The big event of the day was the visit of the cruise ship Explorer II.  This was a relatively large ship (I heard it can hold 400 passengers, although it only had 200 for this trip).   The ship sent in lots of visitors in shifts and they got tours of the Station.  The Station manager and Raytheon employees take care of hosting the tours.  We science folks don’t get involved, and the visitors are not allowed in the labs where we work.  One very interesting thing about this cruise ship was that the Tour-guide/naturalist on board was Dr. Jim McClintock, from the University of Alabama-Birmingham.  Jim is a well known chemical ecologist who has worked here at Palmer Station many times and at McMurdo Station many times.  He took the job of tour guide for the ship so he could bring his wife and two children to see Antarctica. Now there is a good idea, eh?   Jim is an adjunct faculty member at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab yet I had never met him.  Jim was quite familiar with me and my work, and I was familiar with his work.  We had a nice conversation when we finally met.  

While I was walking around the wooden boardwalk around the building today a white sheathbill bird was sitting on a water bath incubator.  He did not seem to be afraid of me and I was able to get quite close to him. I got a good photo.  This is the same type of bird I took a picture of the other day, with the elephant seals.  Speaking of the seals, they are still entertaining me.  They are right outside my office and I can hear them even now as I write.  They make a deep growling noise, among other less glamorous noises.  Fortunately, I can’t smell them in my office!   I stood on the boardwalk and watched them for a while today as one seal went in the water and just hung out there for a good 20 min or more.  He just rolled around and played, or just stared out to the ocean. I got some video of him, but no regular photos.  I did capture a seagull standing on the rocks near one of the sleeping seals.  

Maria Vila, the student from Barcelona, who is working with us on the Biocomplexity Project, was in the office today and she asked the Palmer Station Science coordinator whether there was a piano-type keyboard at the Station.  It turns out there was, and Maria set it up in our office.  She couldn’t wait to sit down and play.  She was very good and she obviously enjoyed the opportunity to “relax” with some music.  I have been enjoying playing the guitar in the galley lounge in the late evenings. 

Tomorrow we have House Mouse (general clean up of the facilities) in the afternoon. At some point either tomorrow or Sunday I would like to go out to some of the islands just for fun.  There are penguin colonies out there and all sorts of other interesting stuff.