Hi folks,
It's been a while, guess I owe you a letter. No big adventures to report like last time, but that's okay with me. I just got back in from a really nice walk up the glacier and then around the Backyard, the rocky area between station and the glacier. Not much wind, sun breaks. From the top of the glacier I could see the open water - it's out there, although the whole area around station is still covered with bergy bits and floating slush. We have some new neighbors: Gentoo penguins, Antarctic terns, and skuas have all recently joined our previous menagerie. I've got my tent set up just below a ridgeline and on calm nights I can hear the penguins chattering, elephant seals growling (think a really big, husky giant with bad indigestion), other seals barking, and birds hooting. I like sleeping out but only once or twice a week cause I don't sleep so well out there.
We did get our big boatload of science two weeks ago, gaining most members of the science projects and losing almost all of our remaining winterovers. The station is so small that it only takes 8 people out - 19 in to change character. We're busy, people are full of pep, and there's science everywhere. Science here is a little bit easier on the brain than the projects at the South Pole: it's all at a very high level, but you don't have to get through a whole physics lecture just in order to understand what people are talking about. Here they're studying things like seabirds, krill, and bacteria. Palmer is a big source of climate change information because scientists have been recording both weather and biological data since the 1960's, and there aren't too many places like that in the neighborhood. Nobody argues with global warming here, it's literally in our backyard: the glacier has receded a lot since the station was built, and we're even getting different penguins. The Adelies are moving out and the Gentoos are moving in, both shifting southwards. When the Bahia Paraiso wrecked in 1989 and released 200,000 gallons of oil into the water half a mile out, species that were already stressed took a big hit and haven't recovered since.
Well that's a downer. Um.... the good news is that I'm having a great time, learning about the various projects bit by bit by helping them get set up so they can do their work. The people who come here are generally interesting to talk to: some pursue their work by doing sequential projects in different parts of the world, some come back here every year. There's a lot of work going on and also a lot of fun. Our Halloween party was attended by many interesting characters including Team America (characters from a movie), Elvira, a valkyrie, Captain Zodiac (complete with patch kit), our new science building, and of course Elvis. This week, I was the guest bartender at the weekly station cocktails: I found a recipe for a drink called a Nerd, and they were a hit. So now I can say that Nerds are popular at Palmer Station. What did you expect from me, actual humor? Nope, you're stuck with my dumb jokes instead.
Before you all go for the Delete key I'll sign out now. Dinnertime!
Best,
-Sarah