The halls, state rooms and labs of the RVIB Nathaniel B Palmer are buzzing with activity. The ship is now filled with scientists, antarctic support crew and ship crew all getting all the gear on board and ready for deployment. Yesterday (April 6) was a very rainy day as the crane crew was in full force moving (damp) boxes to the various labs. Scientists have been busy checking to make sure everything arrived (in one piece). Each of the science groups are claiming their territory in each of the labs and working to get all of their science gear set up and ready to go.
Today the science team had a morning meeting to discuss where each of the teams are at with setup and to work through any issues teams are having. After lunch we were transported by bus to Christchurch (a half hour drive Lyttelton—where the Palmer is docked) to get our extreme cold weather gear. Everyone was outfitted with a number of clothing items–jackets, gloves, snow pants, face coverings, ice boots, ect.) We tried everything on to make sure it all fits and brought all of the gear back on the boat.
Everyone is very excited to get the science going and head off for the icy south. This year has been a complete change in the ice cover in the Ross Sea. For the past few years the Ross Sea has been seeing increased ice formation, however, this year’s ice cover has been low. Many of the scientists have been looking at the latest satellite images to help determine where the best locations are for the science goals of the PIPERS cruise. The latest images show a big increase in ice formation in the past week, which is promising for our ice sampling teams. We can’t wait to see it for ourselves!
I had a great conversation at breakfast with one of the principal investigators– Steve Ackley (University of Texas San Antonio). I asked him what his ideal outcomes from this cruise. He said, “It would be great for us to use each of the science teams’ data to help understand how this ice formation we see is affecting deep water formation. It’s not going to be a simple task. We can’t get a definitive answer from just one type of sampling. We need all of these different groups to come together to help get this full picture.” It really resonated with me to understand that this is very much a team effort. We are working together to really ground truth what models and satellites are saying about ice formation and ice concentrations in the Ross Sea. I am excited to continue meeting all of the scientists and getting the gear ready for sea!
-Sam Gartzman
University of Rhode Island