November 26, 1999

View of ice in the Gerlache Straight from the Laurence M. Gould.

Bright sunlight streamed through our cabin porthole today, as Steve and I greeted the sight of the Palmer Archipelago--a collection of islands which sweeps off the Antarctic Peninsula and into the Westerlies. With Liège Island off the starboard bow and Two Hummock Island to port, we were entering the Gerlache Straight. This, and numerous other features where named by Lt. Adrien de Gerlache and his crew, who conducted an 1897-1899 Belgian expedition through the area.

Within protected waters, the swell decreased and icebergs were sighted. Their sculptural shapes hovered on the western horizon. Faceted cliff faces of ice caught the sun, flashing with the swell while others disappearing into a broad, low lying shoal of fog. Smaller bergs from calving glaciers bobbed in the waters ahead of us. They ranged in colour from glistening white to irridescent blue and an almost tiel green. The blue ice is the result of years, centuries, of glacial pressure. A leopard seal, with its great mastiff-like head, was seen lounging on a small berg. It lay in a pool of frozen blood and was, in turn, being observed by a daring penguin who had surfaced in the brash. A Weddell seal lolled on another patch of ice, turning to note our presence. We passed Lion Island, a windswept knoll and made our way into the Neumayer Channel, a 16 mile passage of water which separates Anvers Island from Wiencke Island. The stretch is narrow, about 1.5 miles wide, with steep, black slopes rising into the mist. It is late spring and calving at glacier termini has producing an abstract, bas-relief or running frieze along the shoreline: deep channels, scallops of neon blue and jagged shears of ice.

The Neumayer Channel.

With Anvers Island to starboard, we are only hours from Palmer Station. They are planning Thanksgiving dinner for this evening and are not prepared for a major receipt of material from the ship. However, we will stop about 5 miles offshore of Port Arthur in the Bismarck Straight and transfer Andrew Altieri so he can begin his work with the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project.

Steve and I also conferred and decided that he would put ashore as well, to begin setting up our logistics. I am concerned about getting our Inmarsat B satellite terminal up and running. This will be one of the key links in our attempt to send a live radio feed to National Public Radio on New Year's Eve and to West German Radio in Cologne on New Year's Day. Steve will establish a clear line of site to our primary satellite, which at this latitude lies a mere 17 degrees above the horizon. He will also get his training in the maintenance and use of the inflatable Zodiac boats which will be our main means of transportation. No problem here, as Steve has had extensive experience and can practically take an engine apart and reassemble it blindfolded. He will also scout location for recording the soundscape: Adelie and chinstrap penguin rookeries, elephant seal colonies, glaciers as well as looking over charts for underwater recording opportunities. Our other recording endeavour will involve tapping into the Very Low Frequency (VLF) receiver which is at Palmer. This is an earth listening station that picks up the sounds of "atmospheric whistlers" and "dawn choruses" from outer space. In the meantime, I would stay on the Gould and lend a hand with the Smith/DeMaster sampling. I would be dropped of at Palmer at the end of the cruise on December 8.

Transferring gear to a zodiac bound for Palmer Station.

At 6:00pm a Zodiac with a crew of three pulled alongside the Gould. Steve and Andrew transferred their gear, including the Commercial Satellite Systems SatlinkB unit which conveniently fits into a suitcase, and were off. As the boat receded into the surf, attention turned to Terry Hoolihan and plans for retrieving the first of his sediment traps. There was still plenty of daylight left and we were right nearby.

In my last visit to Antarctica, my interaction with the scientific community tended to revolve around seals and penguins--the megafauna. Staying with the group on the Gould would give me an opportunity to learn a bit more about the world of benthic microbiology.

Microorganisms make up the greater part, or biomass, of life in the planet's oceans. They include the following major taxanomic, or phylogenetic, domains including, Archaea, Bacteria and Eucarya. They also comprise virus particles. Assemblages of these creatures are the engine that produces and processes organic matter at sea: they are the foundation, as it were, of the food web and of the nutrient cycle upon which all other forms of life depend. One of the interesting aspects of microorganism biology and metabolism is their capacity to avail themselves of a variety of carbon as well as energy sources. According to David Karl, "Photoautotrophs use sunlight as their energy source and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) as their carbon source. Photoautotrophic marine microorganisms are responsible for a major portion of the organic matter and oxygen production on earth. All other groups of marine microorganisms rely directly or indirectly upon the chemical energy produced during photosynthesis."

Terry Hoolihan listens for his sediment trap beacon.

The antarctic marine ecosystem is one of the largest on earth and yet one of the most poorly understood. Not surprising, given the extreme conditions and the tremendous seasonal fluxes of ice cover, meltwater drainage, light and temperature variability. There are numerous microbial habitats within this vast realm of the Southern Ocean. From the intensely salty depths, to sea-ice environs to open-ocean, the communities are often as varied as the creatures themselves. In the summer months, melting ice, increasing daylight and associated radiant heat at the ocean surface generate conditions that favour the growth of phytoplankton and bacteria: what is called a bloom. As Karl notes, "These potentially extensive blooms provide the bulk of carbon and energy required to sustain the entire antarctic food web and are important in the production and removal of particulate organic matter [especially carbon (POC)] from the surface layer of the ocean and, perhaps, in the control of atmospheric carbon dioxide." The antarctic bloom is one of nature's seasonal wonders, producing perhaps the greatest concentration of marine biomass in the world. In contrast, the winter months bring an attrition of the standing stock of microorganisms, rendering antarctic waters among the most impoverished marine habitats on earth. The difference in seasonal concentrations of microbial life is significant: nearly three orders of magnitude between summer and winter.

For Dave Karl, Craig Smith, Dave DeMaster and scores of other researchers involved in various avenues of enquiry, the question is, "What is the nature of this feast-or famine dynamic that makes life possible?"

The sediment trap floats are gathered off the stern.

The first sediment trap that Terry needs to retrieve was moored near Palmer Station in January. The device stands about 1.5 metres in height and comprises a metal armature cradling a large, yellow funnel which is honeycombed at the top. At the base, there are 21 sampling cups mounted on a large spooled gear. These capture settling debris and are rotated by an onboard microprocessor. During the spring-summer bloom the cups are cycled weekly and during the winter, perhaps once every 2-3 months. The rotation of samples provides Terry and his colleague, Dave Karl, with a seasonal profile of seabed deposition and POC cycling.

On deck a light snow swirled around us. Terry listened for the trap's beacon. The winch was manned and members of the crew stood by with tag lines readied. When the ship arrived "on station," within the immediate area of the trap, Terry freed the trap from its concrete anchor, by means of an acoustic release mechanism. We all scanned the horizon for the bright yellow floats which would bring the trap to the surface. Off the stern at about 50 yards, they popped up in the swell. The ship was maneuvered into position and the trap was brought aboard. We were off to a good start...

The sediment trap is hauled aboard.