January 25, 2000

Leopard seals hauled out on a piece of ice in Arthur Harbor.

It was another day of sorting and packing for many people on Station. The Gould is scheduled to arrive tomorrow after lunch and we are looking forward to seeing the Long term Ecological Research (LTER) folks, who have been at sea conducting experiments and gathering data off the Western Anatrctic Peninsula. One of the day's highlights included seeing a pair of leopard seals hauled out on a berg a few metres from shore. With the wind bringing in so much brash ice, the large predators are seen lounging about all over Arthur Harbor. rarely do we get such close look. Their mottled colouring is quite stunning--shades of bluish greys with a creamy underbelly. They have extraordinarily large heads!

Charles "Buck" Wilson celebrates his birthday in the galley.

The Station also had the opportunity to honour one of its senior statesmen. Charles "Buck" Wilson, a veteran Antarctic researcher, celebrated his 71st birthday. Buck is here as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) group, working on infrasonic monitoring of treaty compliance (see January 15, 2000). Among his many accomplishments, Buck wintered over at Little America, in Antarctica, 40 years ago and also undertook a 1,600 mile traverse. Sue Deyoe outdid herself by baking two chocolate cakes--slathered in chocolate frosting and almonds!

Sue Deyoe's birthday handiwork.

I gave a presentation on the subject of field recording, music and acoustic ecology and played my latest CD, Forest: A Book of Hours. With all the activity and cargo being prepared for shipping out, we put out mats, sleeping bags, blankets and pillows and invited folks to simply listen and relax. The evening wound down in the lounge as we watched the "Wizard of Oz" while listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." Very surreal...