Q:   Mackenzie A. asks: Do krill live in colonies or by themselves?

 

A:   Hi Mackenzie! Antarctic krill live in large schools or “swarms.” You’ve probably heard the phrase “safety in numbers”—and that’s very true for krill. Living in a large group makes each individual less likely to be eaten by their predators, which include whales, seals, and penguins.

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Krill swarms can be very thick, with thousands of individuals per square foot. According to Wikipedia’s page on Antarctic krill, one swarm covered 170 square miles to a depth of 660 feet! Scientists estimated it contained over two million tons of krill (a krill can be around the size of a small shrimp). In terms of biomass (the amount of material that comes from living things; for example, our bodies are biomass), Antarctic krill is probably the most abundant species on Earth.

 

 

Q:   Grace C. asks: What do you guys do on a daily basis, and on a scale of one to ten, how much do you like this work?

 

A:   Hi Grace! A typical day on a station keeps us very busy. The ship works 24 hours a day, and we are constantly putting instruments over the side to collect water or particles or mud from the bottom of the ocean. Each of these things takes several hours or more and lots of people to help.

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In terms of how much we like this work? I asked everyone, and most people said 11.

 

Q:   Aidan F. asks: What do you do on a regular day basis?

 

A:   Hi Aiden! We get up and have a delicious breakfast in the galley. When the boat is at a sampling station, someone is always busy, day and night. First, we survey the sea floor, which you can read about here. If it looks like a suitable area, we send down the CTD to measure the temperature, salinity, and other properties of the ocean, and to collect water samples. The people who collect water from the CTD take it back to their labs and start measuring it. We measure nutrient and chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll is the pigment plants use to photosynthesize. We filter some of this water to learn which diatoms are living at the surface.

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Then we send the McLane pumps deep into the sea to collect particles (such as dead diatoms, zooplankton, and other organic matter, even poop!) out of the water. When we recover them, Pat spends hours processing the samples so they are ready to analyze when we get home to Rhode Island.

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Later, we send down the megacorer, a piece of equipment that we lower all the way to the sea floor (which can be 2 to 3 or more km below us). The megacorer sinks into the oozy mud on the seafloor, captures some of it, then brings it back to the surface. Then we process the mud by cutting it into sections and putting it into bags so we can analyze it later. We get muddy, but it’s fun!

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When we are done with the station, the boat travels to the next sampling station. People use these 6 hours to process samples and catch up on sleep. We are also running experiments that require us to take measurements daily. Colin, who is growing diatoms aboard the ship, has to measure the fluorescence—or the amount of chlorophyll—in his bottles each day. This gives him an idea of how quickly his diatoms are growing and reproducing. 

 

When we can take a break, we hang out together, use the gym or sauna, watch movies, play games, play Ping-Pong, read books, or talk to our families. We’re having a foosball tournament this week. Most people take some time every day to go out on deck or up to the bridge with the crew to admire the view and look for whales and other wildlife.

 

Q:   Marc K. asks: Why do diatoms eat nitrogen, iron, and other metals in the ocean? I thought they were plants!

 

A:   You’re right, Marc—diatoms are plants. But all plants, including the ones in your garden, take up nitrogen, which is essential for plants to grow. We call these essential things nutrients. Diatoms, just like people and other living things, need metals such as iron and zinc, and other nutrients like phosphorus, to grow and thrive. Diatoms are really interesting because they use silica (the same thing glass is made of) to make their outer skeleton (called a frustule). They really are tiny plants in glasshouses!

 

Q:   Brendan K. asks: How is it to live on a ship in Antarctica? Is it cold? How do u stay warm? What kind of animals are there and what do u do with them?

 

A:   Hi Brendan! Living on a ship in Antarctic waters is mostly a LOT of fun. We all work very hard, but we love what we’re doing, so it feels like fun. The ship itself is very comfortable, and we have lots of fun things to do when we’re not working such as a gym and a sauna, a lounge with movies, a Ping-Pong table, and more. The food has been really good, too.

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We have good heating in our cabins and the labs where we work, but it sometimes gets cold in the galley (dining room) because it’s right in the ship’s bow. It’s a good idea to wear long underwear and layers most of the time. It can be VERY cold out on deck, especially when it’s windy or the ship is moving, but the United States Antarctic Program provides special ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) clothing. The back deck where we work is heated. This prevents ice from building up and keeps us safe while we deploy our instruments over the side.

 

Even though we’re out in the open ocean now, there’s always something different to see: all sorts of icebergs and wildlife. So far, we have seen Weddell and Ross seals, a minke whale, lots of humpback whales, and some orcas (aka killer whales). Among birds, we’ve seen Adélie penguins (which are very cute), emperor penguins, snow petrels, Antarctic petrels, cape petrels, skuas, and albatrosses (which are huge), among others. We don’t do anything with the animals but take lots of photos and really enjoy looking at them.

 

Q:   Jillian V. asks: What is it like living in Antarctica? Do you like it or do you not like it?

 

A:   Hi Jillian! We don’t like living in Antarctica—we love it. It’s the most beautiful place most of us have ever seen, and we’re enjoying a huge adventure in one of the most remote places on Earth. The scenery is very dramatic, and we did some really cool hikes around McMurdo Station. Did you know that it’s built on the slopes of a volcano called Mt. Erebus? I hope I get to come back again!

 

Living on the ship is really fun, too. The hardest thing is being away from our families, but we can talk to them via the ship’s phone and email. Also, when the sea gets really rough, seasickness isn’t much fun… But we think we’re extremely lucky to being having this wonderful experience!

 

Q:   Sara W. asks: What are some of the biggest struggles of living in such an extreme environment? Also, what is the main reason you’re there and what are you looking for?

 

A:   Hi Sara! Luckily, we don’t face too many struggles. When we were at McMurdo Station, the weather was fine, and in the summertime (which it is right now), McMurdo itself has everything you need to be happy: a thousand or so other people, a big galley (dining room) with lots of food choices, computers and Internet, a store, a post office, a barber/hairdresser, and lots of fun activities both inside and outside.

 

For people who live on the scientific bases in Antarctica for longer periods, life revolves around the weather. It can turn ferocious and dangerous with little warning, and there are all sorts of safety rules. You can’t go for a walk off base without letting the fire station know where you’re going, and you have to take a communication radio with you in case you find yourself in a dangerous situation and need help.

 

On our research ship, we are warm and well-fed. One of the big differences from our lives on land is that we do not have very strong Internet; however, we are lucky to have it all. It comes from a satellite, so the strength of our signal depends on whether our ship can see the satellite where it is in its orbit. This can be annoying, but it can be good, too: it’s nice not to be on social media all the time and to just enjoy the beauty of where we are and the people we’re with.

 

One of my biggest struggles has been seasickness. The Southern Ocean has the roughest seas on the planet, and while our ship is able to handle them, the people sometimes find it pretty challenging. We also have to tie everything down so things won’t get thrown to the floor and broken! We even have special placemats in the galley (dining room) to stop our plates from sliding all over the place as we eat.

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We are here to study tiny plants called diatoms, which grow extremely well in the Southern Ocean. We want to better understand how they use two particular nutrients—nitrogen and silica—and how they did so in the past. While using the nutrients in the ocean, diatoms also absorb a lot of carbon. Carbon dioxide is a gas that affects our planet’s climate. The amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is changing today. It has varied in the past, too, and understanding more about diatoms can help understand more about what causes global changes in climate.

 

 

Q:   Alexis C. asks: What is the lowest temp. it got down to when you were there, and how did it impact your day in Antarctica?

 

A:   Hi Alexis! When we were at McMurdo Station, we were lucky to experience mild temperatures (around or just below freezing), and it was sunny every day (and all night long because the sun never sets at this time of year). We even saw people running in shorts and a T-shirt! Probably the coldest temperature we experienced was around 17°F /-8°C, cold but not unlike RI!

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Traveling northward on the ship through the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean, it gets a little warmer each day, and most days are just above freezing. But the wind-chill has been far colder, both at sea and on the continent—often around -18 Celsius (around 0 degrees Fahrenheit) or lower. When the weather is cold, we wear our ECW (Extreme Cold Weather) gear. When we are working out on deck, we also have to wear flotation jackets, hard hats, and steel-toed rubber boots, as well as waterproof foul weather gear, since larger waves often come onto the deck or it can be snowing. It can be a little uncomfortable to wear so much clothing, but it would be way more uncomfortable (and dangerous) to get hypothermia or frostbite!

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Sometimes when the weather is poor—usually meaning strong winds and bigger seas—we can’t send down some of our oceanographic equipment. It becomes too dangerous for the marine technicians and scientists to be out on deck and too chancy for the equipment itself, which might be lost or damaged.