A never-ending day

Isa Rosso

Marching...one, two, three!

Celebrating the midnight of the New Year with daylight is definitely a first for me! It’s weird and magical at the same time. We had a bbq at the heli hanger, put up all the decorations, lights, the gigantic speaker and we danced to farewell the 2017, and welcome the 2018 over the notes of Indian, African and American songs. It was fantastic! Everybody showed up (minus, of course, who was in duty during hours) -- even the penguins! 

Quietness

We’ve been working on very calm waters during these last days. We are so close to the Antarctic continent, but sadly not so close to be able to see it. A few days ago, we were in pack ice. Most of the time the sky is gray, but not always. Now, I don’t know what I like more of this environment -- the ice is so fascinating, in every form. Penguins are so cute, I wanna jump out of the ship and grab one! And the silence... I like walking outside on my own, when most of the people are sleeping, and I can hear the penguins calling each other from different patches of ice and nothing else (well, I have to block the noise of the ship from my ears, first). I kind of like the crispy air too; it makes me feel energized. Can’t stay out too long, though: I’d probably freeze, energized or not. 

You said what?!

We are in a very productive area, at 65.5S, 74E. Large phytoplankton bloom, lots of krills, zooplankton, which in turn attract fishes, penguins and whales (I finally saw one jumping out of the water the other day!!). Because of the high productivity, this is the perfect spot for a time series: 3 days of scientific operations in the same location, repeating the measurements every 12 hours. The other day I was part of the group in charge of the scientific activities, from 6PM. Other than the usual casts with the CTD, scientists collect water using different types of nets: I never thought the ocean here could be so green, full of super interesting creatures -- and horribly smelly (due to the phytoplankton emission of dimethyl sulphide, DMS, gas). And then LADCP for the ocean currents, microstructure for the mixing, optical and atmospheric measurements. To go through the whole set of operations takes about 6 hours or more, depending on how many CTD casts need to be done and how deep they go.

Sunrise over an iceberg

Super moon!

The sun sat (I didn’t actually see it go below the horizon) and rose around 1AM, during which the sky turns orange, and the ice shines in all its beauty. And at the same time, we had a super moon!!

Needless to say, we, the Frozen Pompoms, keep growing as musicians, as our friendship gets stronger. I’ll leave you with some cute words from the next super simple song we’re going to play (from the movie Juno, one of my favorite movies): Tree Hugger

And in the sea there is a fish,

A fish that has a secret wish,

A wish to be a big cactus

With a pink flower on it.

And the flower

Would be its offering

Of love to the desert.

And the desert,

So dry and lonely,

That the creatures all

Appreciate the effort.

HapPy NeW YeAR!!

Splash!