Gearing Up
November 10, 2008
I spent the day boxing penguin bands and procuring and sorting gear in the lab at McMurdo. We will put a couple thousand little numbered metal tags on penguins this season, and just keeping track of which band numbers go where can hurt your brain!
Our crew took a helicopter from McMurdo Station to the penguin colony at Cape Royds today to search for banded birds and write down which ones have returned this year to nest. I couldn’t go on the heli trip because I haven’t completed the “Snow Craft I” two-day outdoor survival training yet. Ah, well, next time…
This morning, I soaked in an 8am environmental training, 9am waste management training, and 10am light vehicle training walkthrough. Antarctica has a very particular way of life, and small things like where to put your garbage get magnified. For instance, the contents of our outhouse (basically a bucket sitting on the snow) will get shipped all the way back to Washington state for disposal after the season is over.
Tomorrow morning, I start the two-day snow craft class, also called Snow School or, with a smile, Happy Campers. I’ll learn how to survive an overnight stay on the ice without a tent. From the rumors I’ve heard, you either build an igloo, dig a cave, or bury yourself in a snow coffin. And it’s really, really cold to sleep like that (like, students have woken up with frostbite). Better than freezing to death, though.
I’ll be out in the elements for the next two days. Hope the sunny weather holds!
USAP Logo On The Side Of A Truck