January 19, 2006

Today was a sampling day but the weather was nasty in the morning. It was cloudy, raining and very windy. The wind was coming from the ocean so I was worried about what it would be like out in the open water.  Nonetheless, we decided to give it a try.  I dressed extra warm and carried some of my extra gear down to the Zodiac which is about one hundred feet from the Bio building.   After dropping my stuff at the boat I realized I had forgotten something so I walked back to the door of the building. I was very surprised to see a young elephant seal lying right near the door of the building!  I had completely missed seeing it when I walked out!   As I walked past him this time, he noticed me and got a little agitated. He opened his mouth wide and made a low growling sound.  I was very close to him and I could see the inside of his mouth which is colored red. His eyes are huge and instead of being white, like ours, his eyeballs seem to be red. I don’t know if this is normal or not, but I think it is.  He seemed healthy otherwise. He was quite plump with blubber!  After I moved away he eventually went back to sleep.  Later in the day he moved over about 30 feet to the storage area, where I had another look. Marianne took a photo of me close to the seal. It seems that every day here is filled with some sort of surprise.

After watching the seal for a bit, we headed out in the Zodiac into the wind.  I was not looking forward to sampling in the cold, rough conditions.  Even close to the Station the waves looked nasty.  George Westby was driving the Zodiac today and he did a great job negotiating the waves, which were coming from all directions.  As we got further and further out, the waves were getting worse and they sky looked even grayer.  It was hard to control the Zodiac and spray was washing over both sides.  We were only about a half mile from Station E when I saw several seven foot waves pass by. It was then that I looked at George and we both came to the conclusion we weren’t going to be able to sample. It would be miserably and too dangerous.  We turned around.  Now, with the wind more from behind, we had to surf the waves back to the Station. It was a little disappointing to not get the sampling done after all that work to get ready, but I think we made the right decision.

Back at the Station a lot of folks were getting ready for the visit of the cruise ship Rotterdam.  This is a large, ocean liner-type cruise ship. It is too big to come into Arthur Harbor so it stays offshore.  But people from the lab go out to give lectures and just to visit.  This is an opportunity for many who work the whole season at Palmer to get off the station and see something different.  I didn’t go, but I heard it was great.  Appparently visiting the ship is like going to a small city. You can go shopping, get a haircut, have a coffee – and walk in a straight line for more than 100 feet!