Fame And Pancakes
December 14, 2008
I’m famous! The Washington Post newspaper interviewed me today. You can read the article online at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/12/AR2008121200951.html
Celebrity or not, today was my turn to cook pancakes. Sunday morning flapjacks are something of a tradition at Cape Crozier, and they carry an extra purpose here. Since we work every day, pancakes are our only motivation to keep track of days of the week. We don’t keep track very well, actually. Yesterday, there was a bit of an argument over what day it was, with estimates ranging from Wednesday to Saturday. We had to look it up (just to see if we could eat pancakes in the morning).
I wrangled an extra-wiggly penguin this afternoon to put a satellite tag on it. After I picked it up, the bird struggled the entire time Kirsten and I were attaching its transmitter, biting the heck out of my right armpit, and nearly subverting the process. In the end, we sent it solidly on its way, though.
A different penguin that we tagged yesterday returned from its feeding trip today, as expected, but minus its satellite transmitter. Whether it was ripped off by scraping against an iceberg or whether the bird managed to undo the tape itself we will never know, but each transmitter costs five thousand dollars, and now we only have four left. That was an expensive penguin!
Adelie Penguin In The Ice
2 Responses to 'Fame And Pancakes'
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Terrific article. Congrats.
vickie
15 Dec 08 at 3:06 am
Noah, I was delighted that Elaine could contact you for the article!
I’ve been a part of the R-G’s informal Noah Strycker fan club for years, and I’m so thrilled that you’re experiencing this. We (my daughters and myself) check your site often to follow your daily antics. The girls are tickled to learn that Adelie penguins (apparently) have pink feet!
You need to parlay this experience into a piece for National Geographic.
No. Seriously.
Keep up the great work…
Kimber Williams
28 Dec 08 at 4:43 pm