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Science on the NATHANIEL B. PALMER
Life Aboard
Ship
#19 July 14, 2004
#18 July 11, 2004
#17 July 6, 2004
#16 July 5, 2004
#15
June 30, 2004
#14
June 27, 2004
#13
June 23, 2004
Bouvet Island
#12
June 20, 2004
#10 June 16-17, 2004
South Sandwich Islands
#9
June 13, 2004
#8
June 9-10, 2004
#7
June 4-6, 2004
#4
May 26, 2004
#3
May 23, 2004
#2
May 19, 2004
#1
May 16, 2004
Punta Arenas, Chile
May 14, 2004
Landfall:
Visiting Islands in the Atlantic Ocean
June 16, 2004
South Sandwich Islands
May 30, 2004
Falkland Islands
May 26, 2004
Science on the NATHANIEL B. PALMER
June 24-26, 2004
June 15, 2004
May 30, 2004
Questions & Answers
Thursday, 24 June:
The forbidding Bouvet Island is about 1,000 miles from other land and is completely inhospitable
Bouvet has a reputation as a bad spot for weather, and it is living up to that. We have not worked since yesterday evening owing to high winds and the seas that came with them; it’s too rough to work safely over the side and on deck. Right now we are sheltering behind the east side of the island, and winds are gusting to about 50 kts with seas accordingly high. At the end of the last tow, while it was being sorted on the after deck, we had water knee deep coming over the stern - so high that the watch was climbing on the sorting tables to avoid it, despite having knee boots and foul weather gear on. So, we wait it out. The barometer has come up a bit and we have hopes things will improve, but that takes time. Meanwhile, we read, eat, try to write, or work on projects started, eat some more, or rack out. It’s boring, but in some ways a useful pause in the action.
Friday, 25 June:
A midwater eel pout (Melanistigma gelatinosus), not a true eel, is just one of the critters collected off Bouvet Island.
Well, the winds and seas came down for long enough to get in two grabs and two trawls, but then went back up, so we’re waiting behind the island now, jogging back and forth, waiting for the weather to improve.
Saturday, 26 June:
More of the same, only now we’re mapping the bathymetry because we’d like to trawl here. We can’t, though, because the winds are too high for the bridge to be able to keep the ship on course at the relatively low speeds at which we trawl (2-3 kts). I was able to get a good view of the base of this side of the island, though (visibility ceiling is about 200 feet), and all I can say is I doubt anyone will ever land there - sheer, ice-covered cliffs and a glacier.
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