APRIL - MAY, 2002 .... Several USGLOBEC researchers are currently on station aboard the Research Vessel Laurence M. Gould in the frigid waters surrounding the West Antarctic Peninsula. Dr. Se Jong Ju, a lipid biochemist at the University of Maryland, is conducting research on biochemical methods for age determination of krill, and has agreed to periodically pass along some photos from his stint aboard ship (unfortunately, bandwidth is severely limited for personal Internet transmissions, so image quality will sometimes suffer). We invite you to check-in from time-to-time over the coming weeks to get a flavor for "Research in the Field," Antarctic style ....

When humpback or minke whales are spotted in the waters near the ship, the "Whale Team" quickly launches a rubber zodiac in pursuit, hoping to get close enough to collect some tissue samples. These scientists are studying the global reach of man-made organic contamination, and fatty tissue such as whale blubber can accumulate high concentrations of many monitored compounds such as PCBs, PAHs, etc. ....

If time permits, members of the scientific party can opt for some brief "shore leave" and a little R 'n R .... These scientists are "glacier hiking" near Palmer Research Station (the small blue buildings visible above the head of the 2nd-most hiker from the right) after disembarking from the L.M. Gould (also visible moored just to the left of Palmer Station) after several weeks of intensive sampling and data analysis ....

22 APRIL .... "Yesterday we dropped off the Penguin Research Group at Avian Island. They will remain there and make camp for 10 days to observe Adelie penguin behavior. Today we dropped off the Seal Research Group at Rothera Station (British Antarctic base) on Adelaide Island. They will also stay there for 10 days to study crab-eater seals. Since dropping off the Seal Team, we have remained near Adelaide Island collecting great quantities of krill (mainly Euphausia superba) and numerous fish species using a Tucker trawl. We processed ca. 400 krill for our ongoing age analyses using our portable HPLC. Other krill research groups have begun their studies of krill physiology (feeding, metabolic activity, and growth) utilizing both on-board laboratory experiments and in situ behavioral onservations (habitat, distribution, migration) using acoustic profiling instruments" ....

The "Penguin Team" in action .... Two biologists have climbed atop an ice flow from a small inflatable boat in pursuit of two Adelie penguins. Yes, the chase was eventually successful, and once caught both birds had warm saline solution flushed down their throats to induce vomiting. The stomach contents were later processed aboard the Gould to determine what the penguins are eating. Both penguins were not harmed, 'tho they might've been a little hungry !!

1 MAY .... "The cruise is now half over. Yesterday, we picked up the Penguin Research Group from Avian Island and the Seal Research Group at Rothera. We've moved to the south of Marguerite Bay, and have spent considerble time / effort manuevering as close to the leading ice edge as possible to collect larval krill from under the ice. Last evening we met the other NSF ship in the area (Nathaniel B. Palmer) to exchange some scientific supplies. This morning a group of humpback whales was spotted near the ship, and the Whale Research Group set out in pursuit; they managed to take several nice underwater pictures" ....

Humpback whales are frequent visitors to the ice edge of Marguerite Bay; these two specimens were photographed from a zodiac with the Gould station-holding in the background .... While the "Whale Team" concentrates on collecting tissue samples, another group of scientist-divers prepares to collect larval krill from underneath the ice. "The larval krill are unceasingly amazing. On every dive we always find tens of thousands of the little critters up in the spaces between the over-rafted ice flows, busily scraping away madly at the ice and feeding on the ice algae as it melts free. When the wind blows and the rafting ice begins to drift over the sea surface, the krill pull up tighter to the ice and wiggle into the smallest cracks to avoid being whisked away and eaten by the abundant ctenophores and chaetognaths. We regularly see several types of ctenophores - one very clear with beautiful extended feeding appendages spread wide like a net, and the other larger and more milky-white in color, with no feeding palps at all" ....

The "Whale Team" in action .... The scientists in the left-most photograph are using a crossbow to harvest a small quantity of whale blubber. These tissue samples will then be analyzed for fat-soluble contaminants in a portable laboratory set up aboard the Gould (floating at anchor in the background) .... Humpback whales are known to be curious, social creatures, and will frequently approach the ship. The two in the right-hand photograph proved quite adept at lifting their heads out of the water and slowly bobbing up and down, a behavior dubbed by cetacean biologists "spy-hopping" ....