Friday, November 11, 2011
Fishing in Antarctica!
Current Temp Ambient: 18 Windchill: 5
Windspeed (knots): 14
Sunrise: Negatory
Sunset: Nope
A friend of mind down here is a scientist working on a fish project. Yesterday she ran into some scuba divers who offered to film her fishing from under the ice. The video shows an number of interesting things:
a) she needs to work on her technique;
b) the absolute clarity of the water down here;
c) the diverse and dense wildlife in the Ross Sea; and
d) the Sea Ice from underneath.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5PDgCgX0AoY
Enjoy!
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Hello from Maya's Fourth Grade Class. We have some questions for you. Here you go!
ReplyDelete1. What do you do for fun?
2. Is the South Pole a candy cane pole with a globe?
3. How cold is it?
4. How warm is it?
5. How many penguins have you seen?
6. Are you sad there aren't any polar bears?
7. How cold is the water?
Does Maya's aunt know somebody names Toby? If so tell her Tody is my uncle. My uncle goes to Alaska a lot because he helps save all the animals in different States and Countries.
8. Where and how do they land planes?
Hi Maya and Maya's friends and classmates! Great questions! My answers are below:
ReplyDeleteHello from Maya's Fourth Grade Class. We have some questions for you. Here you go!
1. What do you do for fun?
We do all sorts of things for fun! There always seems to be a good dance party on Saturday nights. We also have a radio station where we can be DJs and have our own radio show! That is super fun! We play a lot of card games and scrabble, we get together with friends to talk and laugh. Sometimes we go hiking which is always great as long as it isn't too cold outside! And sometimes we just relax in our rooms and read a good book or watch movies. There are 3 gyms where we can get exercise, play volleyball, soccer, lift weights, and all sorts of stuff like that.
2. Is the South Pole a candy cane pole with a globe?
There are actually 3 things we call the South Pole. The one you are talking about indeed looks like a candy cane with a globe on top of it, and that is the "ceremonial" pole. There is also the Geographic South Pole, which looks like a big stick in the ground and its' not too far from the Ceremonial pole. Finally, there is the magnetic South Pole but it moves around a lot because of the earth's magnetic field.
3. How cold is it?
Right now it's not very cold, it's the beginning of summer here and today it is 21 degrees, but with the wind it feels like 7.
4. How warm is it?
I guess that depends on what you think warm is. Not very warm at all, but compared to how cold it was 2 months ago when I got here, pretty dang warm!
5. How many penguins have you seen?
This year I haven't seen any penguins yet, but in other years I've see literally thousands!
6. Are you sad there aren't any polar bears?
I am not sad because the polar bears would not be very happy here. There just isn't enough food for them to eat, and guess what, if they were here, they would probably eat a lot of penguins, so I think everyone is happy they are up at the North Pole instead!
7. How cold is the water?
Great question! Normally water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but down here, there is so much salt in the ocean from the sea ice freezing and squishing all of the salt out of the ice and into the water, that it freezes at 28 degrees Fahrenheit! Salt makes things warmer.
Does Maya's aunt know somebody names Toby? If so tell her Tody is my uncle. My uncle goes to Alaska a lot because he helps save all the animals in different States and Countries.
I know one guy here named Toby, but Alaska is way up at the other end of the planet, so I bet it's a different Toby. But good on your uncle for doing such important work!
8. Where and how do they land planes?
Excellent question! They land them on both the Sea Ice and the Ice Shelf! The Ice Runway is temporary, it's only thick enough ice for planes to land on it a couple of months out of the year. Airplanes with wheels need that hard Ice to land on, so we use the big C-17 air force planes with wheels as long as we can since they can hold more people and more cargo. We also use the Ice Shelf, but those planes have to have skis on the them, and they are smaller and therefore cannot carry as much stuff.
Thanks for all of your great questions kids!
Nora said, "you are right, she does need to work on her technique. The Ross Sea is beautiful."
ReplyDeleteWe are wondering if you know what the name of that large creature living on the bottom of the sea is. We are talking about the ones that look like rocks but have big holes at the top. Nora and Ian think they are rocks, but I think they are some sort of animal.
I believe that is some sort of coral, so if that's the case, you are all right! I'll find out and get back to you. By the way, she wasn't fishing for food, she's fishing to observe the fish, then put them back after her study, alive and well.
ReplyDelete