Where's Paul?: Palmer Station, Antarctica

Where did I leave off....that's right! Palmer Station! We arrived yesterday at 0730, but that isn't really where I should begin. While still in the southern part of the Drake Passage, we encountered a snow storm. This was not just any snow storm, this was a high wind, blizzard! In other words, it was too cool! When I woke up at 0300 and looked out the porthole while grabbing some coffee, I saw nothing but white. Heading out to the bow, it was freezing; I mean it was properly cold out and those Antarctic winds from the south were showing that the Peninsula is no slouch when it comes to delivering the bitter cold. From the bow you couldn't see more than about 30 or 40 feet in fact. To make matters worse, as we entered the Palmer Archipelago, we also entered an ice field filled with ice bergs ranging from the size of cars all the way up to some that looked like moving mountains larger than most shopping malls. So what is there to do, head up to the bridge to get a better view of course. With the weather and ice issues the Captain took the con from the mate on duty and we started dodging and weaving our way down the peninsula. After a few hours the storm just disappeared in a few seconds revealing some of the most pretty mountains and glaciers I've seen in Antarctica to date.

With the Sun now out, we could see the amount of ice bergs that were all around us and also the glorious scenery. I really thought I was dreaming a few times looking at the landscape. This place is completely stunning. In the orientation they say that there will be times that the beauty of this continent shocks you. They were talking about the peninsula, because even with all of the immense beauty I saw at McMurdo and Pole, this place is the ultimate postcard. This is perhaps the one place on Earth that there is no possible way for me to properly show you what I see. This is because it isn't just what you see, but the feeling you get being here, on a little boat floating by these titans of nature. I must have the coolest job in the world, honestly.

At 0730 we arrived at Palmer Station and the 2nd Mate, Pete, turned the ship and backed it into place on the down in one fluid movement from one of the fly bridges. We arrived to a warm welcome from the people on station right now and the work day began. Generally, I don't comment on my job or what I do at these locations; this time it is relevant. As the Emergency Manager for the Continent and Antarctic Program, I not only toured the facility and looked over the emergency plans, I needed to tour the worksites. This involved getting in a Zodiac 10-person boat with an outboard motor and scooting around from island to island to view the science sites. This was incredible. One of the Islands, that I have to go back to today in fact, had hundreds of penguins on it. Note to all...penguins stink. I don't mean a slight odor either, they smell really bad! So do elephant seals!! They are very cute though, and fun to watch. The glacier walls that surround us are also equally incredible. It's so hard to tell scale from pictures, but the walls around the station are in some spots taller than the Empire States building in New York City. These glaciers walls also routinely "Cav;" which is where large sections break off and fall as the glacier moves toward this side of the continent and over water.

Okay, enough of my rambling, time for some amazing pictures! Make sure you download the panorama pictures so you can properly see them.