Fun in the Sun

Scott here...

Yesterday I was asked on short notice to assist a scientist with the removal of an instrument tower out on ice shelf. It's a test instrument that's part of the PIG (Pine Island Group) project and the three scientists responsible for it call themselves the Three Little Pigs (in 2 years they plan to start a new project called PIGLET). The location of the tower is called Windless Bight and it is anything but! Fortunately for us it was a perfect day for working out in the open.

  

Driving the Pisten Bully--which looks an awful lot like the Chariot from the old Lost in Space TV show.

  

I tried to convince David that his soon to be unused wind generator needs a new home in Montana!

  

Where once there was a tower, now there is nothing. The disturbed snow on the right hides a hole in the ice that is 660' deep. An instrument was dropped through this hole and lowered into the ocean water beneath the ice shelf. The total length of the cable was about 1,300'! We tried to retrieve the instrument package but it jammed in the hole (which is what we expected to happen). Darn! I would have been great to retrieve all of that very expensive hardware.

  

A view of the flanks of Erebus not often seen. I really enjoy working in black and white. Scenes take on a completely different beauty.

  

Castle Rock from the ice shelf.

  

Seals basking in the evening sun. Funny, but two days ago not a single seal could be found on the ice. It was sunny out but terribly windy. Seems even seals have limits to the cold and must have found the 28-degree sea water preferable to a 30-degree air temperature and 30 knot winds!