramatic recent changes in the following paragraphs.
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- Written by: Sabrina Heiser
A picture is worth a thousand words – whenever I try to paint an image with words describing the beauty of the underwater world in Antarctica, I like to pull out my pictures and videos because
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- Written by: Michelle Curtis
What do tropical storm-force winds, ten aquaria, and lots of snails have in common? They are all key components to the excitement that has comprised our past week!
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- Written by: Jim McClintock
Lots of people like to fish; the communion with nature, the smells of salt water, and the tap-pity-tap tug on the line. And then there’s Palmer Station’s hazardous waste expert, Rob Bergeron.
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- Written by: Chuck Amsler
Tuesday was a very special day here at Palmer Station and we threw a party – a birthday party. Tuesday, 20 March 2018, was the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the current station.
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- Written by: CJ Brothers
The rumors about the food at Palmer Station reach across oceans and continents.
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- Written by: Maggie Amsler
Life at a snail’s pace is anything but slow or boring. My focus since arriving at Palmer Station has been chasing after small to wee tiny snails that live on a very large brown alga easily collected in the subtidal.