tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21696883139645936112024-02-19T13:29:40.050+00:00Baby it's Cold Down HereMy name is Helen Jones and I’m a doctor employed by the British Antarctic Survey. For the next nine months I’ll be working on board the James Clark Ross as she performs scientific research in the Southern Ocean and supplies the British research bases of Antarctica.
I’ve started this blog in the hopes of entertaining and giving people a chance to see some pretty pictures. I might even throw some science in occasionally!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-66280080933654207852017-06-09T10:00:00.002+01:002017-06-09T10:00:44.657+01:00It all seems a bit fishy...
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was Queen Neptune on Tuesday. No, I’m not suffering from
delusions of grandeur after standing in the equatorial sun for too long; it
actually happened! We held a Crossing the Line Ceremony for those amongst us
who had not yet crossed the equator in a nautical fashion. The “deities”,
Neptune and his wife, were invited aboard by the Captain. The trustworthy
shellbacks meanwhile (1. I am not making this up, 2. They are people who have
crossed the line before) rounded up the scabby pollywogs and brought them to
the court of Neptune, that they might be judged for their crimes against the
God of the Sea and then permitted to enter his court. Food waste was poured all
over them and they had to kiss a fish, before being permitted to call
themselves shellbacks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was asked to be Queen Neptune on the grounds of being one
of the only women on board who had crossed the line previously. I felt
curiously disadvantaged as a woman playing a woman! The motorman who was in the
role before me had borrowed a bra and rigged it up so that it squirted kahlua
and milk on the kneeling supplicants. I’m not sure that actually possessing the
correct XX chromosomes can ever live up to the ability to lactate kahlua on
demand. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I did my best though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I made myself a chiton from a bedsheet. I would just like to get some
crafting brownie points here by saying I went bold and sewed it freestyle.
That’s right people, no pattern and no pins. Just pedal to the floor and keep
your fingers crossed. And then of course, be prepared to wear the monstrosity
that you made... Regrettably, after donning this garment I looked less “awesome
majesty” and more “naptime...by Lenor” so I decided that the Queen of the Sea
should have scales on her face. And that, children, is what social mobility is
all about. You start off as a pollywog, work hard and in nine months, you too
can have a scaly face!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFTFPfWD6A5uafDta9CLc0JXWbKZFO38LlM9B-OLEENz5F58WpOwOtzuDPHBT5s1zGaIpnI6YHVWpq6QUN1MKWujsP9o8q1Km6JHWcOYUUG9HyxvI_O_Tbqx7WAEzBNmpMQjQL6_yljI/s1600/crossing+the+line+013+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1152" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFTFPfWD6A5uafDta9CLc0JXWbKZFO38LlM9B-OLEENz5F58WpOwOtzuDPHBT5s1zGaIpnI6YHVWpq6QUN1MKWujsP9o8q1Km6JHWcOYUUG9HyxvI_O_Tbqx7WAEzBNmpMQjQL6_yljI/s640/crossing+the+line+013+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right; the barber, Neptune, myself and the Doctor</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9ggBXXgEcCwPpQVqn0YphJOKX9rUP7thyqW973ahkVciS4-RmPSLBEhHLhtk22cV2W4K9x3WXpK3Bv71wXWD3yhqczupZNx22vRfeM6MkoIigIQfMlgBl3itf0_vKq1D1mCbPOs_dyw/s1600/EOS+DX+028+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1152" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc9ggBXXgEcCwPpQVqn0YphJOKX9rUP7thyqW973ahkVciS4-RmPSLBEhHLhtk22cV2W4K9x3WXpK3Bv71wXWD3yhqczupZNx22vRfeM6MkoIigIQfMlgBl3itf0_vKq1D1mCbPOs_dyw/s640/EOS+DX+028+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King Neptune and myself sitting in state</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The pollywogs did wonderfully well. I may have slipped them
a few condoms for use as water balloons (Daily Tides Headline: Queen Thetis in
Shock Double Agent Exposure!!!) and both myself and Neptune were attacked with
squeezy mustard by a pollywog who had concealed the bottles under his top
whilst his offences were being read out. With a cry of “No surrender!” he leapt
forth, whipping the squeezy bottles from under his shirt and firing the
contents at King Neptune and myself. Even now, this tragic and disturbed youth
is being keel hauled (He isn’t really; we ate him. Burp.). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And now, having crossed the equator into the Northern
Hemisphere, the long journey home begins. I’m due to get off the ship in Cape
Verde and then I fly home to Heathrow. My long suffering other half has
promised to meet me with a suitcase full of clothes (my stuff from the ship is
starting to look pretty tired) so that we can have a bit of a jaunt around the
UK visiting our families! This was a little disconcerting. We arranged what he
should pack over the phone. Apparently I have “industrial carpet shoes” which I
hope translates as “your adorable half boots by Irregular Choice in herringbone
fabric”. But nevertheless I shall have different things to wear, which will be
lovely!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what happens after that? Well, hopefully next week I’ll
provide you with a post on the joys of Cape Verde, then I have a top secret
post, and then I’m rejoining the ship in Southampton! Yessir, for those who
didn’t know, I was offered a little extension to my trip. The JCR is heading
North for the Arctic and I’ve got my chance to go and see some polar bears. So
keep reading patiently because I’m not going quiet just yet...</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-48184280656442369412017-06-07T17:49:00.003+01:002017-06-08T12:57:10.799+01:00We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat...<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The eagle eyed amongst you will have noted that after nine
long months, the James Clark Ross is back in the Northern Hemisphere. But what
have we been doing in the interim since gadding about in Montevideo and
discussing tattoos, I hear you cry!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We collected a new group of scientists from Recife on the
Brazilian coast line and delivered them to Ascension Island and the surrounding
sea mounts. Ascension Island is a lonely volcanic island in the middle of the
Atlantic. Its nearest neighbour, the island of St Helena is 800 miles away.
Definitely too far for a bowl of sugar! In point of fact, no-one is native to
Ascension. It appears to have been considered a desolate wilderness in the
middle of the ocean. One-time pirate William Dampier was ship-wrecked and
subsequently rescued from it. Other sea-farers used it as a letter box island
and a chance to get fresh meat in the form of turtles. But otherwise the tides of
men generally passed it by until Napoleon was exiled to St Helena. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly it became crucial for the British
government to have a garrison there lest the French mount a rescue attempt for
Bonaparte. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then Ascension Island
has played a crucial part in transatlantic cable laying, was a wartime military
base for the British and Americans and is a stepping stone in the air bridge
down to the Falklands. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbiHDVgkksu3IExhFe089-6Ppgc6NysCQuyiOG3tcyK7Aispsw5Ot7cWRTEy2LRwpmR8WrwFzHlYZi-ojL9Z6HCjBALmI7iwbJ5avVKR1-sIpCbo7c8tmIKFcztR-nzc2KKBfIwQpGio/s1600/Ascension+on+the+ground+081+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="660" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbiHDVgkksu3IExhFe089-6Ppgc6NysCQuyiOG3tcyK7Aispsw5Ot7cWRTEy2LRwpmR8WrwFzHlYZi-ojL9Z6HCjBALmI7iwbJ5avVKR1-sIpCbo7c8tmIKFcztR-nzc2KKBfIwQpGio/s640/Ascension+on+the+ground+081+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proof that the original military garrison on Ascension regarded it as something of a hardship posting</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcznWUMvluwz70EMaUGqzUofrrjLfCa9cfVsVqxPz5sfdeXkJ-ROzCpUxsmQZTWdLs26f00YdUXDNQzhu0BDX28aRKnFwzqe1upfkH-xT-3F1LtxiEiINJwn__xvWQpTa885hGHKwTHY/s1600/Ascension+on+the+ground+378+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1152" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcznWUMvluwz70EMaUGqzUofrrjLfCa9cfVsVqxPz5sfdeXkJ-ROzCpUxsmQZTWdLs26f00YdUXDNQzhu0BDX28aRKnFwzqe1upfkH-xT-3F1LtxiEiINJwn__xvWQpTa885hGHKwTHY/s640/Ascension+on+the+ground+378+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turtles still lay their eggs on Ascension</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCvgqRHjTZMpN-AFW7xbeImsaxQMrQ_N2xPazifc0qcd5duy7Kuuh6TvqQmTOoPWe9K2sMnATZvnjG9gbKwJkKFcsgSoBYq_XXtwgyObw8Z2XboNHcQsOx6cBRKUHT4MjbccjetgFE4Y/s1600/Ascension+on+the+ground+015+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1023" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCvgqRHjTZMpN-AFW7xbeImsaxQMrQ_N2xPazifc0qcd5duy7Kuuh6TvqQmTOoPWe9K2sMnATZvnjG9gbKwJkKFcsgSoBYq_XXtwgyObw8Z2XboNHcQsOx6cBRKUHT4MjbccjetgFE4Y/s640/Ascension+on+the+ground+015+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An American WWII jeep restored to working order in the Ascension Museum</td></tr>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In 2015, a cross party consensus achieved with the help of
various NGOs determined that Britain and her overseas territories should have
marine protected areas. Ascension in particular is considered to be a “Hope
Spot” which means that enthusiastic human activity in the area hasn’t robbed it
of its biodiversity. The fisheries scientists, the Ascension Island government
and the foreign office have all been working together to try to form an
evidence based marine conservation area or “blue belt”. Put another way,
there’s no point in just plonking it down anywhere, you have to make sure that
it’s actually doing some good and protecting the areas and the species that
need to be protected.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">That’s where National Geographic, EU Best and the Darwin
Plus Initiative grants came in. National Geographic in particular funded the
charter of the James Clark Ross and made a documentary on the science performed
aboard in line with their Pristine Seas campaign. EU Best and the Darwin Plus
Institute made it possible to fund the smaller boat that assisted us with
tagging operations and the post-doctoral analyses of the information garnered.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnpdUW2Ml40A25jkhafUwHSH8eaTDXUTwZ14WKbHg5jo_jvpg1e9Q3JLSjREL2njG8BTZlRbugYgohqM9hW8ZYLEbTsliq4nzsHx8etC-82rT2pjNflpLDMdbokouSCyl3wWnkoMMBIQ/s1600/Shark+tagging+107+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1169" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnpdUW2Ml40A25jkhafUwHSH8eaTDXUTwZ14WKbHg5jo_jvpg1e9Q3JLSjREL2njG8BTZlRbugYgohqM9hW8ZYLEbTsliq4nzsHx8etC-82rT2pjNflpLDMdbokouSCyl3wWnkoMMBIQ/s640/Shark+tagging+107+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shark Tagging </td></tr>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The initial crucial thing was mapping the sea bed. Surprisingly
large areas of ocean floor can be uncharted and it’s ever so embarrassing to
lose expensive scientific equipment because you smacked it into an underwater
cliff that you didn’t realise was there. In practice this meant that the JCR
steamed round in circles whilst using a multibeam echosounder to work out what
the ocean floor looks like. This is the same principle as an ultrasound; sound
waves are beamed out by the ship and are then reflected back when they hit
something solid. Receivers on the ship pick up the reflected wave and by using
the known speed of sound under water, a very clever computer program can work
out how far that sound wave has travelled before being reflected. And once all
of those millions of pieces of data are collated we have a map of the ocean
floor.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Once our map was generated, the scientists could get to work
on discovering what beasties were down there. Initially it was important to
work out where most of the biomass actually was. Again, echosounders were
employed to beam back information about differently dense tissues- those
tissues being likely to represent organic matter. This generated a broad brush
stroke picture of where the majority of sea life was but not necessarily what
it was. As previously suspected, most of the biomass was concentrated around
the sea mounts- under water mountains created by volcanic activity. Sea mounts
project upwards into the ocean, creating currents that channel deep sea
nutrients up into warmer, shallower waters. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Having located where the most of these organisms were
living, it was then time to see if we could get eyes on and actually work out
what types of organisms they were, what their environments looked like and if
there were any particularly vulnerable ecosytems. Benthic and pelagic cameras
were deployed to film these organisms in their natural habitats whilst at the same
time sister vessels were engaged in tagging sharks and tuna so that we could
work out the movement patterns of the larger predators. In particular we wanted
to know if the sharks and tuna spend all their time on the sea mounts or if
they have wider ranges because that would be important in terms of determining
how far out from the sea mount the marine protected area would need to extend.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfP5SJwp5FMV_L_Y_pHxV2Gp5OAqPEjoLy05ZD46pJOpzWmjOqjVg0AwdQWdnNwssWKyYEJbbDpTvXNKHjcuUhamRAqTD3h0M4Ho9KsQkT41tpCKyH1maOLMINyvFq2JGt_VnwTcifA8/s1600/surface-2.00_00_01_09.Still001+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1365" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHfP5SJwp5FMV_L_Y_pHxV2Gp5OAqPEjoLy05ZD46pJOpzWmjOqjVg0AwdQWdnNwssWKyYEJbbDpTvXNKHjcuUhamRAqTD3h0M4Ho9KsQkT41tpCKyH1maOLMINyvFq2JGt_VnwTcifA8/s640/surface-2.00_00_01_09.Still001+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stills kindly shared from the National Geographic footage </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now the important question simply becomes why, should you as
the reader, even care about this information? Why is the creation of marine
protected areas thousands of miles from where you live (unless you live on St
Helena, you lucky duck) remotely relevant to you? </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Well, for one thing, these marine ecosystems act as carbon
scrubbers. Algae in the water strip carbon from the atmosphere and cycle it
into the food chain. Once bigger organisms have consumed that carbon, not only
does it stay locked in their body for a number of years, but when they sink to
the seabed their bodies become trapped in oceanic ooze, thereby trapping the
carbon in the oceans for the long term. And if we want to avoid global warming,
trapping carbon is exactly what we need to do. Factories spend thousands every
year employing technologies to strip carbon from their waste emissions- these
ecosystems will do it for us for free!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">On top of this, if you want to keep eating seafood- and my
favourite thing after chocolate is sushi- those fishing grounds need to be
managed responsibly. And that means keeping a lid on reckless overfishing and
monitoring stocks of fish. It means protecting the ecosystems that allow the
larger predators to flourish because I have yet to meet anyone who has told me
that they love eating plankton. And finally there is a certain moral imperative
to protect the oceans. As a species we have been singularly careless in our
treatment of this planet, regarding its wealth as boundless. But I hope and
believe that we are starting to recognise that all of our actions often have
consequences far beyond what we ever could have imagined. We cannot afford to
be like the Victorian landowner releasing rabbits in Australia because he
wanted something to shoot at from his veranda. If we want to continue to
survive on a planet that is a kindly and generous home we must protect it for
both ourselves and the generations to come.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-15152032978827164222017-05-23T22:48:00.002+01:002017-05-23T22:48:34.184+01:00Sailors and their Superstitions
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Did you know that it’s terribly unlucky to have a ginger
person on board a ship? Women are also a BAD THING which gets me coming and
going really. Whistling, singing, big pieces of egg shell, bananas, setting
sail on a Friday...the list of things that can ruin a voyage is apparently
endless. This was the upshot of a conversation at morning smoko a few days ago
and it got me thinking about superstitions and why sailors in particular are
supposed to be so superstitious.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are a few schools of thought as to where superstitions
come from. Arguably one man’s faith is another man’s superstition, but we’re
not discussing that. We’re thinking about those little kernels of belief that
take up house room in a corner of your psyche. The reason why black cats so rarely
get adopted at animal rescue centres and the reason why you won’t say Bloody
Mary three times to a mirror in the dark. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One school of thought suggests that it is an evolutionary
advantage for humans to be able to perceive connections between seemingly separate
events. It is advantageous to see flowers on an apple tree and to be confident
that if you return there in a couple of months there will be food. It is
advantageous to connect the dead gazelle and the waving tail deep in the long
grass. Forming connections keeps you alive. And it keeps you alive to the
extent that it’s worthwhile to form a few erroneous connections just to have
the advantage of the correct ones. So we decide that red skies at night have a
hidden meaning and that saying “Macbeth” is very unlucky. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other suggestion is that humans attempt to manipulate
and placate their environment through the use of ritualistic behaviour. So we
make sacrifices or the promise of good behaviour in an attempt to gain a
temporary reprieve from the dangers of our world. You throw a pinch of salt
over your shoulder to keep ghosts and witches away; you spit on the ground to
offer a part of yourself to ghosts so they’ll leave you in peace...and one very
naughty Roman general failed to take bad omens seriously on his way to Carthage
and that was the reason why he lost so epically. It wasn’t that he had made
military errors; his failure was to appease the gods. And that is certainly
what a very grumpy senate pointed out to him many, many times on his somewhat
inglorious return (Seriously, look up Clodius Pulcher. It’s sort of funny in a
horrible way).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So that brings us, through a somewhat circuitous route, to
why sailors are supposed to be so superstitious. However you think these little
accretions of belief form, sailors have more reason than most to have them.
Even today, fishing and fishing related jobs are amongst the most dangerous
professions in the world. Their mortality rate is second only to logging. And
so they developed little ways of warding off misfortune. Don’t let women on
board; they’ll distract you from the sea and she is a jealous mistress. Grind
up egg shells or witches will sail to sea in bits of the shell. Don’t whistle
or you’ll whistle up a storm/wind. Definitely don’t say “drowned”, “goodbye” or
“good luck”. I can relate to that last one. Never, ever, in A&E, even on an
incredibly calm night, look around you and say “Well, it sure looks qu**t in
here.” You DON’T drop the q-bomb.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sailors’ tattoos are a wonderful extension of this rich
tapestry of belief. I was under the impression that most tattoos originated
from sailors walking into a tattoo parlour, pointing at a picture on the wall
and saying “I want that one.” Apparently, traditional sailor’s tattoos have a
lot more meaning than that. In some ways, they might be read as a resumé of the
bearer’s achievements. In other ways they’re an example of helpless humans
trying to propitiate an uncaring world. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Probably the most familiar sailor’s tattoo is that of an
anchor. To the sailor, the anchor represents stability in a shifting world, a
fixed point. It’s the reason why a name might be emblazoned across the anchor;
that person represents stability to that sailor. But the anchor also has other
meanings. It means that you’ve crossed the Atlantic. And merchant marine
sailors in World War II would get it as a badge of honour. Their ships were
disproportionately attacked by German U-boats on their way across the Atlantic
because the Germans were aware that they were bringing vital supplies to Britain.
Many more American merchant seamen lost their lives in World War II than did
American naval men. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhI2CMZwAIlJQWRsg032dx3i4mnd6j_qU_yw_q1uQ-d9TbkzD73UBW_iPU3kxPDq8ltO_XSWgCcdexbNiifBL5g9FpdK45_hw6Qf2tVnH-kNwEA0R4fTOLhWYC6sOPmSJbFwk782FpnA/s1600/EOS+DX+404+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglhI2CMZwAIlJQWRsg032dx3i4mnd6j_qU_yw_q1uQ-d9TbkzD73UBW_iPU3kxPDq8ltO_XSWgCcdexbNiifBL5g9FpdK45_hw6Qf2tVnH-kNwEA0R4fTOLhWYC6sOPmSJbFwk782FpnA/s640/EOS+DX+404+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A seafarer spells out his wife's name in flags (Photo taken by and used with permission of Richard Turner)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pig and cockerel symbols are often tattooed on sailors’
feet. These images are supposed to ward off drowning and shipwreck. The legend
goes that these animals would usually be transported in wooden crates on the
ship’s deck. In the event of ship wreck, the wooden crates would be one of the
few things to float and a seaman could cling to one of these crates and save
himself from drowning. Similarly a cross on the sole of the foot would ward off
being eaten by a shark. Although that does lead me to wonder if the rest of the
sailor gets eaten, leaving the foot to slowly tumble down to the seabed...</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KgGGmAcXSrfRNfCMWcYAhGm8v_RoLyCb3M3zN3BmesViwQkD7hE0m6YY4NiTOXB4igMS9lUbRPv6v9q3eiihMTQzXgKuFqEQCFM1da8AMoouy-rz9vTcq6GvA-XydF2ttpyQUElLh2w/s1600/EOS+DX+013a+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KgGGmAcXSrfRNfCMWcYAhGm8v_RoLyCb3M3zN3BmesViwQkD7hE0m6YY4NiTOXB4igMS9lUbRPv6v9q3eiihMTQzXgKuFqEQCFM1da8AMoouy-rz9vTcq6GvA-XydF2ttpyQUElLh2w/s640/EOS+DX+013a+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hold fast to the rigging- so that you don't fall to your death (Photo taken by and used with permission of Richard Turner)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Compass roses and nautical stars help prevent seafarers from
losing their way. A pair of crossed anchors on the webbing between the thumb
and forefinger indicates that the bearer has worked as a boatswain. A knotted
rope tied about the wrist indicates time working as a deck hand. A turtle
informs you that this person has crossed the equator and is a trusty shellback
and a member of King Neptune’s Court. A ship with a full rig means that the sea
farer has rounded Cape Horn at the tip of South America whereas a gold earring
means that they’ve rounded the Cape of Good Hope and the gold ring may be used
to pay for their funeral. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52x2vFulWMEIBCdl5UUyjvnJLn7YuufC6bQMBmaznNLHItRg43WH0QMJYpTeI1CNl47Sup3TLplrjBLI4nP0B6FxqRY8nkHA7KjqY1KxGqiwGRcUnPd7Dta3kmFZc783Jpknek1nz1Lg/s1600/1DX+022+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52x2vFulWMEIBCdl5UUyjvnJLn7YuufC6bQMBmaznNLHItRg43WH0QMJYpTeI1CNl47Sup3TLplrjBLI4nP0B6FxqRY8nkHA7KjqY1KxGqiwGRcUnPd7Dta3kmFZc783Jpknek1nz1Lg/s640/1DX+022+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So that you never lose your way (Photo taken by and used with permission of Richard Turner)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hula girls signify a voyage to Hawaii whereas a dragon means
a stop in China. A golden dragon means crossing the international date line. A
swallow is earned for every 5000 miles of sea that the sailor has crossed. But
more than that, it is a symbol of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">intent
to come home</i>. A swallow with a dagger through it is far from a sign of
machissimo; it shows that a friend has been lost at sea. Because the swallows
will take you home but that home might be a farther shore...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For more images of sailors and their tattoos, take a look at
Richard Turner’s gallery at <a href="http://www.richardturnerphotographs.co.uk/">www.richardturnerphotographs.co.uk</a></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooUEmHNcxEfzk78JF5Pmpz_kxvmimu6ht2qUVTgQFsx2G-IaaojgVAuETdtJvNLoiwJQbiVQfXrbt5KJI4GtXstdrSbqJEKlSjq2n0xjA6L-4tg7BYxjeiwZkjKrHmiJs5aDOAvrTcCM/s1600/EOS+DX+039a+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooUEmHNcxEfzk78JF5Pmpz_kxvmimu6ht2qUVTgQFsx2G-IaaojgVAuETdtJvNLoiwJQbiVQfXrbt5KJI4GtXstdrSbqJEKlSjq2n0xjA6L-4tg7BYxjeiwZkjKrHmiJs5aDOAvrTcCM/s640/EOS+DX+039a+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of our seafarers- all inked up! (Photo taken by and used with permission of Richard Turner)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-53509398768639206272017-05-15T22:48:00.000+01:002017-05-16T00:09:56.820+01:00Montevideo<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hello and greetings my children! Are you sitting
comfortably? Sorry, I’m feeling a bit hyper today. Two cups of coffee and a bar
of chocolate and I am wonderfully wired. I’ve had a splendid last couple of
weeks though. The science in the Southern Ocean finished about two weeks ago
and we swiftly turned north towards Montevideo. Rather amusingly we managed to
hit some bad weather on our way back which made the return journey much more
fun. I think at certain points we were actually making negative progress! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was brilliant though. I went up to the navigation bridge
a lot and squealed loudly every time we started to tip over into a really deep
trough. I must be deeply fun to sail with. Our instruments were recording the
waves as being 10-12meters high; just think about that! That’s like being on
the top of a 4-5 storey building and then crashing down into the basement every
few seconds! It was faintly hypnotising to watch our progress from the bridge;
to see the slow gathering of the swell, the delicate veins of white
foam criss-crossing the leaden grey-black surface of the waves. Feeling the bow
of the ship lifting as it hit the upswell, beginning the climb and then sitting,
weightless and poised at the crest, staring down into the depths of the
next trough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then a sharp descent into
the watery maw just before the ship ploughed her way, snout first, into the
next wave with billows of white, roiling water crashing and thundering their
way onto the deck. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I made my way up to the Monkey Island with two of the
scientists to watch our progress on the final day of the big blow. Happily the
air temperature was finally warm enough that we could stand outside for hours
which felt like a hysteria-inducing luxury after so many weeks of only going
outside for essentials. We hung our heads over the parapet, enjoying the rush
of fresh air and the steep drops before tumbling to the deck, shrieking with
laughter, to avoid the walls of spray that would be wafted up towards us. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzRT5xTd5ZjcCpwTKjhqSMoZNMUiA_MFB6qRtVudg3EPwrtnYm8iMKRhJyVCML5sdRWoKQTyY6r6-MNhjrHiQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And then suddenly we were in Montevideo and it was time to
say farewell to all the crew and scientists that I had sailed with. This crew
change had a particular piquancy because it was the last time that I would sail
with any of them. I finish in August, just as they will be rejoining the ship
for the refit (that’s to make the ship ready for sea again after a year of
work) and to take her across to Denmark. So it was rather a sorrowful farewell,
although I suspect that for them the occasion was coloured by the fact that
they were getting home after four months at sea! Still, they’ve been wonderful
to sail with and I will miss them every time I trundle down into the hold to do
circuits and every time I watch Terminator II! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Montevideo itself was wonderful. It’s the capital city of
Uruguay and it sits just where the River Plate disgorges itself into the
Atlantic. In my head, it was a land of gauchos, steak, Graham Greene and men
wandering around in white suits and panama hats whilst looking shifty. And it
really didn’t disappoint. A lot of the architecture is in a lovely Spanish
colonial style that looks as though it hasn’t received much in the way of
tender loving care in the last decade or so. The doors are tall and narrow and
the windows adorned with wooden shutters flaking paint after years of exposure
to the sun. Most of the upper stories have iron wrought balconies, with
occasional faces of inquisitive cats or dogs poking their heads through the
bars.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicz8_MEIIu0QNq4XDj_kKbjntw8jAT43pr0IFyJWO16U37gtyXRsjypx8OUoOPWK4gch0sQP653LFQEXLgi4oSH9HY7DVp7idNnqHBLg12aXRGOnUD7rR1e1AlPWFu5LDy0COlmyVmJHk/s1600/IMG_5096+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicz8_MEIIu0QNq4XDj_kKbjntw8jAT43pr0IFyJWO16U37gtyXRsjypx8OUoOPWK4gch0sQP653LFQEXLgi4oSH9HY7DVp7idNnqHBLg12aXRGOnUD7rR1e1AlPWFu5LDy0COlmyVmJHk/s640/IMG_5096+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="486" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Faded glories in Montevideo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgycBLEl_-bd5bpYla8kFFHw_htY2ilaASpmnQIIOPJJefvsTEnG0Jghtkuag5Pmcxn9GQCeHU3ShN6Bci_TPUQzO2Qfihz5syP_diXXo9TdhadIAb8Ixc1etMYwUhNMuum35TmkpZX0/s1600/IMG_5128+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgycBLEl_-bd5bpYla8kFFHw_htY2ilaASpmnQIIOPJJefvsTEnG0Jghtkuag5Pmcxn9GQCeHU3ShN6Bci_TPUQzO2Qfihz5syP_diXXo9TdhadIAb8Ixc1etMYwUhNMuum35TmkpZX0/s640/IMG_5128+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-NcWNHvbxLX7p_2QvkzsMkycSyCIFQUD7Yw8fXB__jBVNpvfK-EO1aVujFK5DLDciSWoC_LplcaJhpFne6lnax_CRJeefHGNQfqJ6xLsM5rphhxa04YO9_Q3yZdmQfucKY2fSJNcvJQ/s1600/IMG_5191+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-NcWNHvbxLX7p_2QvkzsMkycSyCIFQUD7Yw8fXB__jBVNpvfK-EO1aVujFK5DLDciSWoC_LplcaJhpFne6lnax_CRJeefHGNQfqJ6xLsM5rphhxa04YO9_Q3yZdmQfucKY2fSJNcvJQ/s640/IMG_5191+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Like most visitors to Montevideo, I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>went to the meat market for many of my meals.
Apparently, many years ago, a ship was carrying a pre-fabricated iron wrought
railway station to South America. The ship unloaded in Uruguay but the new
owners failed to pay their bill so they were never allowed to collect the
railway station. So it sat at the dock in Montevideo for years until someone
realised that it might not be needed as a railway but it would make a great
covered market. So now it sits by the entrance to the port, housing several
pop-up restaurants and a few souvenir stands.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pop-up restaurants
were glorious. They consisted of a central workstation with hot coals and a
grill in the center to cook the meat or seafood and a counter for the customers
to sit at. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ate three steaks in two
days. I’m actually pretty proud of that although when it came to dinner time on
the second day, I just lay in bed whimpering and telling people that I didn’t
want to eat anymore. The steak was easily the best that I have ever had; they
were deliciously tender and wonderfully flavourful. These were happy and contented
cows! And there were these bowls of thyme, chilli, garlic and olive oil
standing on the counter tops, which when spread liberally over the steak made
it something to die for. Excuse me, I just have to go and dribble a little bit.
Seriously, you should go!</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuuacSvRSXMGnJ5PNo7f4EW_DJF2UWbiWSl-ffqJxGyrdW1cPlneFdWzQbOM1zlUck6VJIYc9ThX6_CEOssJwnf6QtxhEuzJwF6hhXXbjtyoLSOfEKMsE4d6XYJcN1jEsQpwP-7yhihI/s1600/IMG_5117+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDuuacSvRSXMGnJ5PNo7f4EW_DJF2UWbiWSl-ffqJxGyrdW1cPlneFdWzQbOM1zlUck6VJIYc9ThX6_CEOssJwnf6QtxhEuzJwF6hhXXbjtyoLSOfEKMsE4d6XYJcN1jEsQpwP-7yhihI/s640/IMG_5117+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Counter at the one of the MeatMarket Stalls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_-rZm_pBTMBe_6MzRMwySC91_oFcSlu6edKKI4OHkICbO6kYIfVsQOf_tVYU0t3_zgBxydupqsBTF4iU7hCRu90_BiQbT9wOvNHXXCpvUZm2bgRzUjo7rH11RPkRHgH74nscmxN0ecQ/s1600/IMG_5131+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_-rZm_pBTMBe_6MzRMwySC91_oFcSlu6edKKI4OHkICbO6kYIfVsQOf_tVYU0t3_zgBxydupqsBTF4iU7hCRu90_BiQbT9wOvNHXXCpvUZm2bgRzUjo7rH11RPkRHgH74nscmxN0ecQ/s640/IMG_5131+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meat Market from Above</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I made liberal use of the wifi in the coffee shops in order
to video call my other half. It was lovely to see his face even if it did come
complete with a pang of homesickness! Sadly the dog was resolutely ignoring my
voice as it came out of the phone. She knows enough not to be fooled; hearing
my voice doesn’t mean I’m there (and therefore no treats will be forthcoming)! I didn’t
skype my parents because as my father pointed out with impeccable logic, they
already KNOW what I look like. If any of you ever think that I am slightly odd,
I would just like to point you towards my parents. Yep. They sent me a lot of
chocolate though, so I should probably show them slightly less lip. I love you
Mum and Dad!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And I visited a few museums. The first was the Pre-Colombian
Museum of Indigenous People which was interesting although regrettably most of
the signs were in Spanish so I perhaps didn’t get as much out of it as I could
have done (This is my own fault entirely, for not being good enough at Spanish,
btw). Still, there was a fantastic display of festival masks on the top floor
which were wonderfully creepy, so that was very enjoyable. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6W_OYtkTRVMx0Jp5ajs1M-usLXjAuM9oZZwHqEPcrBh52ZGmwzBnmCc7F79lG0KUXZoLYxz-v5RRwqgQsMFINaiUIwVAYWF-Bk0KL-dWWeoC_Y0gzKXsDTX0l7gaEgVKVhsGEeuo4RdA/s1600/IMG_5147+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6W_OYtkTRVMx0Jp5ajs1M-usLXjAuM9oZZwHqEPcrBh52ZGmwzBnmCc7F79lG0KUXZoLYxz-v5RRwqgQsMFINaiUIwVAYWF-Bk0KL-dWWeoC_Y0gzKXsDTX0l7gaEgVKVhsGEeuo4RdA/s640/IMG_5147+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incredibly Spooky Festival Masks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But the best museum by far was the Andes 1972 museum. If you
are ever in Montevideo, you MUST go there. I imagine most of you know the
story, but in 1972 a team of Uruguayan rugby players went missing when their
plane flew into the Andes and vanished in bad weather. Chilean, Argentinian and
Uruguayan rescue missions were scrambled to try and find the crash site and/or
any survivors but all forty-five people had simply disappeared into the
vastness of the Andes. Seventy-two days later a Chilean farmer found two
men trying to gain his attention across a river. He threw them a rock with a
piece of paper and a pen tied to it. And he received in return a letter
explaining that they were some of the survivors of the flight that had crashed.
They had walked for ten harrowing days to try get help for the remainder of their friends. The farmer, Sergio Catalan, rode for four hours and then travelled
another hour in a truck simply to get to the nearest town with a police station
to get help. Shortly after, the survivors were rescued from
the crash site, the Valley of Tears, in the Andes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At first, it simply seemed miraculous that the sixteen
survivors were still alive. And then it hit the news; there was evidence that
human remains had been consumed at the crash site. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A huge media conference was called and the
survivors told their horrific story. That without food, water and minimal
shelter other than what could be fashioned out of the remains of the plane, the
survivors had been driven to eat the bodies of their fallen friends. They were
out there for seventy-two days; to do anything else would have meant their
deaths.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Certainly, when I read the book “Alive” about their struggle as a
fairly grisly (what can I say, I’m a medic!) ten year old, that was the bit
that I focused on. But as I walked around the museum, I realised that this was
by no means the most remarkable part of their story. Trauma, dehydration and
hypothermia would have been the biggest killers in mountains where the night-time
temperatures dropped to sub-zero. The fact that they survived at all is the
remarkable thing, not what they were driven to eat in their extremis. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And then I reached one of the final information boards. A
father of one of the boys who had died soon after the plane crashed had made a
statement to the press. I’m paraphrasing, but he said that when he was told that the flight had crashed into the Andes, he had known that there was no way that his son
could have survived given the conditions. He then said “...if it
had to happen, I am glad that there were forty-five of them. Because it means that
sixteen families were able to welcome their sons home tonight...we have nothing
to reproach these boys with...” The magnanimity and compassion inherent in
those words is astonishing. And I think that is what this museum emphasises;
that even in the ugliest and hardest of times we can behave with compassion. Even
when things are at their most bleak, there is hope.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuafNRlv8UKFHwSFERljlC-5PPxFOYf6viqsbPEgKHrhXV2MGVHqJ5XNrZxWZ2PpnS6yxWn0loXqgyFRO8DwcO5iBdrCddpA-6ZzNjlpPNBZ-0swEGl0nl3-fXYVEOlK8dF64QCxHL0cQ/s1600/IMG_5078+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuafNRlv8UKFHwSFERljlC-5PPxFOYf6viqsbPEgKHrhXV2MGVHqJ5XNrZxWZ2PpnS6yxWn0loXqgyFRO8DwcO5iBdrCddpA-6ZzNjlpPNBZ-0swEGl0nl3-fXYVEOlK8dF64QCxHL0cQ/s640/IMG_5078+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="386" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wading birds fishing the fresh water of the River Plate as it empties into the Atlantic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-88144710020654514842017-05-08T19:53:00.001+01:002017-05-08T19:53:08.049+01:00As promised...big waves!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw7WUx6VUOmW9Rjy3Is45NM7KkJ64a2XzWmUX7txSjlujiD7FEMCzdPdRKPc-Y6h-uXtkQNb413t5ZAXrODbA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-35161025587788272312017-05-03T21:30:00.001+01:002017-05-03T21:30:32.524+01:00SOFA Scoring and Poor Beverage Control
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once again the seas are gloriously lumpy and as I can do
very little else right now, I thought I might grumble about the article that
I’ve been reading. Every so often I’m assailed with guilt and think that I
really should try harder to be the sort of person that constantly reads
scientific papers and genuinely gets excited about the thought of doing a
work-based audit! My enthusiasm lasts roughly five minutes and then I read
words like “operationalization” and I realise that I am not meant to enjoy reading
research. For crimes are committed there. Yea, and verily did Helen rise up and
smite the author of the paper heavily for linguistic errors and for using the
word “conceputalization” with malice aforethought. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Otherwise it was quite an interesting paper. It talked about
sepsis, its recognition and its treatment. It introduced me to something
entirely new; the SOFA score. Apparently SOFA scoring is something that you do
in Intensive Care for your poorly septic bods. Personally I think that it’s
what you do after a hard day at work. SOFA score of 0-1, I can still hit the
gym and make myself dinner. SOFA score of 2-3, I need to rant excessively and
order a takeaway. Score of 4-5, I sit on the SOFA and rock gently whilst
maintaining a vice-like grip on a glass of wine. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, moving on from the horrors of medical papers, what is
the good ship James Clark Ross doing at present? Well, currently a grand total
of 8 knots as she tries to outrun the rather exciting weather. The science is
done and we’re proceeding North towards Montevideo and a crew change. I’m very much
looking forward to this. I’m keen to be on land again and eating fresh fruit
and vegetables. My hat goes off to the guys in the galley; they keep salad
going for way longer than seems even remotely possible. To the point where I
was starting to wonder if they had a secret unit on a lower deck where they
were growing lettuce hydroponically- nothing else explains how they were
producing lettuce four weeks into the trip when it’s dead in my salad crisper
by the end of one week! Either that or it was a faustian salad with a painting
of a very wilted and slimy Romanian lettuce hidden in the head cook’s closet. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Such musings aside however, it has been quite a long time
since the last salad leaf was eaten, and I am longing to eat something that is
fresh and crunches. I keep thinking about pineapples. My patience has also been
drained by the number of beverages that have landed on me in recent days. I was
drenched in guiness last night after we took a heavy roll and this afternoon I
poured cocoa all over my arm and the wall (bulkhead for the nautical types out
there). This was actually very upsetting because I had been naughty and melted
a teaspoon (okay, more!) of nutella into my cocoa and I was just about to
savour the nutty-chocolatey goodness of it all when I went flying into the
bulkhead and my treat went all over the wall. I would like you all to know that
I showed great fortitude in this difficult time and merely slurped what I could
off my arm rather than swearing.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I suspect this fortitude might have been missing a month
ago. We went through a two-three week patch of terrible weather where I could
not sleep at all. Normally I’m extraordinarily gifted and can easily sleep for
24 hours after a row of night shifts (If you’re new to this, you have to train
to reach this level!) but I was lucky if I could manage four hours in a night.
I tried everything. Blocking all light out with a towel against my door, the
daylight blind down, a towel over anything glowing in my cabin, reading medical
textbooks...the works. And it really takes its toll on you. I reached a point
where my rational mind would respond in one way, whilst my emotions would
respond in a completely different way. Someone could say “good morning” and
whilst rationally I would know it was a nice remark, emotionally I would think
“They hate me! Why else would they have said good morning...like that!” It’s a
strange feeling to know that your emotions are suspect. Finally the weather
smoothed out and I could sleep again and suddenly all the people who had said
“Good morning” in such a nasty and snide way were being lovely again. Just
shows that other people can’t cope with fatigue I suppose! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What a lot of grumbling I’ve just done! On a positive note,
we had humpback whale visitors a few days ago. I never really found them a
particularly appealing whale, with their barnacles and greyish colouring. But
seeing them in motion, as I have on this trip, is to appreciate them properly.
Pictures (regrettably, because that’s what I have for you!) just don’t do them justice.
They’re so gently, mildly curious about why the big red thing on the surface
keeps lowering stuff into the water that goes “ping”. And they congregate
around the ship as she sits on station with no sense of fear, but rather a
bemused sense of tolerance. It becomes apparent too, how utterly at home in
their medium they are. They are so powerful and yet so effortless in the water.
Movement is achieved with a lazy flick of a muscular tail; graceful and joyous.
Watching them, I decided that you can have your showy orcas and your massive
blue whales. I like mine playful and a little bit barnacly!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCE7w2SZnHR-GcvtZhEQ99EbzGFzTfdHfKdG6JWBoEVox9tbLU2-mmMu4KIzaZIx0lQOZlZxHTvN0EuTVVyXyN4hjMGAkx4GVJoM373vBjIbIaL_-gQtVnmW22LHL_6la03PGghvvavY/s1600/IMG_4896+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCE7w2SZnHR-GcvtZhEQ99EbzGFzTfdHfKdG6JWBoEVox9tbLU2-mmMu4KIzaZIx0lQOZlZxHTvN0EuTVVyXyN4hjMGAkx4GVJoM373vBjIbIaL_-gQtVnmW22LHL_6la03PGghvvavY/s640/IMG_4896+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humpbacks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHnmxoUgWadg-PeFnactXlXFqufmE2DLES79FyT0GYVrmERqPoPTBjkleBAwf9LAdlmbnlZNJmyKxsZlVLWCt5GgHhE_DAplhLrtMvF35gpZg0z_AXCrmW80MiAi6w3zgQY4UhyBQUOg/s1600/IMG_4990+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHnmxoUgWadg-PeFnactXlXFqufmE2DLES79FyT0GYVrmERqPoPTBjkleBAwf9LAdlmbnlZNJmyKxsZlVLWCt5GgHhE_DAplhLrtMvF35gpZg0z_AXCrmW80MiAi6w3zgQY4UhyBQUOg/s640/IMG_4990+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barnacles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPY1L-OSQcrUmVZO0qBz8eb-gvm2mj5-3xCc4sK_3aaHVuQyzp_8S62X0wLvOKIbDUzsQb2EdVoAhvLIkIZrfZ_Vrxlh7MiCjgue9sV6IvzQBxbhVg9lEgj_P9YdY_UT-1REOZooL1rE/s1600/IMG_5000+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPY1L-OSQcrUmVZO0qBz8eb-gvm2mj5-3xCc4sK_3aaHVuQyzp_8S62X0wLvOKIbDUzsQb2EdVoAhvLIkIZrfZ_Vrxlh7MiCjgue9sV6IvzQBxbhVg9lEgj_P9YdY_UT-1REOZooL1rE/s640/IMG_5000+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fluking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNgikrAa_mNbykFx5-cxM_P3OHAHrMyo6iSTReRywQSWOWe0wFVb1ZwOQRKJPo4Q7_eAS5AruAPHwDyehesoUiYNrAjbKTczo9fHfEiARJf3LMTrt8H7UXyXvI4pGOw5BI4wX55-15sg/s1600/IMG_4986+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="439" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNgikrAa_mNbykFx5-cxM_P3OHAHrMyo6iSTReRywQSWOWe0wFVb1ZwOQRKJPo4Q7_eAS5AruAPHwDyehesoUiYNrAjbKTczo9fHfEiARJf3LMTrt8H7UXyXvI4pGOw5BI4wX55-15sg/s640/IMG_4986+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2VVg_PU6fPRIwlp1vE9e-WCzYSoKplY8jszj4WGBi5obcHDHemDm2Bu50Lf7Zk6eQ5R67PwSQegcbQlSGEIVR250Klc8pwCIbpMZVLWvf5_IKfB5c95xa_K5RVWFvPe4w0KSu83dBTo/s1600/IMG_5014+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="487" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc2VVg_PU6fPRIwlp1vE9e-WCzYSoKplY8jszj4WGBi5obcHDHemDm2Bu50Lf7Zk6eQ5R67PwSQegcbQlSGEIVR250Klc8pwCIbpMZVLWvf5_IKfB5c95xa_K5RVWFvPe4w0KSu83dBTo/s640/IMG_5014+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More fluking!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-82425019001746850082017-04-24T19:17:00.002+01:002017-04-24T20:08:13.192+01:00The Handsomest Man in the Navy<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Alas, t’would seem that it is time for yet another general
election in the UK. This wee surprise from Prime Minister Theresa May has
occasioned a little bit of scrambling on my part as I will still be overseas
when it comes time to vote. I’m going to have to vote by proxy and I’m keeping
my fingers very tightly crossed that a form posted from Montevideo on May 8<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>
will make it back to the UK in time for me to nominate my proxy voter!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, in this time of great trouble and uncertainty, (“Will we
still have marmite if we leave the EU?” I hear you cry!) I thought I might
lighten the mood by talking about a chap that we can all look up to. A man who
has done great things in Arctic and Antarctic exploration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A man who was publically noted to be good
looking! A man who had a whole ship named after him! That’s right; it’s time to
talk about Commander James Clark Ross. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhq2Pfqv1CliATGVjZkH3gPDlrpREGCCd2mKtmCzFCZUxipHZbpk9VzAr2np-Z3vx2w3z4zcF0twhdII5_5ZN-jvvuo6OZvTadK1e27I3f_rk89uID9DOPgFJ0Zq-FjUnKumd0YWFBDM/s1600/IMG_3290+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdhq2Pfqv1CliATGVjZkH3gPDlrpREGCCd2mKtmCzFCZUxipHZbpk9VzAr2np-Z3vx2w3z4zcF0twhdII5_5ZN-jvvuo6OZvTadK1e27I3f_rk89uID9DOPgFJ0Zq-FjUnKumd0YWFBDM/s640/IMG_3290+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The RSS James Clark Ross berthed at Rothera Station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">James was born on April 15, 1800 and a mere eleven years
later he embarked on his naval career. I find that slightly alarming; I’m not
sure what I was doing aged eleven but it certainly wasn’t starting a career.
Stickers may have been a thing? And please bear in mind that this was in an age
where lifeboat regulations had yet to come into force. There was no such thing
as a standardised distress flare (that wouldn’t come into being until after the
Titanic) and GPS was nearly two-hundred years in the future. British sailors in
general didn’t even learn to swim on the grounds that it would merely “prolong
the agony” if they went overboard! This was not a career for the timorous.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">James was lucky in having an uncle, Sir John Ross, who had
already distinguished himself in the Napoleonic wars. It seems probable that
the rapid promotions that James enjoyed may have had something to do with his
uncle’s influence and confidence in him. In any case, this rapidly proved to be
a confidence well founded. By 1818 he was to accompany Sir John Ross on an
expedition to find the North-West Passage.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The North-West passage was a hypothesized route to the
trading nations of Asia through the Arctic waters of Northern Canada. Reduced
sea ice levels have made this route much more passable of recent- but at the
time that James went North, there was no certainty that such a route even
existed. Regrettably the Ross expedition was forced to turn back after
encountering significant amounts of ice, and Sir John was criticised heavily by
the newspapers and the admiralty for not having pushed on.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite this inauspicious start, the grounding that James
received in matters of scientific research and polar exploration was
invaluable. Whilst on his uncle’s expedition he took part in many of the
scientific observations and on their return to Britain received a post on
William Parry’s expedition to the Arctic. James spent the next few years on voyages with Parry
to the Arctic, and by 1825 had overwintered there four times. Parry came to
rely heavily on his energy and scientific acumen. During the 1824-25 expedition
alone, James took magnetic and lunar observations, checked longitudes, measured
the thickness of the sea ice and continued his work in taxidermy.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Parry was shortly after to command an attempt to find the
magnetic north pole. The men of the expedition man-hauled sledges weighing up
to 200 pounds over the sea ice. Their efforts were foiled by the poor
conditions; the sledges foundered in snow softened by fog, rain and sun. In
addition to this the sea ice was steadily drifting south, and the men of the
expedition struggled to match the pace of the southerly drift. Parry himself
became snow-blind and James was severely injured on being caught between a snow
hummock and one of the sledges. The decision was made to turn back after a week
in which the expedition had advanced no further than one mile due to the drift
of the ice. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In June 1829, James Clark Ross had been made a captain by
the admiralty but not having a ship he was at something of a loose end. His
uncle, Sir John, offered him a post on his next Arctic expedition. James leapt
at the opportunity; he wouldn’t return to Britain for the next four and a half
years. Frozen seas would prevent their return and during this period James made
the discovery that he could keep his overwintering sailors free of scurvy if he
fed them on a typical Inuit diet- plenty of fat and offal. You see? Liver is
good for you! During the second winter of this extended voyage, James undertook
a 28 day expedition to find the magnetic North Pole. On June 1, 1831 he found
it at 70° 5’ 17” North and 96° 46’ 45” West. (It has since shifted both North and West)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When the Rosses finally made their way back to Britain,
James was recognised as one of the foremost polar explorers of the day. He was
a natural choice to lead an expedition to Antarctica to study magnetism in the
southern latitudes. His expedition utilised the bomb-ships, Erebus and Terror
(Isn’t that a great name for a ship? The Terror!). Bomb ships had specially
strengthened frame-works in order to withstand the recoil of mortars and
cannons on board which made them perfect when re-purposed to become polar
exploration ships. The crew of both ships had cause to be grateful for their
ships’ ice strengthened structures; by 1842 the ships were in an “ocean of
rolling fragments of ice, hard as floating rocks of granite, which were dashed
against them with such violence that their masts quivered.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Despite these alarms, both ships penetrated deep into the
Antarctic pack ice and through into the Ross Sea. James and Crozier planted a British flag on Possession Island and watched a volcanic eruption; they would later name the volcano Mount Erebus after one of the ships.
Ultimately as they headed further south they found a large land mass blocking
their way, disappointing James as he realised that this land mass stood between
him and the discovery of the magnetic South Pole. The ships turned west and
came across a vast and forbidding ice barrier, reaching a full 150 feet above
the level of the sea. They had reached what would become known as the Ross Ice
Shelf, although at the time James very patriotically (prudently?) dubbed it the Victoria
Barrier. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In 1843 the expedition returned home and James married Ann
Coulman. He promised at the time of their marriage that he wouldn’t undertake
any further polar exploration (although she did release him from this promise
in 1848 when he was asked to command the mission to find and rescue John
Franklin). James spent his time living quietly with his wife and their
children, and in writing “A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern
and Antarctic Regions in the Years 1839-1843” Writing pithy titles was
apparently not one of his many skills!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think we can all agree however, that of all his many achievements, the greatest of
them was this; that Lady Franklin, wife of notable explorer John
Franklin, did say that he was the “handsomest man in the navy.” Well observed madam, well observed.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9aVvjSeSLedqRckY-d6CBP7ogovm1ZR3tICp_MTnn2NC45dS1SHytqLaeviTkqbI4XA6AqjRoNhOxVSmJHcikKmhOlvssVunNnmJYANJIop2DnLltYg7X0hNHXhc_1J0bRUw5FofitHk/s1600/JCR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9aVvjSeSLedqRckY-d6CBP7ogovm1ZR3tICp_MTnn2NC45dS1SHytqLaeviTkqbI4XA6AqjRoNhOxVSmJHcikKmhOlvssVunNnmJYANJIop2DnLltYg7X0hNHXhc_1J0bRUw5FofitHk/s1600/JCR.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Commander James Clark Ross painted by John Wildman. Copyright National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-80200343633968376752017-04-15T01:36:00.003+01:002017-04-15T01:36:57.968+01:00Happy Easter!<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the moment, no oceanography is happening. In the mild
terms of one of our seafarers, there’s a bit of a blow on. Or as one of our
technicians put it, “Who ordered the howling gale?” So it’s all very much like
a holiday on board- or it would be if you spent your holidays sliding up and
down the floor and flailing madly at every bit of furniture that you went past.
Surprisingly no one has been to see me about sea sickness tablets recently.
This may mean that they’re all hardened sea farers or that they’re lying in
their bunks groaning quietly and collectively. I was reading the monthly
reports of my predecessors and one included the graphic and memorable phrase
“...I don’t want to have to clean chunks out of my surgery sink ever again...”
so I have to conclude that perhaps it’s for the best if people don’t wend their
way to the surgery when feeling a trifle delicate and simply call me and
request a home visit instead. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So how have I been occupying myself when not ministering to
the needs of the poorly and mopping their feverish brows? Well, I did have the
fun of teaching one of our scientists and a technician about wound care. An
orange had Grievous Bodily Harm inflicted on it and then we variously
steristripped, glued and sutured wounds closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For purposes of verisimilitude a face was drawn on the fruit with marker
pen; he looked very jaunty. Sadly I may have destroyed our technician’s dreams
of doing a Rambo and cauterising his own wound with gunpowder and then
stitching it closed. I pointed out that this would probably hurt a lot and
anyway it didn’t sound very sterile to ME. I then pontificated that “irrigation
is the solution to pollution” before slashing the orange again and ripping away
a bit of peel to create a more authentic wound. I may have slight anger issues.
Our orange was then dubbed the “Franken-fruit.” Once we finished with him we
deposited him back in the fruit bowl- complete with sutures still in situ.
Unaccountably, no one seems to want to eat him... </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKhJTkUliMzfDEP3_3k8BBEFldAliI47DPWrXM46IA6sWqtjoFtQwmnPvun3g3mMa3J1Ra6XTXGTcDpkPONaNLc0CNEcA5Fu86Rd0040bK_mnX3CxrOiFU7au2BECPjCidnYCgAyXIEg/s1600/IMG_3197+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKhJTkUliMzfDEP3_3k8BBEFldAliI47DPWrXM46IA6sWqtjoFtQwmnPvun3g3mMa3J1Ra6XTXGTcDpkPONaNLc0CNEcA5Fu86Rd0040bK_mnX3CxrOiFU7au2BECPjCidnYCgAyXIEg/s640/IMG_3197+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soundtrack suggestions... The first cut is the deepest?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55VQVwjONXPt7B1PS9Z9PwFTvxjlV2636JD2cr0aFEbS8P-oBsUMiXarmUiI6eByeNheGbuRyZshD7ZqNPTCr8F2GAUfdKdnQMejqmZyVuYShgi84hBv_ydVyhfg1X67wvYU1H2vLA20/s1600/IMG_3201+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55VQVwjONXPt7B1PS9Z9PwFTvxjlV2636JD2cr0aFEbS8P-oBsUMiXarmUiI6eByeNheGbuRyZshD7ZqNPTCr8F2GAUfdKdnQMejqmZyVuYShgi84hBv_ydVyhfg1X67wvYU1H2vLA20/s640/IMG_3201+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The FrankenFruit!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’m also completing the indent. Never fear, faint hearts, it
is PRECISELY as dull as it sounds! I’m also not entirely certain that I’m doing
it correctly. My duty this month, you see, is to order all the stuff that we
need for the next year or so. Now we have a lot of stuff on board that is very
much there as a “break glass in case of emergency” kind of thing. So quite
often things need to be reordered simply because they’re out of date rather
than because we’ve run out. Whilst it might seem excessive to keep re-ordering
really arcane bits of medical equipment or drugs, I really, really wouldn’t
want to be in the situation where they’re needed and not there. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In an exceptionally nerdy sort of way, I’m actually enjoying
the work. It’s not exactly taxing- but my drugs cupboard looks so much sleeker
and tidier now that I’ve got rid of some of the ballast! I’ve gone for the
drugs cupboard first because most of the stuff is in drawers so if the ship
moves a bit briskly I can slam the drawer shut. I have a horrible mental image
of being crushed beneath a hundred-weight of life saving medical equipment and
my bosses calling my next of kin to say that I was killed by sledge-hammer
irony.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So I’ve had my laptop in the drug cupboard with me, playing
Billy Joel and the Boss as loud as I can and singing oh-so tunefully to myself.
No one has complained just yet, although I have noticed a sharp increase in the
amount of beer consumed on board...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In terms of how else I’ve been amusing myself, I’ve been
knitting a cardigan like mad for my other half. Apparently I have an
extraordinary capacity to mess things up. I’ve had to rip it down and re-knit
it so many times. By the time he gets it, I’ll actually have knitted it twice.
I also keep looking at online fabric shops and lusting after their wares. I’ve
been strong so far and not caved but I want crepe, I want silk! It’s not the
clothing-in-potentia that I’m buying, you see. It’s just like a lottery ticket.
I’m buying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the hope</i> that I will make
something gorgeous and one-of-a-kind and then shrug and laugh and tell people,
“Hah, oh it’s just something I made!” whilst feeling horrifically smug inside. </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX82iKFo7SgMOAYP0o4rWy2zVELD7Co6F-Ivz3s5fUonis4dAngc_xwCIsXn5ipxzwPIBSIBX9Y9ARNy3UPu5FAUzhrgWutY_CoE3yot78A9eYvZWyjnWav0uADvaC6z9ddYgaCODpWlc/s1600/003+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX82iKFo7SgMOAYP0o4rWy2zVELD7Co6F-Ivz3s5fUonis4dAngc_xwCIsXn5ipxzwPIBSIBX9Y9ARNy3UPu5FAUzhrgWutY_CoE3yot78A9eYvZWyjnWav0uADvaC6z9ddYgaCODpWlc/s640/003+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What this? Oh it's just something I made! Back and left front of the cardigan. He will LIKE IT!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And on that slightly bizarre note, Happy Easter! I trust you
will all have a joyously chocolate-fuelled couple of days!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d2FZGR7L7s2q87sIcc5wMX5YRriFayMk3UCMBLXU9dS5IKsoK6b04D9wBohne8NAtdrJ2CdqQhFY__sWkYyIw9xrZQFpbJxWjY8TjP56YkKEScaiid_QDw0yLXlcP0wsB0PwmbucoBI/s1600/IMG_2429+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4d2FZGR7L7s2q87sIcc5wMX5YRriFayMk3UCMBLXU9dS5IKsoK6b04D9wBohne8NAtdrJ2CdqQhFY__sWkYyIw9xrZQFpbJxWjY8TjP56YkKEScaiid_QDw0yLXlcP0wsB0PwmbucoBI/s640/IMG_2429+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Possibly not the right kind of Easter chick...but I did try!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-10028907181019927822017-03-31T02:54:00.000+01:002017-03-31T15:11:58.991+01:00Fear and Despondency in Punta Arenas<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Hello and
greetings! Many apologies for not writing in such a long time. The truth of it
is that on our way back from the Weddell Sea I really didn’t have anything
particularly exciting to say- there were just a lot of grey and glowering
waves- and then after our sojourn in Punta Arenas it felt like I had too much
to say! So I kept putting it off as a bad job. I feel shame. I’m like Cersei
Lannister- apart from, you know, the weird stuff. </span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQx9v5mFol3tYP2cZx33T6YaioNKGt-7skKK9papgTCZOPoJgSQXXzdizUZgTeRO40RiDsCLwgzYaHBQ1EReDgnlcyFwz-Q_7jdbEx3_DHQ9EGt5l-cgy7x0me9h0IMmkJxpVpHDcVNo/s1600/IMG_4411+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQx9v5mFol3tYP2cZx33T6YaioNKGt-7skKK9papgTCZOPoJgSQXXzdizUZgTeRO40RiDsCLwgzYaHBQ1EReDgnlcyFwz-Q_7jdbEx3_DHQ9EGt5l-cgy7x0me9h0IMmkJxpVpHDcVNo/s640/IMG_4411+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only excitement on our way into Punta Arenas- a huge flock of seabirds shadowed us!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I had a
fantastic time in Punta Arenas. I took delivery of a huge cargo of chocolate and many books. The purser is now charged with rationing me to a bar a week lest my Christmas podge re-appear. And I had letters from my lovely other half and from a friend of my parents which was amazing! I sat and opened my mail whilst drinking a coffee and gazed out over the Atlantic. I felt so cool; it hurt. Martha Gelhorn totally did stuff like this!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Once chocolate supplies were assured however, my main priority was going for a swim. As
I’m not quite stoical enough to go for a dip in the Southern Atlantic, I booked
into a hotel. I donned my bikini and shot into the pool and wallowed for hours.
Apparently my presence dismayed the other pool users; they promptly fled the scene
after I began swimming laps and created my own little bow wave that washed them
into the shallow part of the pool. I then spread further fear and despondency
in the hotel by wandering back up to my room clad in my towel and bikini.
Judging from the looks of dismay that I received, I’ve suddenly realised that
behaviour that is charming and amusing when you are 5, lacks a certain
something when you’re 32. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I ate out
almost every evening in Punta- including in a French restaurant which was very
agreeable. I had pate and hare in the Magellan style if you’re interested.
Followed by a trio of chocolate pudding-y goodness. The waiter had clearly
taken my measure by this point because afterwards he brought me out a coffee
with a little chocolatey thing sat next to it. Pisco sours then ensued. This is an
utterly lethal beverage containing egg whites, syrup, Pisco, bitters and lemon
juice. After a number of months of drinking only on special occasions, it hit
me like hand grenade. Wow. Apparently I insisted on making friends with every
single dog in Punta Arenas. There are a lot of dogs in Punta. It took me hours
to get back to my hotel.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I was not
defeated by this minor hiccup however and the next day I sallied forth-
blinking fitfully at the bright sunshine- to book a trip to Torres del Paine. This
is a rather lovely national park that sits in the Patagonian part of Chile. The
Paine massif- an outcropping of the Andes mountains- looms over the park which
is heaving with the kind of flora and fauna that simply doesn’t exist anywhere
else.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpH0AfcOQra2ijwrAXABr8W_yITYxuH90Cu4OHu3gCWutYE4LlOPzXCSpE3RdOTW4d_8cfjmkjP4R8XQNrViCRzm0Pvfp2d3f6KE09Nn7805PAicLyjqLB9vgueeEgLktKp9iDDN56QA/s1600/IMG_4600+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpH0AfcOQra2ijwrAXABr8W_yITYxuH90Cu4OHu3gCWutYE4LlOPzXCSpE3RdOTW4d_8cfjmkjP4R8XQNrViCRzm0Pvfp2d3f6KE09Nn7805PAicLyjqLB9vgueeEgLktKp9iDDN56QA/s640/IMG_4600+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Approaching the national park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Confused by Chile’s draconian laws about bringing in fruit or nuts? This
unique environment is the reason why. Amongst the very exciting beasts that
bound through the park are pumas, guanacos, rheas, condors and grey foxes! There’s
a cave where prehistoric human remains have been found and there are three granite towers
named Cleopatra’s Needles by a woman who gloried in the unlikely name of Lady
Florence Dixie. What more could you possibly want in a park?</span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_w8iP4wgeMbEvv_1vFNCyu_T9A5oTHWuW-jFLcmqxTkndpRDgO4gVYOAUqRaPFw-Ncp0f3zKXWfGqObvlsXO8mgrhCFiZhXoI592h7Lh5vBUOUmFz3FAoylBY6Wb8mEASfyLp0DNfISg/s1600/IMG_4560+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_w8iP4wgeMbEvv_1vFNCyu_T9A5oTHWuW-jFLcmqxTkndpRDgO4gVYOAUqRaPFw-Ncp0f3zKXWfGqObvlsXO8mgrhCFiZhXoI592h7Lh5vBUOUmFz3FAoylBY6Wb8mEASfyLp0DNfISg/s640/IMG_4560+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bird of prey (any help guys?)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-A1D2zux1W6HUUJXDDtYFeTaiFEkoUF8Qh07g21MeuiIIegNN8tRDf28kp-bmxLMUn_k1wIpAvVWwU94GXqjjsdjdl80VXC2qSKiAyquzbbgt0z5k63YwBF33ay6Q7CJsWNXJyr0AOvY/s1600/IMG_4613+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-A1D2zux1W6HUUJXDDtYFeTaiFEkoUF8Qh07g21MeuiIIegNN8tRDf28kp-bmxLMUn_k1wIpAvVWwU94GXqjjsdjdl80VXC2qSKiAyquzbbgt0z5k63YwBF33ay6Q7CJsWNXJyr0AOvY/s640/IMG_4613+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guanaco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOZIKvI-9fofdgF_UcZ2pgmTksaJwGNqlaB45DJJVhiiSEn9onb5tAJ85U7EAy4fexXGQrU8t0urzuoTKZQVtCoy8CA8HLidP7sfPCjjdQIT337nvG7Mvp2WXCEUaQAIV2lMEc3mmLCI/s1600/IMG_4659+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOZIKvI-9fofdgF_UcZ2pgmTksaJwGNqlaB45DJJVhiiSEn9onb5tAJ85U7EAy4fexXGQrU8t0urzuoTKZQVtCoy8CA8HLidP7sfPCjjdQIT337nvG7Mvp2WXCEUaQAIV2lMEc3mmLCI/s640/IMG_4659+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleopatra's Needles/ Torres del Paine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had imagined that it was too far to get to
from Punta Arenas- but we found a tour company that were doing day trips. It
did mean getting up at 5am to catch the minibus but it was well worth it.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2v9yGOdvTXsQ8DIlrcMmhwuEB_yil8hpP2rfK_tpwdlmvYqfjbtWFFCKB6WGyPBEssPMaAzNXpTHXE6XRdSHdACXhCkfMhy7R5lyf8UnYDtEEQ2maTF1YTorw0AkQIkE4bzu6cqAlQQ/s1600/IMG_4521+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2v9yGOdvTXsQ8DIlrcMmhwuEB_yil8hpP2rfK_tpwdlmvYqfjbtWFFCKB6WGyPBEssPMaAzNXpTHXE6XRdSHdACXhCkfMhy7R5lyf8UnYDtEEQ2maTF1YTorw0AkQIkE4bzu6cqAlQQ/s640/IMG_4521+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 5am face. I NEED that coffee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> We
were exceedingly lucky; the weather is fairly unpredictable in Torres del Paine
and we had a whole day of glorious sunshine. The joke goes “So, you don’t like
the weather in Torres? Wait a minute.” Ho ho ho. Something of a dad-joke there.
Our guide, Francesco, told us that the previous week he had taken a group to
the park, waved at a wall of roiling clouds and said, “Well, the mountains are
behind those clouds there. I can show you a picture if you'd like?” Our day was
beauteous however and provided me with many an opportunity to take intrepid
explorer photos. Such things are not to be sneezed at. I was enraged to see my
buddy’s photos though. The little devil was taking photos on an i-phone and
they looked far better than what I was taking on my cool, multi-lens camera.
Only after stringing me along for several hours did he disclose that an I-phone
lets you edit photos as you go along. Ah... </span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFICBylWfR8oCgrJndwQPHNWjbBRqQUwmI2M6yGmHJ4Z7qyff6B2vn89HkeFJYm_u-BBYEruXZ23jxjs_dFKZ1-3oSzQgo3k6PszMJFHkyqstZWSrVGb8gbAPbSfkJlmVRUN4GijVV4vg/s1600/IMG_4671+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFICBylWfR8oCgrJndwQPHNWjbBRqQUwmI2M6yGmHJ4Z7qyff6B2vn89HkeFJYm_u-BBYEruXZ23jxjs_dFKZ1-3oSzQgo3k6PszMJFHkyqstZWSrVGb8gbAPbSfkJlmVRUN4GijVV4vg/s640/IMG_4671+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm an explorer! Just like Lady Florence Dixie!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi6EP2EMl1SlBPPncyiPZZF5EqmSEVRiovR29sjcu4IiQhyphenhyphenbf8KzoAv4bvhXqHOLohp2TPZJNLtDWBpOlx8xu_ql1xEPnLDwp4Kfh6kpkHBunbN5INdqSrEiwW-a7pLQErH1DIItiBz4/s1600/IMG_4789+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi6EP2EMl1SlBPPncyiPZZF5EqmSEVRiovR29sjcu4IiQhyphenhyphenbf8KzoAv4bvhXqHOLohp2TPZJNLtDWBpOlx8xu_ql1xEPnLDwp4Kfh6kpkHBunbN5INdqSrEiwW-a7pLQErH1DIItiBz4/s640/IMG_4789+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We returned
back to the ship at 10pm and exhausted by my dissipation; I crawled into bed.
And that was it; the next day we were off! Back out to sea again. We’re in good
company though; there are two science cruises aboard and most importantly,
Boaty McBoat Face (the autosub) sails with us!</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35Qi3GDLEM0vKPRBjAnsJplPoUU-CoP3pfN5oqVBzS9VIFdtRGZJoZG9hg3mjtOLe9rAufpiTyn1zT21HlAfFl3PMY-L9A4wWvpYau890Ydtfg9k86IaJxWxsgNRmTPM9gE17-k3au84/s1600/IMG_4643+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj35Qi3GDLEM0vKPRBjAnsJplPoUU-CoP3pfN5oqVBzS9VIFdtRGZJoZG9hg3mjtOLe9rAufpiTyn1zT21HlAfFl3PMY-L9A4wWvpYau890Ydtfg9k86IaJxWxsgNRmTPM9gE17-k3au84/s640/IMG_4643+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleopatra's Needles/ Torres del Paine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-50222814211813876382017-03-01T19:53:00.000+00:002017-03-01T19:53:03.322+00:00Neck Pain and Ice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyY1wrL6kdr9otivrB8ahYuveDsUC9yeXbu60FCF85OrREGTic09ZTQbI_JwvarKf-OfwFcYzw8qRvTHcfs39qG4XejJOHYJZjqNVmXsgGEEMqLfU3xfk_sSFOLO_zAfANaSKHVaA9Jc/s1600/IMG_4074+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I taught my first aid team how to take a history the other
day and as I did so a little shockwave of warmth and contentment ran through
me. You see, history taking is a game that patients like to play with
doctors where we try to garner enough information to establish a diagnosis and
patients do their best to obstruct that process. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me</strong>: So, Mr X, how long have you had this pain in the neck?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>MR X:</strong> Oh, a while.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me:</strong> I see. Erm...any idea how long “a while” is? Are we
talking weeks, months, years?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X</strong>: Well, it started after I bought the new playstation.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me:</strong> Riiiiiiight....I’m not quite sure when that was, Mr X.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X:</strong> Well, you know, just after the TV.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me giving up:</strong> OK, fine, fine. So what does the pain feel
like, Mr X?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X:</strong> Well, you know, it’s bad. Really sore. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me:</strong> OK, yes, but you know how a burning pain is different to
say, a stabbing pain? Which is different to an ache? Well, what does the pain
feel like? Because that might help me to differentiate what the problem is.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X:</strong> Well, it’s just bad really.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me getting slightly high pitched:</strong> So I get that the pain is
severe, but what I’m really trying to get at Mr X, is what the sensation feels
like.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X:</strong> Oh I see. Well it’s like a burning, stabbing, achey
kind of pain really.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X, this last in a helpful voice:</strong> But it’s really bad.
Very sore.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me:</strong> So, Mr X, do you have any previous medical complaints?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Mr X:</strong> No, none.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Me, nearly crying now:</strong> Are you quite, quite sure Mr X? Any idea why you might be on this cornucopia of medication then? </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, I don’t want you to get the impression that doctors are
impatient and intolerant individuals who bark questions at their patients and
are never satisfied with the answers. No, indeed. We’re all lovely people. I,
in fact, have a certificate of niceness! But the above conversation is one that
will definitely be familiar to all of my colleagues so it was with a sweet
sense of recognition that I saw very similar interactions being played out by
my first aid team. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had split the team in half and given one set of first
aiders the scenarios and the others were to try and take a history from them
using the SAMPLE (symptoms, allergies, medications, past medical history, last
oral intake, events leading up to illness) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>framework. It was so satisfying. I watched my
first aiders struggling to gain the correct information from patients who
decided entirely without prompting to be obstructive and withhold key nuggets of
information. Perhaps my favourite moment was when I took on the role of the
consultant on a post-take wardround (the consultant who reviews patients after
admission and clerking by a junior doctor) and had various angry first aiders squawk,
“Hey, you told me you had a pain in the neck, not in the buttock!” Welcome to
hospital medicine lads. Welcome.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Joking aside, my first aid team are doing brilliantly. We’ve
covered using splints, taking X-rays, history taking, wound and burn
management, major trauma, managing severe allergies, and hypothermia and cold
related injuries. I couldn’t be more pleased with them. But I wouldn’t be human
if I hadn’t experienced a flicker of schadenfreude during the history taking...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That rather bold interlude aside, let’s talk about ice. As,
I’m sure you’re aware, ice is the solid form of water. And as anyone who has ever
had an iced drink will know, ice floats on top of water.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTediKcsaLE8RPmeuS3IKLTZtr_fYJW3eM7SbR97c1fLuYDcsohEfVFYMcZrpV5K36QM7Ch24eqf98TowWF3NCG0WeXsJ511NBYWruafqFW5DjZYhd7z7ayd4M3UUUSC2NuJ0d-qx6wQ/s1600/IMG_3649+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijTediKcsaLE8RPmeuS3IKLTZtr_fYJW3eM7SbR97c1fLuYDcsohEfVFYMcZrpV5K36QM7Ch24eqf98TowWF3NCG0WeXsJ511NBYWruafqFW5DjZYhd7z7ayd4M3UUUSC2NuJ0d-qx6wQ/s640/IMG_3649+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Now this happens
because ice is rather less dense than water and so it’s able to float. Think of
water molecules as square dancers interacting with each other. In liquid water
the music is playing and the dancers are gliding past each other, swinging
their partners round and stripping the willow with glee. In ice, the music
hasn’t started just yet so the dancers remain at a fixed distance from each
other and they don’t move. </span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what makes our icy square dancers so stand-offish? Well,
water molecules have something called hydrogen bonds holding them together. In
liquid water the hydrogen bonds are constantly breaking up and reforming, rather
like our square dancers taking new partners. As water gets warmer, the
particles within it have more energy so they move about more and break and
remake the hydrogen bonds more frequently. The reverse happens as water
gets colder. As water turns to ice, the water molecules stop moving
about and stay still. The hydrogen bonds within the ice stop breaking and
reforming and instead are fixed- just like the dancers when the music stops.
Because the hydrogen bonds aren’t continually breaking and reforming, the water
molecules are forced away from each other by the fixed and outstretched
hydrogen bonds and thus the liquid water is denser than the ice because the
molecules in liquid water can get closer together.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now this is quite handy. If ice was denser than water it
would sink to the bottom of our oceans and seas and these bodies of water would
freeze from the bottom up. This would be rather a shame for all of the
organisms that dwell at the bottom of our seas but it wouldn’t just be those
organisms that suffered. Some scientists hypothesise that were the seas and oceans
to freeze, they would reflect solar heat back out into space and in very little
time our lovely home would turn into a massive ice ball.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other rather nifty trait of ice is that it’s
transparent. Light passes through ice to illuminate the water beneath. This
enables photosynthesising organisms to make their home under the sea ice down here in the Southern Ocean whilst
being protected from the wrath of the elements by the carapace of ice. The
algae and young krill that live under the sea ice are a vital part of the food
web of the Southern Ocean- without the sea ice these food webs could start to
come apart and the cute little weddell seals and penguins might start to
struggle.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrTtjA4J1SGo9QTujN5WaRdCq7uF99savQS5kK3GNI9fOPKOoE21FBb45iFYnOczUQZ4CIRQRWNL479cbaLrYx9VzxDXHbKesLWgbONk5ZJOmhyVFufMkE3dT5CgJ_wgesDbIsSuihmo/s1600/IMG_4091+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrTtjA4J1SGo9QTujN5WaRdCq7uF99savQS5kK3GNI9fOPKOoE21FBb45iFYnOczUQZ4CIRQRWNL479cbaLrYx9VzxDXHbKesLWgbONk5ZJOmhyVFufMkE3dT5CgJ_wgesDbIsSuihmo/s640/IMG_4091+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emperor Penguins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyY1wrL6kdr9otivrB8ahYuveDsUC9yeXbu60FCF85OrREGTic09ZTQbI_JwvarKf-OfwFcYzw8qRvTHcfs39qG4XejJOHYJZjqNVmXsgGEEMqLfU3xfk_sSFOLO_zAfANaSKHVaA9Jc/s1600/IMG_4074+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyY1wrL6kdr9otivrB8ahYuveDsUC9yeXbu60FCF85OrREGTic09ZTQbI_JwvarKf-OfwFcYzw8qRvTHcfs39qG4XejJOHYJZjqNVmXsgGEEMqLfU3xfk_sSFOLO_zAfANaSKHVaA9Jc/s640/IMG_4074+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emperor Penguins in the water</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, you may wonder why the fate of a weddell seal is even
remotely important to you. After all, that seal is a long, long way away. It
never calls on your birthday and it certainly never sends you a Christmas card.
All it does, in fact, is help to trap carbon that was in the atmosphere in its
own body. Our friend the seal eats the krill, which feeds on the algae which
strips carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The southern ocean is a carbon sink
of incredible importance and without the ice it might not do its job as well as
it does. So if you’re opening a bottle of wine tonight, or perhaps enjoying a
gin and tonic, I’d like you to raise your glass to the ice. Saving our planet,
one cube at a time!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-84645414170708561852017-02-20T00:34:00.001+00:002017-02-20T00:37:44.032+00:00Dr Frankenstein I presume?<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This may sound like a funny thing to assert, but I’m not really
sure that I believe in cricket anymore. I’ve been sailing since September of
last year, but never has the world of cricket, supermarkets, graffiti, rain,
Coffee Number 1 (shout out to Cardiff there) and Dorothy Perkins seemed so remote
as this week. We’ve spent the last four days in a place that looks like the
spitting image of the ice planet Hoth (if you don’t know what I mean- find
someone as nerdy as me to explain it) and I’m struggling to believe that such diverse
conditions can really exist on one planet. Admittedly the earth is a fairly big
place but it is mind-blowing to believe that whilst I’m shrugging myself into a
decidedly unattractive padded onesie to go outside and face temperatures of
-20°C, somewhere people are playing cricket and going into supermarkets. So
I’ve dealt with the incongruity by deciding that cricket does not exist.
Already my world is a great deal better and I feel a significant lightening of my
spirits! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It has been incredibly cold here. Enjoyably, mind boggling
cold. At 0°C, the cold is almost refreshing. It’s novel and exciting. It brings
a flush to the cheeks and you can wear jeans outside. At -20°C, going outside
to take photos for ten minutes requires preparation. It requires quiet grunting
and effort as thermals are hauled on, clothes layered on top of that, followed
by a padded boiler suit, thick socks, boots, a buff, sunglasses, a hat and two
layers of gloves. After all of these layers are applied I have the light
agility and grace of the Michelin man, but fortuitously I’m well padded for
when I ricochet off walls with my unaccustomedly large proportions! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I tested the warmth of my layers a few days ago when we flew
the quadcopter from the deck of the JCR. The quadcopter is a fun little robot helicopter
that is ostensibly used to take measurements of the ice in difficult conditions
and is also useful for ice navigation. It also just happens to take fantastic
aerial photographs. We had wonderfully bright and clear conditions a few days
ago so we put the quadcopter up on her first flight. It was rather a tense
mission as these toys are eye wateringly expensive but she was flown in style
and came home without getting lost amongst all the icebergs or indeed getting
dropped in the sea. Early on I inserted myself into the proceedings as “communications
officer” which in practice meant that I took lots of photos and only intermittently
stuck my hands in my armpits and bounced frantically up and down. It was -21°C
and I feel that behaviour was entirely legitimate!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88Epd_DPLVBQo9jZgR-IztuUtZt-EAEGxHkpBBnbnAY5iMOtS9PafRNU78BvQ1eAPLbQo3zELE_6t_NuTlhL5dEzWtK4T6NQjIKzhGzKXa3mDGlLi-ZFQGEV-ZMg9yR4qz6JoG-AK_TA/s1600/IMG_3881+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88Epd_DPLVBQo9jZgR-IztuUtZt-EAEGxHkpBBnbnAY5iMOtS9PafRNU78BvQ1eAPLbQo3zELE_6t_NuTlhL5dEzWtK4T6NQjIKzhGzKXa3mDGlLi-ZFQGEV-ZMg9yR4qz6JoG-AK_TA/s640/IMG_3881+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Quadcopter returning home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwWp-Clyr07RpEL1Wl8vgmw5ZqS52FWvuWgkoAgIn19X8XgEIxOPFSYha05lnnoMou-Co0XPwc8pynjs_NASCzIfa1_AeKa-NmdnrTRB-rc7C4FZxzvA6jHpMPk5F_ybRj1O-XeR795Q/s1600/IMG_3862+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwWp-Clyr07RpEL1Wl8vgmw5ZqS52FWvuWgkoAgIn19X8XgEIxOPFSYha05lnnoMou-Co0XPwc8pynjs_NASCzIfa1_AeKa-NmdnrTRB-rc7C4FZxzvA6jHpMPk5F_ybRj1O-XeR795Q/s640/IMG_3862+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The quadcopter looking a little bit like the Empire's Recon Droids on the ice planet Hoth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Flying quadcopters aside, we actually went into the ice a
few days ago in the hopes of finding our biologists some seals to tag. Breaking
ice is hypnotising to watch. Standing at the bow of the ship, there’s a
constant rasping, rumbling noise as the ship shoulders aside smaller icebergs. They
spin off like graceful waltzers, only coming to rest as the ship brushes past
them. Occasional shudders run the length of the vessel as she hits the larger icebergs,
backs up and then heaves into them again. The ice shows the strain, crumbles at
the edges and then a large crack snakes its way the length of the sheet and the
JCR thrusts her way through to the clearer water ahead. It’s mesmerising. In
amongst the vast plates of ice that make up the pack are veritable mountains of
ice. They look like the kind of thing that steely eyed people apply for permits
to climb because “it’s there.” It’s an utterly bewitching landscape; ever changing,
infinitely beautiful and deeply perilous. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jXSgMBDM31JoH_fpWHDQLnz4p_k3s-KslJDQNtHc-G02ArZLe7lI1qka6hKyCP432cPIBr_Ek0ad5qZqiKY2i1SBkTJ2d8Z6BvlisqdNyfvhsh8iMGAXNHxMRGmQru_O_PJEN5V2GTI/s1600/IMG_3651+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jXSgMBDM31JoH_fpWHDQLnz4p_k3s-KslJDQNtHc-G02ArZLe7lI1qka6hKyCP432cPIBr_Ek0ad5qZqiKY2i1SBkTJ2d8Z6BvlisqdNyfvhsh8iMGAXNHxMRGmQru_O_PJEN5V2GTI/s640/IMG_3651+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plates of ice in the Weddell Sea</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ijWNfLRBrOTJdNcrvUFa2ce-na5GeyTKtmsgNyynfuv-3mjTh20RYMGVJyPh4CDTG11srVHX0T_C-lppBaQzyx-sStkW6hyphenhyphenzQZomy_qi4pvicwOVcjelImQjTgkXTiwJjiT2dyFCfsc/s1600/IMG_3962+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ijWNfLRBrOTJdNcrvUFa2ce-na5GeyTKtmsgNyynfuv-3mjTh20RYMGVJyPh4CDTG11srVHX0T_C-lppBaQzyx-sStkW6hyphenhyphenzQZomy_qi4pvicwOVcjelImQjTgkXTiwJjiT2dyFCfsc/s640/IMG_3962+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vast icebergs in the Weddell Sea</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up until two days ago
our efforts to tag seals had been foiled; wildlife is always uncooperative and
sneaking up on weddell seals in a big red ice breaking ship is something of an
art form. We finally found a seal that fit the bill two days ago. Our little
friend was the right species, lying on an absolutely vast ice flow and most
importantly didn’t show the same rude tendency to precipitately vanish into the
water as soon as the JCR hove into view. Our seal taggers were winched onto the
ice flow and then slunk their way towards their prey, stopping only to test the
ground for crevasses full of snow that might tumble them into the icy water. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCh9F4XGDQE6BM-IGNKDZfUFSaEIGTKpTZv47AD-o4cFB58l18I3H0KGA0DesOu3RnRIO2Pmkro4f-QgxA9pjAXKLayG23XzMSWd4_8odaZKMoeGyfjVnORZQnBPqnYhTjlMPIhaNjCEw/s1600/IMG_4142+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCh9F4XGDQE6BM-IGNKDZfUFSaEIGTKpTZv47AD-o4cFB58l18I3H0KGA0DesOu3RnRIO2Pmkro4f-QgxA9pjAXKLayG23XzMSWd4_8odaZKMoeGyfjVnORZQnBPqnYhTjlMPIhaNjCEw/s640/IMG_4142+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting winched onto the ice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWwNxYBGSdvSCKCPRIWPf3S9Xwd-jp_aelhGSHKle6380b57qh5MsayoFRcg0g3_SIkrUPLs6HOEf422V8c_b7RQxe0hG2cxI_8pgVyRDfVn1SOxJ87gTYHb95pEdQyCuLrrG3O8hFOk/s1600/IMG_4237+%2528Medium%2529+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWwNxYBGSdvSCKCPRIWPf3S9Xwd-jp_aelhGSHKle6380b57qh5MsayoFRcg0g3_SIkrUPLs6HOEf422V8c_b7RQxe0hG2cxI_8pgVyRDfVn1SOxJ87gTYHb95pEdQyCuLrrG3O8hFOk/s640/IMG_4237+%2528Medium%2529+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hauling the tagging supplies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The seal was thrilled by his visitors and promptly showed
his open and trusting nature by rolling onto his back and waggling his flippers
at them. Regrettably our scientists were most impolite and instead of waggling
their flippers back, attached a small tracking device to him. This device is
attached with glue and is designed to come off in the first moult next year. In
the interim it should give us lots of information about weddell seal behaviours
like feeding and mating and most importantly shouldn’t cause Martin the seal
any distress. We’ve since tagged a further two seals and are hoping for a total
of eight.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0W8zC6_87Uy3MlD22N01wPkrypRs23GjU88dfQVTYAwGwuVsplv3toghRcQGx8CI0NUsklSRRMtMY6F8PGuutXkdWjSmbUq9qLrLjoCpjQwA1JF1w1tVVfukv9WcuHKdl-nrhxFKv3U/s1600/IMG_4177+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0W8zC6_87Uy3MlD22N01wPkrypRs23GjU88dfQVTYAwGwuVsplv3toghRcQGx8CI0NUsklSRRMtMY6F8PGuutXkdWjSmbUq9qLrLjoCpjQwA1JF1w1tVVfukv9WcuHKdl-nrhxFKv3U/s640/IMG_4177+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our research contributor!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There was time for more philosophical discussions today.
Some of our engineers were desirous of having the concept of kidney stones
explained to them, so I drew a renal tract (kidneys, bladder etc) and explained
how everything works. This just led us on to more questions about basic anatomy
and more and more subpar drawings from myself. Never try to teach an engineer
anatomy. I was eventually fixed with a bemused look, and told that actually it
would be far more efficient to have two hearts and possibly some sort of acid
rinse system to stop the kidneys from being bunged up by stones. Marsupial
pouches and chlorophyll impregnated skin were also posited as ideas. He’s not
quite certain of the details, but he thinks he can have a few ideas sketched
out for me by next week. Ah. I guess that makes me Dr Frankenstein then?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyZf-kAciXsfX_oN6BdN9LDjouvA4q801zJGTi0hGc5pcADEyIFlpvNryhpV_3e6Ok-gy0wonTw4GDuMg1c3GbVjEYRfPT485hxeg0xabJi4ITf1RzwfsrplcT6ZODD1lff6-Dc2l-jE/s1600/IMG_4091+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiyZf-kAciXsfX_oN6BdN9LDjouvA4q801zJGTi0hGc5pcADEyIFlpvNryhpV_3e6Ok-gy0wonTw4GDuMg1c3GbVjEYRfPT485hxeg0xabJi4ITf1RzwfsrplcT6ZODD1lff6-Dc2l-jE/s640/IMG_4091+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And some Emperor Penguins! Just because you've been so lovely!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoQHljB-FDGHHWFD96K3lnt_tCXPRTxwv7bV2Kr3Tvg935_8lqrJ5iyj7B-Zt5hIMcbLNTIcAFA43AlWEV2kKblWcQWN8Odt3NP1SlVt6XGp4JfyBKLKnpKAGlvcA21GFdNJDGyvufUE/s1600/IMG_4047+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoQHljB-FDGHHWFD96K3lnt_tCXPRTxwv7bV2Kr3Tvg935_8lqrJ5iyj7B-Zt5hIMcbLNTIcAFA43AlWEV2kKblWcQWN8Odt3NP1SlVt6XGp4JfyBKLKnpKAGlvcA21GFdNJDGyvufUE/s640/IMG_4047+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aren't these guys great?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-67046480344325361692017-02-14T20:58:00.001+00:002017-02-14T21:44:03.433+00:00Ice breaking movies<div style="border-image: none;">
Hello! I thought that I would give you all a special treat today and let you all watch some ice getting crunched. It's almost as satisfying as popping bubble wrap... It was a decidedly bracing -16<span style="font-family: "calibri";">°C whilst I was filming this and the wind chill made it feel a lot worse! I had thermal layers on, my clothes, my jacket, a hat, a scarf and my gloves and I still felt rather chilly. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxQK3L1nisg4qmevmJVSDurrI37__dE18uu3z1G1OSsIrH-3LBbdpBcN2ByPR8ZGOCcspNFXj0MSnldXw6rgA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Just so that you guys are aware, as we head further south (we're currently sitting at a very exciting 77deg South) we may start to lose comms as we lose our satellite link. So I promise, I haven't stopped blogging. I may just not be able to communicate!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-5119596999072442262017-02-11T18:09:00.000+00:002017-02-12T00:33:24.135+00:00Gossip! <br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I came across a very interesting piece of gossip the other
day. Now obviously this is top secret, so you mustn’t tell anyone. Apparently
Bird Island, Signy and King Edward Point Stations used to have darts
tournaments over the radio. But, and here’s the kicker, unbeknownst to all the
competitors only two of the three stations actually possessed a darts board...
Now I tell you this, not to encourage you to distrust all those who have spent
time at KEP, Signy or Bird Island (although I certainly wouldn’t play poker
with the little devils) but to simply admire the can-do attitude and chutzpah
of the people on the bases. These proud men and women of the British Antarctic
Survey were not to be foiled by the mere absence of a darts board and they
improvised, they adapted and they overcame adversity. And only incidentally won
the cup three years running...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So I thought it might be fun to consider times aboard the
ship where we have improvised to get around a tricky situation. The delivery of
a consignment of unshelled nuts, for example, led to one of our engineers
creating what I like to call the “nut vice” which crushes the nuts between two
plates. The results are somewhat lively with shards of shell pinging through
the bar area like shrapnel, but the point is that we improvised and also
learned a lot about the importance of safety goggles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaK0VinO1gdkIqvArWZwikoZzVW6tyiBYQsHZsd4zrbLwsh182fBkrH3qDLqrVq8uK22Vv1QKIfuEZElR-WjhzUoQs7y2t6sfRy0py2ep-MHUFH2fXjmPfU6gjGEyeKkBluD-VOiLHaQ/s1600/IMG_3548+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaK0VinO1gdkIqvArWZwikoZzVW6tyiBYQsHZsd4zrbLwsh182fBkrH3qDLqrVq8uK22Vv1QKIfuEZElR-WjhzUoQs7y2t6sfRy0py2ep-MHUFH2fXjmPfU6gjGEyeKkBluD-VOiLHaQ/s640/IMG_3548+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nut Vice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our chief engineer deeply
enjoys weight lifting. So he requested that one of our motormen build him a
weight rack. It looks quite a lot like something that might have been used by
Laura Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie” had she been keen on squatting-
but it does the job. This is somewhat disturbing because it means that when I’m
leading the circuits class (I know, what was I thinking?) the sessions are
punctuated by a very burly man making the sort of noises that I normally
associate with an obstetrics ward. But he’s happy and that’s the key thing.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip1C2u3K_50p93k3SkA2knfRroIPCf1DSuwAYzrGy9q91SNyjgEFy75RSWT3M0FPIsvt8PIKEtaK4qBg-zrpCbdqctg-PTpnds4F2iqNY6rMrOcY8MAGdtPzWEDyAk9gZ2_546fQAm6GA/s1600/IMG_3505+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip1C2u3K_50p93k3SkA2knfRroIPCf1DSuwAYzrGy9q91SNyjgEFy75RSWT3M0FPIsvt8PIKEtaK4qBg-zrpCbdqctg-PTpnds4F2iqNY6rMrOcY8MAGdtPzWEDyAk9gZ2_546fQAm6GA/s640/IMG_3505+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laura Ingalls-Wilder's Squat Rack</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The reason for my madness in starting circuits classes up is
that I thought it would force me to exercise. I can’t put up signs suggesting
that everyone join me for an invigorating session of circuits every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday and then not show up myself. It’s a little bit
nerve-wracking. I don’t even like having birthday parties in case no-one comes
along, so you can imagine the terror that assails me every Monday, Wednesday
and Friday at 5.15. What if nobody comes? It’s a nail biter, I know. I was
deeply unimpressed by our deck engineer who didn’t share that he used to be a
personal trainer in the military until AFTER the first circuits class! However,
as I’ve since stolen all his workout plans and used him as “my glamorous
assistant” who demonstrates all the exercises, I can’t complain really.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And what is the JCR doing at the moment? We’re progressing
further South; we crossed into the Antarctic Circle some days ago which means
that I got a certificate (the Hermione Granger part of me is deeply happy) and
that there are a lot of icebergs about. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KoEsfdPcys32yVe-FIk1oeE7uGEVwrbgH2FKlvoUTQkGzqXmdLxkBj0m4GoVKCn3IhNol4tXoBU8tRCO3SEXo4Jt3UhAta7pBk008pB-HbZtvf9AQI978NF3vkUVE34gIfItGHr0zNc/s1600/IMG_3540+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KoEsfdPcys32yVe-FIk1oeE7uGEVwrbgH2FKlvoUTQkGzqXmdLxkBj0m4GoVKCn3IhNol4tXoBU8tRCO3SEXo4Jt3UhAta7pBk008pB-HbZtvf9AQI978NF3vkUVE34gIfItGHr0zNc/s640/IMG_3540+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm in Nerdvana</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7D8WnEeENsGlyvJqnDUKrFsJJTlHe6x76LGzXvErEIWtDRTQPolMh-iW4-CO9-I8Qgm5OA3rUFTKk_7nRT4glhbZeHDPR9C0CSq9djEWWpEoh1usD3koqnjJMb8o1xPr9ETHIh3abeE/s1600/IMG_3497+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7D8WnEeENsGlyvJqnDUKrFsJJTlHe6x76LGzXvErEIWtDRTQPolMh-iW4-CO9-I8Qgm5OA3rUFTKk_7nRT4glhbZeHDPR9C0CSq9djEWWpEoh1usD3koqnjJMb8o1xPr9ETHIh3abeE/s640/IMG_3497+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icebergs!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We even got to 75°S which meant that I
was one of the most southerly doctors employed by BAS; how’s that for latitude
attitude! We saw our sister ship, the Shackleton, zipping about the other day-
she’s planning on mooring at the edge of the ice shelf to make some deliveries
to Halley. And we’re doing a number of CTDs whilst we progress on our merry
way. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSb1ZPrU1100BMcZpvQEoXylIHfy_lhb7W3Rfb3I4Kg0r5KE2VAhzEa5DcsnoyumtmxDnaF_E7Tzf7mYJlIWmdg8QVQ85e5BjbS_jmZm_hUii953XX6WwNu5DJrRNAcdsLexc669L6zk8/s1600/IMG_3538+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSb1ZPrU1100BMcZpvQEoXylIHfy_lhb7W3Rfb3I4Kg0r5KE2VAhzEa5DcsnoyumtmxDnaF_E7Tzf7mYJlIWmdg8QVQ85e5BjbS_jmZm_hUii953XX6WwNu5DJrRNAcdsLexc669L6zk8/s640/IMG_3538+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shackleton</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">CTD stands for conductivity, temperature and depth, which is
by strange coincidence, exactly what it measures! Now, I’m not the best person
to explain the wonderful world of CTD (that would be Chris on his blog “Chris’s
Climate and Oceanography Blog”. Look it up- it’s funny and clever!) but it
involves dropping a metal ring with several bottles welded to it, over the
side. The bottle lids are triggered to ping off at different depths, which
means that we can collect water from different levels of the ocean and then
analyse it for things like dissolved gas or the presence of metals. Probes are
also present on the metal ring and they measure the conductivity, temperature
and depth of the</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">water around the device. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of the things that I’m most excited by is the
seal-bothering. Apparently one of our science groups wishes to tag seals. Seals
on the whole, are less keen on tagging and so they tend to require a
short trip off to sleepy land which is where things get slightly more
complicated. Previously scientists used dart guns to shoot the seal with a
tranquiliser and then tag it. However administering a successful dose of the
tranquiliser is very dependent on seal weight which is rather tricky to
guesstimate. So our intrepid scientists are going to try gassing the seals
down. Please bear in mind that these are not cute, fluffy, little things, but
rather fanged monsters that smell like dead fish and weigh a few ton, so asking
it nicely to wear a mask smelling of sevofluorane (anaesthetic gas that smells
like lilos) may not work. I have to admit to a slightly sadistic feeling of
curiosity as to how well this is going to go... Joking aside, they seem to have
a very good protocol worked out, so I’m sure that it will be fine.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aarhkqOzqG8JxpTPAs7qTIcvJ5gBGsnFLp7JIjxqwZXucpfPD2PnV-F9D7KYBKqXXGKqiyXDOKRui8QpIRUeRqL8JZAG_pLRvJuGHMPHcctWEgJsMluZgvZFHC3ej6kLX1PIwFLEYX8/s1600/IMG_3530+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aarhkqOzqG8JxpTPAs7qTIcvJ5gBGsnFLp7JIjxqwZXucpfPD2PnV-F9D7KYBKqXXGKqiyXDOKRui8QpIRUeRqL8JZAG_pLRvJuGHMPHcctWEgJsMluZgvZFHC3ej6kLX1PIwFLEYX8/s640/IMG_3530+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icebergs behind me- I feel this photo is like a proof of life!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I had cause to use my X-Ray machine in anger the other day.
I tested it out on a few bits and bobs first of all. It’s proper, old fashioned
radiography; I load my X-ray films into cassettes, shoot the X-ray and then develop
the films in my dark room. Developing the films is pretty much the same process
as photos used to require many years ago. There is a developer bath, a water
rinse and then a fixer bath. The film has to spend the right amount of time in
each tray so that the image is usable after it’s processed. And with X-ray
films you only get one go at developing the image, so you’d better get it right
on the first go! This was all incredibly fun even if my dark room does double
as the surgery’s bathroom. If I want to develop films in there I have to turn
the red light on (Roxanne) and stuff towels into the crack under the door so
that daylight doesn’t get through and fog the film. And then because I can’t
see my watch in the red light, I have to count “1 elephant, 2 elephant...” It
takes a long time to get to five minutes. But despite that it was strangely
addictive and I find that I’m quite curious to know what things look like on
the inside. So if you’ll excuse me, I just need to irradiate my makeup bag...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">*The part about the scallywags winning the darts championship cup three years running isn't entirely true. I don't even think there was a cup!</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-19191931113782371872017-02-01T17:18:00.000+00:002017-02-01T17:18:45.623+00:00How the Doctor got a Bird Island T-Shirt
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Peat is more interesting than you’d think. Not only can it
be used to flavour whiskey, but with a bit of ingenuity it can also tell us a
lot about the world around us. One of the scientists, Angela Gallego-Sala, is
particularly interested in what it can tell us about the carbon cycle. Peat
represents plant matter which grew and then died in water saturated
environments like wetlands or bogs. Whilst the plants were growing they trapped
the energy of the sun and used it in conjunction with carbon dioxide to create
glucose or sugar. This traps carbon inside the plant. Under normal
circumstances, this carbon is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when
the plant dies and decays. In peatlands, things are slightly different. As the
plant matter in peatlands decays, it does so in an environment which is
saturated with water and thus starved of oxygen. The decomposition of the plant
matter is therefore a lot slower and most of the carbon stays safely locked
away in the partially decomposed plant matter.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This may all sound terrifically familiar to anyone
interested in fossil fuels. And that’s because it’s pretty much the same stuff.
Peat is just a few million years off turning into lignite coal. It’s still used
as a fuel around the world. People in areas that are extremely low on trees
have always tended to use peat to fuel fires instead. This is why Scottish and
Irish whiskies have that distinctive smoky flavour; the malted barley used to
make the spirit is dried over peat fires.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Peatlands are extremely efficient carbon sinks. Any carbon
dioxide emitted by the decay of plant matter is used in photosynthesis by
plants living at the surface. Peatlands tend to work as net-extractors of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Not only that, but they allow us a window
back in time. Because the plant matter falls in layers and the deposition is
very slow (peat layers form in millimetres each year), taking core samples of peat
enables us to see what plants flourished thousands or hundreds of thousands of
years ago. And we can also extrapolate what conditions might have been like at
those times.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Angela’s research is attempting to outline certain aspects
of climate that may impact on the carbon cycle- in particular wind speed. As
winds move around the Southern Ocean they find little in the way of land masses
to impede their progress. As such they pick up enormous amounts of sea spray
and deposit it on any land masses that they encounter. This means that in times
of greater wind speeds, more salty water is deposited on the land. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Angela’s team have noted that certain species of testate
amoebae live in the peatlands. Different communities of amoebae will flourish at
different levels of salinity. Core samples of the peat will therefore contain
different communities of amoebae depending on how salty the peatland was when
that layer of peat was being formed. This can then be carbon dated and we can
work out what wind speeds would have been like at the time when the peat layer
was formed. Why is this important? Well, when wind speeds and currents align,
the southern ocean has a tendency to stop being a carbon sink and instead
releases carbon into the atmosphere again. So if we can establish under what
circumstances this is liable to happen, we can predict in future when we might
lose the safety net which the southern ocean carbon sink provides.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was a very long winded (but hopefully interesting) way
of saying that Angela and her team will spend the next few months island
hopping in the Sub-Antarctic islands. She’s working in conjunction with French,
Russian and American scientists who are likewise attempting to map out the
carbon cycle in the southern ocean. And all this meant that I got to visit Bird
Island which is clearly the most important aspect of the whole thing!</span> </div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3T_C5zxmuBJhY2m3ES9Gm_O46y_jHBgnLjYG7TPnOXupTuaI1Gla15DkJ41uoo0CIwqC-qywxQZ2LuZP0aZyqqD9TEytPjGcE3unA1G9OUVQ31x79eDnUzjg5g9yyzN2t8NdRfFZy4Q/s1600/IMG_3401+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH3T_C5zxmuBJhY2m3ES9Gm_O46y_jHBgnLjYG7TPnOXupTuaI1Gla15DkJ41uoo0CIwqC-qywxQZ2LuZP0aZyqqD9TEytPjGcE3unA1G9OUVQ31x79eDnUzjg5g9yyzN2t8NdRfFZy4Q/s640/IMG_3401+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bird Island </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bird Island lies just off the North Western tip of South
Georgia and has had a BAS research station there since 1957. It was spruced up
a few years ago and now consists of about 3-4 buildings all in the tasteful
muted green that BAS seems to like! It’s only accessible by sea and the jetty
is in fairly shallow waters which meant that we had to approach in the Humbers
(little power boats). I had been asked if I wouldn’t mind popping in to answer
a few questions on medications (Bird Island does not get their own doc, you
see, just a team of advanced first aiders) and first aid protocols. Trying my
hardest to rein in a massive smirk, I said that it would be a hardship, but I
would see what I could do. And despite the fact that I got into the world’s
biggest boat suit which made me look a bit like a telly tubby mated with an
astronaut, the day was a triumph!</span></div>
<div style="border-image: none;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We shot forward into a wall of low-lying cloud which eventually
parted to expose the station and the bay in which it lives. The barks of seals
filled the air, as did the reek of salty, fishy decomposition that impregnates
the island! Our little boat dodged around floating rafts of kelp and rounded a
rocky promontory on which seal pups crawled anxiously calling out for their
mothers. Smooth and sleek adult seals jetted through the waters near the boat,
hunting for prey in the grey-green waves. A photo at this point would have been
wonderful but I regret that I was otherwise engaged in clinging on for dear
life. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjd4ILD2ugoZUIu74P4LPId2cVZ1pqGzqcWnAxlhopmJLRBTcweZsiaRAhgQGKaTWag_GximZelDGm-xY7BbNrcJGDiq2R7ziaKudj37NTJTqLvCUcTR1rxTjtiA0oweKnmauL0Nn3kTs/s1600/P1290036+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjd4ILD2ugoZUIu74P4LPId2cVZ1pqGzqcWnAxlhopmJLRBTcweZsiaRAhgQGKaTWag_GximZelDGm-xY7BbNrcJGDiq2R7ziaKudj37NTJTqLvCUcTR1rxTjtiA0oweKnmauL0Nn3kTs/s640/P1290036+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fur seals frolicking in the water (photo taken by Sara Labrousse)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the jetty, there was a massive welcome party. We were
escorted towards the base and I was impressed by the nonchalance with which our
hosts shooed the fur seals out of our way whilst the furries barked at us,
exposing their questionable dental hygiene. These little charmers are quite
aggressive during the mating season and seal bites are very liable to get
infected. Even the pups seemed to learn grumpiness early on, with tiny little
seals growling at me as I went past. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKVFosPB-ZaIHnk8vpJywDeqQuthCMISGed7DCyDkoJp8V7VJdjSME5BSw4eDk5SsRnFBRfbHhmIjOq4uzj0ggvW-fVOhyphenhyphenUd9so0BxX4xXTMu1GO7YE-vrCGIoZzGuV2ghpozfykZJuQ/s1600/GOPR2062+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKVFosPB-ZaIHnk8vpJywDeqQuthCMISGed7DCyDkoJp8V7VJdjSME5BSw4eDk5SsRnFBRfbHhmIjOq4uzj0ggvW-fVOhyphenhyphenUd9so0BxX4xXTMu1GO7YE-vrCGIoZzGuV2ghpozfykZJuQ/s640/GOPR2062+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The welcoming party (photo taken by Sara Labrousse)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5ly-Jtu_jprCgBE5gK9ED1BTZamBjmKiDpV_rYIm_s-sM-e8FJw_QEI0xuH0loepLnPm2l3qI26hdMw3TPvPrML1Tm4QZc-Y3oQokaIePWu0iNP2HmHb8stnKzXDKVn3YueD8y5nDYo/s1600/IMG_1316+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-5ly-Jtu_jprCgBE5gK9ED1BTZamBjmKiDpV_rYIm_s-sM-e8FJw_QEI0xuH0loepLnPm2l3qI26hdMw3TPvPrML1Tm4QZc-Y3oQokaIePWu0iNP2HmHb8stnKzXDKVn3YueD8y5nDYo/s640/IMG_1316+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great teeth on a furry (photo taken by Sara Labrousse)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were given tea and cookies (chilli and
chocolate cookies- absolutely amazing!) and then I cracked on with helping with
the first aid stuff. But not before I’d issued the most important command “I
don’t have much time. Quick, go get me a Bird Island t-shirt!” Must-Be-Branded.
</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_0K4X8hAHSRSMwk9bCnUDUmKIXQl32M-7cukb2pMrG_DkTWexw_yqwBYeUZ2OCEUyUK8blB16Le7WxZhRZK3xJVvJAtaU53Lt5XYRgyWR1DtuLAJOjqJ6N_TFZfC_w5g1GV2dYBOWeBM/s1600/IMG_20170202_131532+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_0K4X8hAHSRSMwk9bCnUDUmKIXQl32M-7cukb2pMrG_DkTWexw_yqwBYeUZ2OCEUyUK8blB16Le7WxZhRZK3xJVvJAtaU53Lt5XYRgyWR1DtuLAJOjqJ6N_TFZfC_w5g1GV2dYBOWeBM/s640/IMG_20170202_131532+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most important job achieved- a T-shirt! Excuse the smirk- I struggle with selfies!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was great and the time passed all too quickly. But soon enough I had to
scuttle back outside, along the metal walkway that the fur seals have decided
to colonise and onto my little boat. Angela and her team were left behind to do
their research and we bounced back along the crests of the waves to the ship.
As we were winched up to the deck the sun came out, burning away the mists that
covered the island. It was possible to see the birds that give the island its name,
swarming about the cliff face and livening the air with their cries. </span> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZB-ECud-Wmr8oRaSao53vQcMLtMMx1Ts5Kk8GDoSmcXAT0SnlTSRmZCbNUr6km6PVHXUgNuzmPeMnWjbp_qo_WMNCewCOs77u87Hgcskyp0Lrva5TzAnH_aiaFBTh2jY6a3OXYBJhB8/s1600/GOPR2096+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicZB-ECud-Wmr8oRaSao53vQcMLtMMx1Ts5Kk8GDoSmcXAT0SnlTSRmZCbNUr6km6PVHXUgNuzmPeMnWjbp_qo_WMNCewCOs77u87Hgcskyp0Lrva5TzAnH_aiaFBTh2jY6a3OXYBJhB8/s640/GOPR2096+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being winched aboard (photo taken by Sara Labrousse)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div style="border-image: none; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmyDo572rBOz1hGdMwKYNVjQYY-TwHdFN6P2bgIDkGvGQ6JVN7IR-p6Pu2ZYA7879CR3lpeRNpWEvqAjqS-5EkZWl2YFo1tC5_mEKdKBJ1L3-8tKtCMS4ZNrNJ_ehuVWBmeaAeXeJmTY/s1600/IMG_3411+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmyDo572rBOz1hGdMwKYNVjQYY-TwHdFN6P2bgIDkGvGQ6JVN7IR-p6Pu2ZYA7879CR3lpeRNpWEvqAjqS-5EkZWl2YFo1tC5_mEKdKBJ1L3-8tKtCMS4ZNrNJ_ehuVWBmeaAeXeJmTY/s640/IMG_3411+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ak- the birds!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="border-image: none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-30459715112655559332017-01-26T17:11:00.002+00:002017-01-26T17:11:43.807+00:00Punta Arenas<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sorry about the little pause in blogging everyone; I had a
very nice few days away from the ship when we arrived in Punta Arenas. It was
absolutely glorious. I stayed in a hotel called La Yegua Loca (the Crazy Mare-
make of that what you will) which was great. All the rooms seem to have been
themed. Mine was “El Lechero” which means The Dairy and not “The Lecher” as my
father rather unkindly suggested. It was all very tastefully decorated though,
so rather than calling it cowboy kitsch I’m going to call it gaucho-chic and
just say that it was wonderful to have an enormous double bed even if, after
months at sea, I huddled in a corner of it and didn’t starfish as planned. I
had a shower that I could use without handholds...Luxury indeed. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUifWPYTl46N9g5fTyC2n_5HfpE2VPTl3G9Nhgn2L1YwoCxeVhiO0HyKNcuaC_AIOdbCEjtCz-9IbqYm1yk8XbYeM94fKkCuFQTP3TpJlRB8aoldilmARzhQTOsE4hGZk2FLa8KvUauyI/s1600/16215922_10101071036481706_1537766282_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUifWPYTl46N9g5fTyC2n_5HfpE2VPTl3G9Nhgn2L1YwoCxeVhiO0HyKNcuaC_AIOdbCEjtCz-9IbqYm1yk8XbYeM94fKkCuFQTP3TpJlRB8aoldilmARzhQTOsE4hGZk2FLa8KvUauyI/s640/16215922_10101071036481706_1537766282_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaucho chic or estancia style?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our first evening in Punta Arenas was great. I went with a
number of the scientists to the Sky Bar in Dreams hotel. The bar is several
floors up in the hotel which means that it commands a beautiful view out to sea
or over the city. The toilets were no exception to this; the wall of the
cubicle was glass from floor to ceiling with a lovely view of down-town Punta
Arenas. This led to the slightly anxious hope that the glass was definitely
one-way only. Or it would have been an anxious thought, had I not just had a
negroni and a White Russian and was therefore more amused by the fact that I
had coined the phrase “a poo with a view.” I shared this with everyone and kept
nudging them until they smiled gently and told me, “yes, it was very witty
Helen.”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As to the White Russian, I have absolutely no idea how The
Dude drank so many of them in the Big Lebowski because they are exceptionally
sticky and sickly. But we followed that up with an amazing meal of steak and
shell fish at a restaurant across the road and I retired for the night sated
and giggling quietly to myself. The food in Punta Arenas was incredible. The
galley staff do a wonderful job of preserving the veggies that we get on board
so we do have fresh vegetables for a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, after two months at sea...suffice to say that this salsa thing
that Chileans eat with bread at the start of every meal? Well the fresh tomato and
garlic was like a poem on my tongue.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I inflicted my Spanish on a lot of people. Our first night
in Punta, we were on our way out of the security gate at the port when an irate
security guard began shouting at the scientists ahead of me. Regrettably he
didn’t speak English and they didn’t speak Spanish, so things were getting a
trifle fraught until I sauntered forwards, a devil-may-care smile on my lips
and enquired “Hay una problema?”/Is there a problem? (I may have been slightly
less cool than that. But hey, this is my version of events!)It turned out that
our security guard, possibly after clocking our nationality, was requesting
that we try not to return to the port completely trashed. I may have mis-translated
at first- I thought he was telling us not to bring alcohol back to the ship
which seemed like a reasonable thing to say in view of customs- but I worked
out later that he really meant not to come back intoxicated. What a lovely
reputation Brits abroad do have!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And it’s really just a shame that GCSE Spanish didn’t
prepare me to have that conversation. I remember how to planchar mi ropa/to iron
my clothes, but strangely no one ever taught me how to say “Honestly, we won’t
come back trolleyed.” What a gap in my education. And to continue on this theme,
I have never had to discuss ironing my clothes with a Spanish speaking person;
I am morally at peace with being crumpled. However I do like a grilled steak,
and the word “planchar” means both to iron and to grill which does make me
wonder if Spanish speakers think that they are grilling their clothes or ironing their steaks.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Regardless, I had a wonderful time babbling in Spanish at
the poor defenceless populace. Mostly they were very kind and tried not to be
too visibly distressed by the way I was mangling their mother tongue. I don’t
like to acknowledge defeat though, so even when the people I was speaking to
could clearly speak English very well, I still insisted on using Spanish. To
the slightly crazy point where if I had forgotten a word I chose to mime it
rather than just give way and speak English. Yeah, I know. I’m strange.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I visited a Chilean cemetery which was oddly enjoyable. Lots
of mausoleums in which to wait out eternity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Bj7nTJ4F2a3s-ThoH2vDO5Jqavr_OTuYogQfakCjx582uYvMAST2mTx0ngr300sJY21ve4mMj7s81w-ouo3HWBZuKbnrO2FMMjfwTlgP37LXAW8tGLBC34Up89qsX4uO6hdln49pLuA/s1600/16237105_10101071337004456_1002927182_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Bj7nTJ4F2a3s-ThoH2vDO5Jqavr_OTuYogQfakCjx582uYvMAST2mTx0ngr300sJY21ve4mMj7s81w-ouo3HWBZuKbnrO2FMMjfwTlgP37LXAW8tGLBC34Up89qsX4uO6hdln49pLuA/s640/16237105_10101071337004456_1002927182_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mausoleums in the cemetery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwK_VK7zGq9rXyo36zXjhj3kKOWSg8t4wFSJvw3Y1yKdi4__iGen73MuWHrNYdEMXp7Aiit3LtDMLzdVicHvHXAmY4BcvK7UI2C9HZbRk-S41gpFNXA_sMDPMBK0TgddBF9Y5a-Lxa1o/s1600/16237753_10101071337069326_1246514149_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwK_VK7zGq9rXyo36zXjhj3kKOWSg8t4wFSJvw3Y1yKdi4__iGen73MuWHrNYdEMXp7Aiit3LtDMLzdVicHvHXAmY4BcvK7UI2C9HZbRk-S41gpFNXA_sMDPMBK0TgddBF9Y5a-Lxa1o/s640/16237753_10101071337069326_1246514149_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peace in your tomb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipc42ZQN2ivJXbJMRtrTC0RLtk-r2jDLqrqbjECOqA9Vu4NAgVQijgY_i76YzqlvJih1afwfycuCbSELN0ktimtVolUJrC9qQem5fSAT9dMHfs-XRJMeiupT28RC5_XmtdYC4-8ryC6UE/s1600/16176512_10101071337124216_1964860140_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipc42ZQN2ivJXbJMRtrTC0RLtk-r2jDLqrqbjECOqA9Vu4NAgVQijgY_i76YzqlvJih1afwfycuCbSELN0ktimtVolUJrC9qQem5fSAT9dMHfs-XRJMeiupT28RC5_XmtdYC4-8ryC6UE/s640/16176512_10101071337124216_1964860140_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>And I trundled around the Silesian Museum of
Patagonia which was like a homage to the taxidermists’ art. The first floor was
filled with slightly unnerving glassy stares from stuffed Patagonian wildlife.
But I wasn’t able to linger for long because I was chased along by an
exceptionally noisy family who clearly failed to grasp the meaning of the word “silencio”
on the walls. I contented myself by sighing heavily and glaring at them in a
wonderfully English-passive-aggressive fashion. The lower floor of the museum is
devoted to the natural history of Patagonia. The upper floors have some
interesting information on the indigenous populations whose numbers were
decimated by “first guns and then syphilis and tuberculosis.” Patagonia had
gold and lots of animals with nice skins and so people flocked to Patagonia and
the locals didn’t stand much of a chance. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the days that followed I went for very nice walks, ate a
huge amount of food and finally succumbed to the cold that one of the Rothera
doctors so kindly bequeathed me when he hugged me goodbye. He is dead to me. (Only
joking Tom!) </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7z1AKR1bI1Q-DMQ-8GocNzEThnS7mCm8Nr2WhWvI_UIfrYRytUg8pW_YcXwCzXRivoVmZbJ-mRyatBYlEhW5zEaeh4Z3D0iPPB8xycYbEGtovD-tLzuF02aVd_CeeeRp2H7Dl0v8Jwq8/s1600/16215617_10101071566294956_891913395_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7z1AKR1bI1Q-DMQ-8GocNzEThnS7mCm8Nr2WhWvI_UIfrYRytUg8pW_YcXwCzXRivoVmZbJ-mRyatBYlEhW5zEaeh4Z3D0iPPB8xycYbEGtovD-tLzuF02aVd_CeeeRp2H7Dl0v8Jwq8/s640/16215617_10101071566294956_891913395_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I ate a lot. Like, a very lot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I then returned my snotty self to the ship and was made aware of
just how lucky I am. Waiting for me were a few surprises; parcels from my Mum and Dad; chocolates
from the deck engineer’s mum, Elizabeth; chocolates from Victoria’s Dad, and
finally a massive parcel from Kerri, my buddy from the first cruise. Thank you
very much to those kind people; it means a huge amount to me. It’s surprisingly
hard each time a crew change happens and the people that I’ve grown to know get
off the ship and head for home whilst I keep sailing. I wouldn’t change this
for the world; this is my choice and it is a wonderful job. But to know that
people were thinking of me meant a huge amount and I just wanted to say a very heartfelt thank
you. Thank you.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-1089637384692245922017-01-17T01:03:00.002+00:002017-01-17T12:10:37.459+00:00The Relief at Rothera<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A month later than originally expected, and feeling a trifle
beaten and battered, the James Clark Ross finally made her way to Rothera
station. We arrived at Adelaide Island on the Tuesday of last week, one or two
days after the science work had terminated and spent the day steaming with
eager anticipation towards Rothera point. Despite the cold temperatures, wildlife
was abundant in those waters and the humpback whales came to investigate us on
several occasions. With almost depressing predictability, I was sat at the
stern end of the ship admiring humpbacks gallivanting perhaps as little as a
quarter of a mile away, when something from the bow end of the ship caught my
attention. I looked along the side of the ship and spotted the humpbacks which
had apparently been feeding happily just beneath the bow. Immediately they felt
my eyes upon them, they became bashful and dove before resurfacing just out of
camera range. Thanks guys. I was later told by the scientists that they’d all
been happily watching the whales for about half an hour. People really like
rubbing salt in the wildlife spotting wound!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hAJIIBS_pRr3qdRrD-QztLNwMjJBecU7EQ0V8WjL5O6NW1Dh7PkY89f46gokrFKkoSxjKhKVXgWdW0s1g-CtXlOf7WO-6e-Kz6CZa5svvrtUErR84unxVExO9Vi4x2g8RzVjpGOXevs/s1600/IMG_2938+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hAJIIBS_pRr3qdRrD-QztLNwMjJBecU7EQ0V8WjL5O6NW1Dh7PkY89f46gokrFKkoSxjKhKVXgWdW0s1g-CtXlOf7WO-6e-Kz6CZa5svvrtUErR84unxVExO9Vi4x2g8RzVjpGOXevs/s640/IMG_2938+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An elusive humpback whale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The arrival into Ryder Bay was spectacular. I went up onto
the Monkey Island early (for me anyway) and just soaked in the views. I was
surrounded by a ring of mountains that reached down to the grey-black waters of
the bay. The mountains themselves were painted with pale blues and purples in the
early morning light. Their peaks were wrapped with milky white clouds
that lent the scene an otherworldly feeling.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8I9drXBDvr_yAsTa3mtPWyp8bSIriXM6vCE2bnjjTbsjkEaSz41StYZ0hcGGWQg96vHyeRiLhdHgf3mIQyUqCIhBotUucjO2ElfzW3C95I-_8X6hKDZO55FBf2AAkbC9eXksj7rRHLU/s1600/IMG_2982+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8I9drXBDvr_yAsTa3mtPWyp8bSIriXM6vCE2bnjjTbsjkEaSz41StYZ0hcGGWQg96vHyeRiLhdHgf3mIQyUqCIhBotUucjO2ElfzW3C95I-_8X6hKDZO55FBf2AAkbC9eXksj7rRHLU/s640/IMG_2982+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views in Ryder Bay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our day was not to be as straight forward as a simple
arrival and unloading however. Strong winds blowing at about 40 knots kept us
off the berth and ultimately the decision was made to go a-hunting for a
mooring that was somewhere in the bay instead. The mooring housed data
recorders that had been making continuous observations for the last year and
was firmly anchored to the sea bed. The ship traversed the bay, “pinging” the
mooring and when we finally received a response, the mooring released and the
data recorders floated up to the surface with a big colourful buoy. In practice
things weren’t quite that straightforward and we had to criss-cross the bay
several times, always with the nagging worry that our data might resurface
somewhere awkward...like under an iceberg. Still, I wasn’t complaining and I
spent several happy hours on the deck, liberally coated in a sticky film of
suntan lotion and enjoying the feeling of warmth on my face. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAf22uOut4LOU20wp2b0ijQ0EstqJg6kzRYG0GnoQ0I3pdM6hG9uZVR9RKbrY4Pwa4BPGWbSdhbLrwQQOK85Tf8TrDJTCcgBvuZRbal5nTp9FKz116x_fHE9qP2bk5S2Vu9irWaYUIoTs/s1600/IMG_3081+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAf22uOut4LOU20wp2b0ijQ0EstqJg6kzRYG0GnoQ0I3pdM6hG9uZVR9RKbrY4Pwa4BPGWbSdhbLrwQQOK85Tf8TrDJTCcgBvuZRbal5nTp9FKz116x_fHE9qP2bk5S2Vu9irWaYUIoTs/s640/IMG_3081+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Searching for our mooring amidst all the ice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It gave me a lot of time to focus on my camera work too. I’ve
been concerned that so many of my photos look horribly washed out and I was wondering
how to correct for the brightness of the light down here. I struggled manfully
with the camera manual and harassed my fellow seafarers until someone kindly explained
that dropping the ISO might help. Apparently the ISO tells the camera how
sensitive it should be to light. In Antarctica the light is so very bright that
actually it’s better if the ISO is very low indeed. Happiness has resulted and
my next task is to grapple with something called “f-stop”. Not a clue what that
is, but it sounds deeply impressive.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">All this meandering around the bay gave me a wonderful
chance to watch a Twin Otter plane flying in to Rothera. These planes are painted a
bright shiny red and they provide a vital link to field stations further out in the continent. They're fitted with skis which means that they can land on ice and snow. The Dash 7 planes by contrast provide the air link between Rothera and airports in Chile and the Falklands. They're also capable of landing on the blue-ice runway at Sky-Blue station which is one of the remote field stations.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgn8-TjR_j_j2F5OZkvFDZVlRkne4lNUOAfQJLpDJMQKNj8Yc8u7RxT_wJJRC7jUT_Thdtm9MUrBdy8mINy8pNAiZOnhI9vpF2gr4qGQ9PP5L4R1PuwKUYgYtzsz5TVlAM13h32cJgHLs/s1600/IMG_3069+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgn8-TjR_j_j2F5OZkvFDZVlRkne4lNUOAfQJLpDJMQKNj8Yc8u7RxT_wJJRC7jUT_Thdtm9MUrBdy8mINy8pNAiZOnhI9vpF2gr4qGQ9PP5L4R1PuwKUYgYtzsz5TVlAM13h32cJgHLs/s640/IMG_3069+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Twin Otter plane</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The wind finally dropped and we were able to moor up at
Biscoe Wharf and begin the serious business of the relief. Or rather the
station personnel and the sailors were. I just sprinted down the gangway and
into a massive hug from Jen, my opposite number in Rothera. There was a lot of
squealing- there are dogs in Punta Arenas that still feel their ears are
ringing- and then I was taken on a tour around the station. No doubt at all,
Rothera is a beautiful place. I feel that the view into Ryder Bay would go a
long way to reconcile you to whatever the inconveniences of living in such a
remote location might be! </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The station itself has the interesting feeling of a building
site mixed with a healthily austere campsite. The buildings seem to be
predominantly painted a dull khaki green, with the windows picked out in red.
My favourite building had to be Fuchs House where much of the equipment for
field operations is stored. The tents, skis, sleeping bags, climbing gear,
rescue equipment and field rations all live here. As does the climbing wall, a
field library and a small impromptu cinema! My tour of the station complete,
Jen took me on a walk around the coastline which led me up onto a promontory
overlooking Biscoe Wharf. As she pointed out, we didn’t need to go far from the
station to experience utter quiet. In some ways it was almost eerie as I gazed
at the enormous icebergs; it felt as though nothing so vast should be so still
and so quiet.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqD4_WstxFRObbgi9Z7QuLYRPjw6TjRQLfJ-3ylqKk6vGiSLFEqOkAnp2txPUjbJmVIIrOHqb_XtuUT7cem4a88PHAWogE-DT2fM1pg3jZBfZCzDHEqgqPtze6kRFb_QGGCZJ7w-Y-9w/s1600/IMG_3228+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqD4_WstxFRObbgi9Z7QuLYRPjw6TjRQLfJ-3ylqKk6vGiSLFEqOkAnp2txPUjbJmVIIrOHqb_XtuUT7cem4a88PHAWogE-DT2fM1pg3jZBfZCzDHEqgqPtze6kRFb_QGGCZJ7w-Y-9w/s640/IMG_3228+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rothera station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The following days were spent in a flurry of activity. I
helped Jen with unloading the medical </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">supplies and the supplies for the Rothera
shop. It made me giggle quite a bit; it’s fairly surreal to be stock-taking with
your mate in Antarctica! But as a result of my activities, I’m now branded from
head to toe in Rothera gear. It’s just a mercy they didn’t sell Rothera
knickers- although I may suggest it to BAS for next year! If only to see the
look on their faces...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The high point was definitely being taken cross-country
skiing. I’ve never done any sort of skiing before so this was very exciting. I
bounded up the slope behind Jen, waving a hand merrily at her whenever she
turned back to check how I was getting on. The instant she turned away I
doubled over, wheezing and fighting frantically with my skis which seemed to
have a desperate urge to spring from my grip and fling themselves back down the
slope. But we made it eventually and I think my voice was only marginally more
high-pitched than normal at the top... It was awesome. The most beautiful view
I’ve ever had, and once I got used to the concept it was a bit like roller-blading.
But with sticks. Regrettably I wasn’t quite as talented at coming down the
slight slope on our way back to the station. I couldn’t really work out how to
stop so I just settled for flinging myself on the ground. This did, as JK
Rowling would say, arrest momentum but is probably not the elegant technique
that experienced skiers use! Still, despite my technicolour bruises, I will
definitely be doing that again. And how many people get to say that their first
skiing lesson was in Antarctica?</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyBhwUZf-c06_Zjzm7oGTZa7w7qxj5Jz2LIYLb1Ol_xcEjuVvs3rs3u0aEowFH7mo6Pg62dGRR2uwVkM8nOdnT36rE_sVZ8QEDjxTTyrPUYwmUEmwCKyxpeCuwecTr9B3jw-uv2Cu_e2U/s1600/DSCN1332+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyBhwUZf-c06_Zjzm7oGTZa7w7qxj5Jz2LIYLb1Ol_xcEjuVvs3rs3u0aEowFH7mo6Pg62dGRR2uwVkM8nOdnT36rE_sVZ8QEDjxTTyrPUYwmUEmwCKyxpeCuwecTr9B3jw-uv2Cu_e2U/s640/DSCN1332+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Explorer poses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">On my final day I walked up to Rothera point and looked out
at the friendly bulk of the JCR tied up with the mass of the mountains behind.
I then turned and regarded the memorials that lie on the promontory. They serve
as a sobering reminder that even in the modern age, Antarctica is still
fantastically remote. It would take less time to get someone down from the
international space station than it would to try and rescue someone from the
continent in the middle of winter. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ruJaWJfIfb0GQNkgemYPdVDY6y_KdbXAojzB1pGiqhkUY0HYhIklDrmyUQUTvvQB6Mh-dmErr6lsQUCqeKswqR-Ao5ipFl5lZw5x7suyPoassUreg253v5-4_a1rTvaH251pT4A0KPE/s1600/IMG_3300+%25283%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ruJaWJfIfb0GQNkgemYPdVDY6y_KdbXAojzB1pGiqhkUY0HYhIklDrmyUQUTvvQB6Mh-dmErr6lsQUCqeKswqR-Ao5ipFl5lZw5x7suyPoassUreg253v5-4_a1rTvaH251pT4A0KPE/s640/IMG_3300+%25283%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorials at Rothera Point</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And then that was it. We were pulling away from the wharf;
off for further adventures. We’re now Punta Arenas bound and I’m very much
looking forward to some pampering activities. Like a pedicure and a swim in a
hotel pool...</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgTrF7dv8gJMbibIwoHo47dJnH0BVUgCf2wtEMUTiMjXWrR4bTJdFkMhUrTmLdKZxyslUWL3BDI-bT5o-hApQO7wTrvGRQI3563IzZbaQc7Hn6oX48xfFJrBC_AxkPYKxamHyiScmyK4/s1600/IMG_3349+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgTrF7dv8gJMbibIwoHo47dJnH0BVUgCf2wtEMUTiMjXWrR4bTJdFkMhUrTmLdKZxyslUWL3BDI-bT5o-hApQO7wTrvGRQI3563IzZbaQc7Hn6oX48xfFJrBC_AxkPYKxamHyiScmyK4/s640/IMG_3349+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This little Adelie desperately trying to get an entry into a seals only club...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-61069318124297581412017-01-11T02:52:00.002+00:002017-01-11T02:52:33.500+00:00Zombies and Lanternfish
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A researcher in an American University recently published a
paper stating that were the zombie apocalypse to arise, mankind would be
overrun within 100 days. I feel that this raises way more questions than it
answers. To begin with is the entirely serious question of what the mode of
transmission is; are we talking zombie nibbles here or is droplet infection a
concern? And do we presume a 100% infection rate on exposure? Is there a 100%
rate of mortality? I’m not sure that even the sweating sickness boasted those
stats. How soon after infection does zombie-dom start? All films and literature
seem to indicate seroconversion within minutes; that would tend to limit the
disease to one geographical area. Zombies are notoriously bad at catching
flights. The final concern to be addressed is whether or not our zombs are
super-speedy as in 28 Days Later, or if you can go out armed with a cricket bat
to do your grocery shopping as in Shaun of the Dead. “Barbara, I ran it under a
cold tap.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In short, our American researcher has made some huge
assumptions in order to generate that figure of 100 days. So my advice is to
read this research with a pinch of salt when preparing for your very own zombie
apocalypse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this did make me think
that possibly I should talk about some of the research that is being done by
scientists on our very own research vessel.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recently I’ve been talking to Tracey Dornan about her
myctophids. Otherwise known as lantern fish, for the light generating organs on
their bodies, these fish are of particular interest because of the key position
that they occupy in the Antarctic food web. They prey upon zooplankton and in
turn are preyed upon by the seals and the penguins. Many people will tell you
that the Antarctic food chain turns on a tiny, shrimp like organism called krill.
The young krill feed on the algae that bloom under the sea ice. If the sea ice
melts or shifts further out to sea, the krill either diminish in numbers or
shift with the ice. This is a major problem for land based predators that rely
on the krill; penguins and seals have their young on land and the worry is that
as the krill numbers dwindle or move they may struggle. Enter the lanternfish. Recent
studies have shown that lanternfish may be more numerous than was previously
supposed and they may well be able to fill the niche previously occupied by the
krill. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKUSBLcJ9zrqBPFZWzLLrxSXX3yCNAHCJRcq7_A1R3PXFhh5UtUMscbXy8mhLkNVQWoojbX_2rJd9hiF-cbmKZMhqEnlos08chbXZrsJNhWxnoKUCFllNbzJuQ13UgjkOphS4-B6MjUM/s1600/Electrona+antarctica+%2528Medium%2529.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYKUSBLcJ9zrqBPFZWzLLrxSXX3yCNAHCJRcq7_A1R3PXFhh5UtUMscbXy8mhLkNVQWoojbX_2rJd9hiF-cbmKZMhqEnlos08chbXZrsJNhWxnoKUCFllNbzJuQ13UgjkOphS4-B6MjUM/s640/Electrona+antarctica+%2528Medium%2529.tif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lanternfish (the small things that look like ball bearings are the light organs!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other interesting aspect of the lanternfish is their role
in the carbon cycle. Lanternfish come up to the surface in the night in order
to feed on the zooplankton which live in the top strata of the water. Having
fed, they then descend with their carbon load to the deeper waters that form
their day-time home. The carbon-bearing material that they have consumed is
then digested and respired in these deeper waters and the carbon is thus locked
away into the deep ocean. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tracey’s work looks at the use of acoustics to identify
lanternfish in the water. Up until now, scientists have relied on trawling for
fish and then picking over the catch to see what species predominate in the water.
This is a corner stone of marine research and is necessary to ground truth
acoustics (i.e. verify by another source) and to analyze marine community
composition. However this can only ever give a snapshot in space and time.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acoustics refers to
the process by which the ship generates a sound wave which is then bounced back
to the ship by any surrounding bodies. It’s pretty much like an underwater
echo. The theory is that different organism types produce a different acoustic
return according to their typical density or size. And so it might be possible
to infer what type of fish are out there over much larger areas without
actually needing to pluck every single animal out of the water. Regrettably
lanternfish are a challenge to identify with acoustics. When the fish are young
some species have large swim bladders which are filled with air and therefore
they have a strong acoustic signal. As they get older and bigger, their swim
bladder shrinks. So although their size is greater and therefore their acoustic
signal should be correspondingly bigger, it isn’t. Tracey’s work is to try and characterise
the acoustic properties for the lanternfish that she has caught so that in
future we can use the acoustic signal to recognise similar types of organisms in
the water. Being able to spot these little guys in the water should mean that
we can estimate their numbers more effectively and to see both if they will be able
to fill vital niches in the Antarctic ecosystem and their role in the carbon
cycle in the face of climate change.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Returning to the theme of today’s foray into academia, I
have to consider my plans for any future apocalypses. Many years ago, after
reading a glut of science fiction novels, my sister and I came up with the JONES
MASTER PLAN FOR SURVIVAL. She will be raiding a library for books on farming
whilst I do over a hospital for medical supplies. We will reconvene and,
grabbing my parents en route, head for a lonely island with a windmill so that
we can have electricity. We’re taking my parents because neither of us is quite
brave enough to face the wrath of a zombie-mother. Regrettably I don’t think
the plans were updated since we finished reading all that John Wyndham so
frankly the boyfriends are likely to be left behind unless they’re present as
the outbreak happens. This IS survival people. And no; I’m not telling you the
name of our island. Get your own windmill!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">*I promise; I’m not actually crazy. I don’t have a survival
pack. Nor do I watch Bear Grylls/Ray Mears reality TV shows excessively.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">**As I type we’re rounding Adelaide Island and heading for
Rothera!</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiewqhfkmUQq0oxSjYn-76x0iQ3gF9WM0c8pfGlNdIfcb1jBMyl61v3qp8iCtZh1B7VdpAy5UZF6TnYF8tghWI9dGmE-emSX3sEitxA-YQeSaoMHQdRqpgMlxnz9SlDuuLYR8Ajyqy9aw/s1600/IMG_2879+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiewqhfkmUQq0oxSjYn-76x0iQ3gF9WM0c8pfGlNdIfcb1jBMyl61v3qp8iCtZh1B7VdpAy5UZF6TnYF8tghWI9dGmE-emSX3sEitxA-YQeSaoMHQdRqpgMlxnz9SlDuuLYR8Ajyqy9aw/s640/IMG_2879+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icebergs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLVzUtZKrWNkXFvaUJKwRADRSIXR1dKaZ0InQNDJxlFFnOwMG2iH3NsQ7GdpX0AnpE25HYi8sRopPJd_GgR1yGT3T69iqz5b620L2eOsKu__6gAcJlnm4KIbAVXonic_4ij6FFoo05QQ/s1600/IMG_2910+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLVzUtZKrWNkXFvaUJKwRADRSIXR1dKaZ0InQNDJxlFFnOwMG2iH3NsQ7GdpX0AnpE25HYi8sRopPJd_GgR1yGT3T69iqz5b620L2eOsKu__6gAcJlnm4KIbAVXonic_4ij6FFoo05QQ/s640/IMG_2910+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icebergs off Adelaide Island</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr960edTPqaKc50Vp33McaWxrsS07FCtZ2CtFByUu2I0E154C7CXCWt2SovF81mcvptWq8WF8XA7fWVTA6FVW35-C4BhiR3zKNYn0fKjeO2PFECu0zp596j21H9gX7BqkYUqRJE4T7EA/s1600/IMG_2959+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr960edTPqaKc50Vp33McaWxrsS07FCtZ2CtFByUu2I0E154C7CXCWt2SovF81mcvptWq8WF8XA7fWVTA6FVW35-C4BhiR3zKNYn0fKjeO2PFECu0zp596j21H9gX7BqkYUqRJE4T7EA/s640/IMG_2959+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adelaide Island filling the horizon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-55321349289302203502017-01-09T18:35:00.000+00:002017-01-09T18:36:48.989+00:00Backstreet Boys Make an Appearance...<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Dagnabbit! The fates really do seem to be conspiring against
us. Two nights ago the weather was so bad that we ended up hove to (that means
staying still but facing into the weather so that it isn’t so rough) which
meant that we were pretty much going the wrong way to get to Rothera. We took a
very exciting 35 degree roll which made life rather fun for a while. I was
actually on the phone to my other half and all the poor man heard was
expletives followed by loud banging and then the phone cut out. Interesting. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">On my side of the Atlantic, the chair that my patients use
was thrown across the room and hit the wall cupboards. My chair went sliding,
with me on it, across the deck and away from the desk. And then the autoclave
(that thing has always had it in for me) seized its opportunity and leapt for
me. It was foiled by the fact that my chair had flung me away from the desk and
it ended up hitting my computer screen instead. All I could do to try and
control the chaos was cling onto the desk with one hand and pin the autoclave
down with the other whilst desperately hoping that the rolling would stop!
Luckily I’d finished my tea because my mug and my paperwork were strewn
liberally across the floor. What fun we had.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I called the other half back and told him to cancel the
coast guard and then sallied forth to see what had happened to everyone else.
Luckily the biggest injury seems to have been a carpet burn (I told him we’d
need to amputate at the neck) but one man had to break into his own cabin
because his chair had plunged across the room and lodged itself under the door
handle. I’m sure that he didn’t enjoy that John Wayne moment at all... I nearly
decked the radio officer who appeared in the bar clutching at his elbow and
whimpering “I think I’ve broken it doc.” And then when I sighed and said “Let’s
get you into the surgery then” he straightened up with a cheeky grin and
laughed at me. Evil beggar. He would have been well served if he’d turned
around and walked straight into the door. And how I would have laughed!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We did some major incident drilling today. A major incident
is one in which the number or nature of casualties attending outstrips the
ability of a unit to cope with those casualties. So in a major A&E that
might mean that 50 patients had descended on the hospital at once. On board the
ship it means 3 or more casualties at once because my little surgery and first
aid team would be completely overwhelmed. It was actually good fun in a weird
sort of way. I triaged my “patients” and then they were treated by the first
aid team in the casualty clearing station (Otherwise known as the bar because
alcohol is wonderful for sterilising wounds, you see.). So I had two “patients”
that had severe burns and varying levels of consciousness, a few walking
wounded and one scientist whom I tasked to be as irritating as possible and
demand assistance for his minor injury constantly! He did stellar work and is
currently expecting an Oscar. Perhaps we could call it a Jimmy?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My first aid team handled things really well and I was very
impressed with them. We’ve definitely come a long way from the days in which we
ripped our dummy’s arm off when transporting it to the surgery and then had to
staple it back on!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I engaged in some bullying behaviour yesterday which was
quite enjoyable. One of the engineers had told me of his deep and undying love
for the Beastie Boys. Apparently he’s even altered a poster of the Beastie Boys
so that the heads are replaced with the heads of the engineering team. I
ruminated on this for about five minutes and then found the cheesiest picture
of the Backstreet Boys that I could. Cut out pictures of the engineering
department’s heads and then glued them in situ. And then I laminated it so they
can never get rid of the thing! Naturally they were thrilled but it’s simply a
fair retaliation for the picture of Jeff Goldblum hugging a gorilla that
arrived on my cabin door a few days ago! I actually think this may be the best
piece of artwork I’ve ever made....<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Backstreets Back, alright!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-31537597304205513322017-01-04T03:09:00.000+00:002017-01-04T03:09:05.810+00:00Humpback Whales!
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hello Possums! Welcome to 2017. I hope you all had a stellar
festive period. My services as a doctor have been marginally more in demand
than my skills as a seamstress recently which is refreshingly different.
Nothing scary I hasten to add; it just means that the other seat in my surgery
has been put to a slightly different use than being the receptacle of my
knitting wool. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And this has shaken me out of the post-Christmas sloth! I
was sinking into a certain level of torpor; failing to do any exercise and eating
many, many biscuits. Things had reached the point where I was starting to blame
the snugness of my jeans on an over-powerful tumble drier setting. Denial is
great! But having to move out of my comfy doctor chair (it doesn’t swivel. It
really should swivel) has done me a huge amount of good and I’ve actually hit
the gym twice this week. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Very wisely, however, I’ve decided not to burden myself with
too many changes at once so I’m still eating quite a lot of rubbish. I became
very upset today when I realised that one measly day after the new chocolate
bar selection had been put out in the bar, some horrible little individual had
bought all the Bourneville chocolate at once! Hoarding it in fact! I was very
close to losing all sense of perspective. How on earth am I supposed to cope
when I’ve run out of my own supplies? But then I attempted to recover said
perspective and thought about the fact that I have formed the resolution of
becoming a new and better Helen this year. A Helen 2.0 in fact. Rock hard abs are
an integral part of this beautiful inner vision; on a slightly lower level of
priority I might think about trying to read more medical papers. But obviously
the abs are the most salient point and so someone buying up all the Bourneville
probably isn’t that terrible...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think part of my inertia recently has been down to a slightly
glum mood that has settled over the ship. This cruise has been tough
psychologically for everyone. Bad weather and the thickness of the ice around
Rothera have meant that the end of the cruise has been put back a number of
times. Understandably people are very keen to get home to their families and
friends; the delays are frustrating for everyone. The fact that this particular
science cruise has no fixed destination is also quite difficult to deal with. I
think it’s easier to cope with the idea of a cruise that is going somewhere; if
the ship is constantly tacking backwards and forwards over the same patch of
ocean then there is nothing to look forward to (however valuable the scientific
data acquired is).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad was looking at
the ship’s tracker and asked me if the captain had dropped something as we just
seem to meander back and forth! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We should have something to look forward to soon though. The
science should shortly come to an end and then we can start to make for
Rothera. By now the onset of summer should mean that the ice has started to
break up and the relief of Rothera can begin at last. I’m very excited by the
thought of seeing my Rothera buddy; I’m told that I have a painting in return
for the quilt that I made her! And I’ve got my fingers very tightly crossed for
some cross country skiing. I also have an excellent quiz planned for the day
after the science finishes which will mean that everyone can at least focus on
trying to lynch me for asking such ridiculous questions instead!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It hasn’t all been doom and gloom though. Two days ago we
were lucky enough to be visited by a pod of Humpback whales. We were sat on
station and the whales obviously wanted to take a closer look at us. I was
standing on the Monkey Island with the idea of getting an excellent view from
above but one of our scientists clearly had a better idea than that! She was up
on the bow just as one of the whales surfaced and exhaled. The poor women was
enveloped in fishy breath and I could hear her shrieks from up on high. I may
have sniggered a little bit. The whales circled us for fifteen minutes or so
before deciding to head off into the ocean, one of them lazily flipping a fin
in what seemed like a farewell salute to us. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmRudBNf0Z7xddOqhyphenhyphen0j4VFABtqR8pavBIgSaCvQhf52WjDaV8q08gbb73wFZR9P65sGZtySJwljJq2YMXctWS1-jXJQs0oS9IhnzK2oXTT1mBg1r5tFQIUk8b5T1EMzrpVlTL-liJZk/s1600/09-PC280701-1+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmRudBNf0Z7xddOqhyphenhyphen0j4VFABtqR8pavBIgSaCvQhf52WjDaV8q08gbb73wFZR9P65sGZtySJwljJq2YMXctWS1-jXJQs0oS9IhnzK2oXTT1mBg1r5tFQIUk8b5T1EMzrpVlTL-liJZk/s640/09-PC280701-1+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken by Alexander Burton-Johnson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3EL7X94i_fWqcEHnEI4yH9p0SuoFyO7mDbJSBxGNLRCDA7I7B3zJsFgBd_BkrvijHqr-Lw8jOZIIcy9LzAY9uTXZoXNJ1ZXB9rtKYnQVJhsP6Z3Bz1N2UMDNxr9MDeYdTYfDOi-nKw8/s1600/IMG_3284+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3EL7X94i_fWqcEHnEI4yH9p0SuoFyO7mDbJSBxGNLRCDA7I7B3zJsFgBd_BkrvijHqr-Lw8jOZIIcy9LzAY9uTXZoXNJ1ZXB9rtKYnQVJhsP6Z3Bz1N2UMDNxr9MDeYdTYfDOi-nKw8/s640/IMG_3284+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken by Jeremy Robst</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3sNRRF_LutopCi0UaOAi1KvTGeEXc7_irosN9A3mv-6HVNXOU2cBGytvSa5Q4aCSdKnZWca7pNiSnzoVMSTLANmiMmkNwdq6X-EEEZcCb7Mp12gy3SyetOpGkQHquC_GZ-SKe1YgMu8/s1600/IMG_3287+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3sNRRF_LutopCi0UaOAi1KvTGeEXc7_irosN9A3mv-6HVNXOU2cBGytvSa5Q4aCSdKnZWca7pNiSnzoVMSTLANmiMmkNwdq6X-EEEZcCb7Mp12gy3SyetOpGkQHquC_GZ-SKe1YgMu8/s640/IMG_3287+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken by Jeremy Robst</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The friendliness of our humpbacks is probably not that
unusual. Humpbacks have been known to interact playfully with bottlenose
dolphins and they’ve apparently been seen in mixed-species groups that involved
minke, fin and sperm whales. Wikipedia also tells me that humpback whales have
been known to defend other species from the predations of killer whales.
They’re clearly intelligent hunters using something termed as the “bubblenet”
method of hunting. A group of cooperating whales swim beneath a school of fish
and blow bubbles in ever tightening circles around them. The fish are unable to
escape from the whales because of the bubbles and eventually one of the whales
will pop up through the centre of the bubbles and take a big mouthful of all
the fish!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the context of their obvious intelligence, curiosity and
social behaviours, it’s heartbreaking to note that they were hunted to the
verge of extinction by whalers. Estimates suggest that the global population of
Humpbacks dropped by as much as 90% during the height of the whaling years.
Their stocks are now recovering and in some areas their numbers approach their
estimated levels before the days of whaling.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Other than looking at sea mammals and doing a bit of
doctoring, I’ve spent a lot of my time crafting. I felt that I needed a wee
break from sewing after doing the quilt, the fishing net and the strange red
canvas sock that lives on the monkey deck so I’ve been knitting instead. I
rashly agreed to knit my other half a jumper before I left the UK. I’ve
resisted making him anything for a long time because...I’m a deeply selfish
knitter. When people ask me to make them something my usual response is “No,
but I’ll teach you how to knit.” Strangely most people’s enthusiasm for the
item seems to wane at this point! (Although I have also become a strange sort
of knitting Johnny Appleseed, spreading knitting clubs wherever I go.) But I felt
that as I was disappearing for nine months, my good girlfriend points might
need resuscitating so he’s getting a very snazzy cardigan. The lucky son of a
gun!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyhow, that’s enough babbling from me. I shall leave you
with the advice that if you wish to look at some very pretty pictures of
Antarctica you should go to </span><a href="http://www.richardturnerphotographs.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">www.richardturnerphotographs.co.uk</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.
Rich is the purser on board and apparently something of a dab hand with the old
camera...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-35924796693209469692016-12-27T18:12:00.003+00:002016-12-30T12:36:36.772+00:00Christmas Day Celebrations at Stromness<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I’ve just about recovered from the crippling heart burn and
lethargy caused by eating my body weight in roast potatoes. It’s been an
excellent Christmas aboard the James Clark Ross! I was a bit worried, to be
honest, that I might feel a little bit grumpy about spending Christmas away
from friends and family. You see, I’ve never once worked Christmas as a doctor!
Yikes- I said it! I’ve ‘fessed up. Now is probably the time to hastily add that
this is due to doing a lot of swaps and I have worked every single New Year’s
Eve since qualifying- just in case Jeremy Hunt is reading and rubbing his
little hands together over the potential news headlines. “Doctors don’t work
Christmas Shocker!” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The chief science officer and the captain put their heads
together to try to arrange circumstances so that most people could have some or
all of Christmas Day off. I just put a sign on my door informing people that
unless they had Ebola, it could probably wait until Boxing Day, but I think
their preparations were slightly more complicated than mine! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Their plan was to put into Cumberland East Bay at South
Georgia in order to pick up some science equipment and then to scuttle around
the coastline to Stromness Bay in order to calibrate our scientific equipment.
Apparently we dangled probes over the side and checked to see if we could
visualise them with other probes. It sounded delightfully exciting but I think
the project was chosen for Christmas Day so that the majority of people could
just relax and have a nice day. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWmAwg6c8PARFGH7-5YbM9WEf4vXtp6snc8lw03xnPZn-1Won33miHp2PMS_aDhBJoWXyFBqQRXIFSYXlfWm9sU4a7XvpggIkRF7zFgLUOCQt1yvnjGtuliRIZKeha4vfPKMI35kpvus/s1600/IMG_2627+%25284%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWmAwg6c8PARFGH7-5YbM9WEf4vXtp6snc8lw03xnPZn-1Won33miHp2PMS_aDhBJoWXyFBqQRXIFSYXlfWm9sU4a7XvpggIkRF7zFgLUOCQt1yvnjGtuliRIZKeha4vfPKMI35kpvus/s640/IMG_2627+%25284%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fram just sneaking into Cumberland East Bay ahead of us</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And a nice day it was! The weather cooperated perfectly. For
the first time in weeks, the skies were a beautiful cerulean blue with only the
smallest wisps of cloud. The remains of an old whaling station lay on the
shoreline, slowly and quietly rusting its way into history whilst the barks
of fur seals filled the air. I did my best to get some photographs of the fur
seals- but whilst they were beautifully acrobatic, leaping in and out of the
water- they declined to come close enough to the ship for me to get a decent
photograph! A little gentoo came paddling up to investigate however, so I
papped him relentlessly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipH2Odj_FCrUfcQgTzIc32Gp2kun7MdXdrJNxlo8Gmzo3Da9SrWkCFMqo8_FW_B0YA5Xj1xnqNuEoIgNCgC204n6-AC4-DPYwgBqSd95LBk-9gFi53cFfjRI7n7qmG1WCQVxdbFeTvswY/s1600/IMG_2691+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipH2Odj_FCrUfcQgTzIc32Gp2kun7MdXdrJNxlo8Gmzo3Da9SrWkCFMqo8_FW_B0YA5Xj1xnqNuEoIgNCgC204n6-AC4-DPYwgBqSd95LBk-9gFi53cFfjRI7n7qmG1WCQVxdbFeTvswY/s640/IMG_2691+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stromness Bay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiIchOE9TbLpjbVz-btFozlaN4mMh4dhIyCd6EwcOfLL1tsWVjjldRK_tAcsR_c9h_Db6C2YaZ3NrP0JSgmDLSHlgPrJYkWSGqDBE_Qyt7luCjLiJsptp47OVYNkaOXVxP-u8aztpqjk/s1600/IMG_2751+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="411" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiIchOE9TbLpjbVz-btFozlaN4mMh4dhIyCd6EwcOfLL1tsWVjjldRK_tAcsR_c9h_Db6C2YaZ3NrP0JSgmDLSHlgPrJYkWSGqDBE_Qyt7luCjLiJsptp47OVYNkaOXVxP-u8aztpqjk/s640/IMG_2751+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gentoo Penguin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Incidentally, the whaling station on the foreshore is the
very one that Shackleton, Worsley and Crean reached on May 20, 1916. After the
disaster of losing the Endurance, Shackleton’s men took to lifeboats and made
for Elephant Island. They were still in danger however; Elephant Island does not lie across any shipping lanes and there was little chance of being spotted and rescued from the island. It was therefore decided that a team of six men should leave their twenty-two comrades behind on
Elephant Island and sail, in an open lifeboat, for South Georgia and rescue. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">On reaching South Georgia -in itself an incredible feat of
navigation- it was felt that t</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">hree of the men were so debilitated by the ocean voyage that they were not in any fit state to go futher. They remained behind and established a base camp beneath the upturned lifeboat, the James Caird, which was then termed Peggotty Camp. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The three fittest men- Shackleton, Worsley and Crean- then began a gruelling 36 hour march across the mountains of South Georgia
to the Norwegian whaling station at Stromness. Shackleton related that on
reaching the whaling station they felt not so much that they were safe, but
that their comrades left behind had been saved. Apparently the three men left
behind at Peggotty Camp completely failed to recognise a shaved and washed
Worsley when he appeared the next morning on a Norwegian vessel to rescue them!
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Regrettably it’s not possible to get off the ship and roam around the old
station; it’s riddled with asbestos and high winds coming down from the mountains
have been known to rip metal sheets off and send them scything down the beach.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMw1S_S_XP0KaIOQydo48loMXXADvo89zXXGtl5VOuXyhdARsgZ38YJ2imAvuC7hBja5_G_MgtxZIFbQ5uxOXIIu7EWryhC4WwegrA4Aw86IRvqhyphenhyphenAc8bqNW4InhkMG4QUdHgF9CXnARk/s1600/IMG_2675+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMw1S_S_XP0KaIOQydo48loMXXADvo89zXXGtl5VOuXyhdARsgZ38YJ2imAvuC7hBja5_G_MgtxZIFbQ5uxOXIIu7EWryhC4WwegrA4Aw86IRvqhyphenhyphenAc8bqNW4InhkMG4QUdHgF9CXnARk/s640/IMG_2675+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Whaling Station and Shackleton Valley just to the right</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFY8QDVM6ynhkCH7uqxo433vrjRxnhsrojzXhjlDKLV1b70h80W64KnUu7t4ZhmoefWiE1VWCFGCH0LvfykAWxur9PUJGLB9__nWOCz8X70Z3knLQGHiV5GJnhaoGQWyUFOA5_0RcnGA/s1600/IMG_2663+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFY8QDVM6ynhkCH7uqxo433vrjRxnhsrojzXhjlDKLV1b70h80W64KnUu7t4ZhmoefWiE1VWCFGCH0LvfykAWxur9PUJGLB9__nWOCz8X70Z3knLQGHiV5GJnhaoGQWyUFOA5_0RcnGA/s640/IMG_2663+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old whaling station is starting to fall apart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Returning, however, to our Christmas Day, present opening
happened- (I definitely feel that we should get a ship’s cat just so that
someone can chase the wrapping paper around) and I feel horribly spoilt.
Although I’m also disturbed by the emphasis on toiletries. Is this a subtle
hint? I’m telling myself that my parents just didn’t want me to have loads of
luggage to bring home...Yeah, that’s what it is. Definitely. I also have
exciting hot chocolate and socks and puzzle books. And a lip salve which made
my lips purr with happiness when I put it on! (They are so cracked and dry
right now)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the evening we had a fantastic Christmas meal. The roast
potatoes were exemplary which is why I won’t be stepping onto the scales for a
week or two. But. And this is a real and serious complaint. Why on earth is
pudding on Christmas day always a festering Christmas pudding? What is so
festive about raisins and currants? It’s such a rubbish dessert- we could be
having chocolate mousse or sachertorte or sticky toffee pudding.... There are
so many things that would be far nicer! I feel like Christmas is very prejudicial
against persons like myself who are dried grape averse! (I shall be petitioning
parliament later on this issue. Who’s with me?!) So I had to go and pester our
purser Rich for my bar of dark chocolate and then sat in shameful solitude and
scoffed the lot. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I had thrown together a Christmas quiz with one of the
scientists and we had a really good turnout. There were seven rounds
altogether- one of which focused on Christmas itself. What were the first
artificial Christmas trees made from? Goose feathers. I do love a good factoid.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the mild bloodshed and violence of
the quiz (I don’t like being heckled, alright?) we all sat and chatted for several
hours until someone pointed out that it had started to snow. We grabbed on
outdoor clothing and rushed up to Monkey Island where the snow was thick enough
on the deck to allow us to make snow angels. The European scientists then
engaged in working collaboratively to make a snowman whilst the Brits ran
around and attacked each other with snowballs. At some point we turned on our
industrious European colleagues and pelted them with snow as well, thereby
ruining their snowman and making them join in our hostilities. As someone
pointed out later it really was a wonderful allegory for Brexit...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbIz2WTmPzhkzMCdMdKptH9wJPYfDH6saviuxgBALwLQsA8wxjb15lZajoFX5MQaan4tCqWYh1fTJndIFKjAgYNG6B0rhsavaYckLZ7c0C-Agwgn-L5haaEij98Lk7TtOBNXde3nAGYk/s1600/IMG_2667+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbIz2WTmPzhkzMCdMdKptH9wJPYfDH6saviuxgBALwLQsA8wxjb15lZajoFX5MQaan4tCqWYh1fTJndIFKjAgYNG6B0rhsavaYckLZ7c0C-Agwgn-L5haaEij98Lk7TtOBNXde3nAGYk/s640/IMG_2667+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here I am!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-34405693707874279452016-12-21T14:52:00.003+00:002016-12-21T14:52:49.778+00:00The Perils of Deep Sea Sewing
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Net-gate has at last come to an end. Have I explained about
this? The captain let people know, in a deeply callous fashion, that I can sew.
So one of the science crew sidled up to me and asked out of the corner of his
mouth if it was true that I had a sewing machine. I'm afraid I walked right
into it and let myself down. I said yes, fixed him with a beady eye and said
"But no-one gets to use it other than me." Fatal, foolish words. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was asked if I would mind, just a teensy favour, altering
a net for them. Like a chump I said that would be fine. And then they expounded on the
joys of the project. The nets look like a cone that's had the tip lopped off.
They wanted me to reduce the length of the cone whilst keeping the
circumference at the bottom and the top the same. Maths GCSE had nothing on
this- the only possible way to do it is to increase the gradient of the cone.
After looking at the fabric of the nets- like a really fine version of the mesh
used in plastic tea strainers- I realised that there was no way that my little sewing
machine was going to cope. Sea water would rot any cotton thread used, so the
whole thing would have to be sewn by hand with fishing line as my thread. I snapped
two needles and bent innumerable pins whilst torturing my poor fingertips.
Eventually I realised that the best way to pull the needle through the fabric
was using artery forceps (there's an unexpected use for them) and that wearing
latex gloves meant that the latex got shredded and stabbed instead of my
fingers. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83vMEQyjxH_HAAyX0WHPBdiWxOpmf8ozl9ILYKVv0jCixCoFvpFi443aEDxeCLNnHDH_T5FsIrRfrbTh8hAyHCrNk-5hfwqf_K6rdZEpPNjAi_RDWm8RwxB6KVLtWpRxH7dZeqrDjTFY/s1600/IMG_2606+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg83vMEQyjxH_HAAyX0WHPBdiWxOpmf8ozl9ILYKVv0jCixCoFvpFi443aEDxeCLNnHDH_T5FsIrRfrbTh8hAyHCrNk-5hfwqf_K6rdZEpPNjAi_RDWm8RwxB6KVLtWpRxH7dZeqrDjTFY/s640/IMG_2606+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The nets- my one is the one on the right!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtD1p9PgPI40HBpMqcKcLKnbARwnHx1TfO3CjpaT43j-9ob8nYd7el_C4Vof2SkTBXY4Cfoh00RHowTw5oAwN41Bn9CcZ7ecCcG37EcfMNhDWFxk9oT1y63eTZjAaw5amqeYfCP8RjbK4/s1600/IMG_2612+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtD1p9PgPI40HBpMqcKcLKnbARwnHx1TfO3CjpaT43j-9ob8nYd7el_C4Vof2SkTBXY4Cfoh00RHowTw5oAwN41Bn9CcZ7ecCcG37EcfMNhDWFxk9oT1y63eTZjAaw5amqeYfCP8RjbK4/s640/IMG_2612+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My wonderful stitching- the green fishing line</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBoy_C_TcVYapE2w2EHhoD5KZ7gW9OalMQENObJS-gXf60mWFeVkO8n_iWg4Td39TN8DkX5q1I05Pq0BNoL5KL7DVYpdloeQRXIcUHGjEJnSXzdmLJ1ajgkzdVW8bD9QsTXeWUpPE8N8/s1600/IMG_2614+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBoy_C_TcVYapE2w2EHhoD5KZ7gW9OalMQENObJS-gXf60mWFeVkO8n_iWg4Td39TN8DkX5q1I05Pq0BNoL5KL7DVYpdloeQRXIcUHGjEJnSXzdmLJ1ajgkzdVW8bD9QsTXeWUpPE8N8/s640/IMG_2614+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of my stitching!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<br />
We trialled it today and not only does it fit on the frame but the scientists
also successfully went fishing with it! I am so intensely relieved. The
scientists were deeply excited because they’ve hauled up some tiny wee beasties
including our first krill. I think they were also relieved that they didn’t
have to witness the spectacle of the doctor becoming apoplectic with rage as
the net failed to fit or fell apart on the first trial!</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavymmfRAe9KH0Rr8-ijaBFNvlPCLL75d-HMAGzlOzEcOKvUEV3zKAAw9JQp8QqSpMPElcHXjeLCwIXQkTe1nYd-X2ykUt85kFR0vYkpl2Sw4ySnhqo-H3Q76_UVpcCJXRDvHq-MWnxG8/s1600/IMG_2615+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavymmfRAe9KH0Rr8-ijaBFNvlPCLL75d-HMAGzlOzEcOKvUEV3zKAAw9JQp8QqSpMPElcHXjeLCwIXQkTe1nYd-X2ykUt85kFR0vYkpl2Sw4ySnhqo-H3Q76_UVpcCJXRDvHq-MWnxG8/s640/IMG_2615+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leopold the Happy Krill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBdqZsnJZXeCVBqqH6fS_XPsMm2i6IKDf_fRMoLqBp-P9UVZcEm7mv27_ngIoQnfsaHdgtOSps4Ndzyse0OIiwxIL24qK_CgKmrkPNN8vF8XP14GUOZloDyD5F7kw_sbMf1EMUssgeXw/s1600/IMG_2620+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBdqZsnJZXeCVBqqH6fS_XPsMm2i6IKDf_fRMoLqBp-P9UVZcEm7mv27_ngIoQnfsaHdgtOSps4Ndzyse0OIiwxIL24qK_CgKmrkPNN8vF8XP14GUOZloDyD5F7kw_sbMf1EMUssgeXw/s640/IMG_2620+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing operations off the back of the JCR</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’ve been doing swath work over the last few nights. Swath
work means using an echosounder to map features of the ocean floor. This would
be a very laudable notion were it not for the fact that we sailed into bad
weather in order to do it! I woke up at 2.30 as the ship gave a tremendous
heave and a groan before attempting to fling me out of bed. Foiled in this
attempt by the presence of my sea survival suit propping up the mattress, the
JCR settled for flinging the contents of my cabin about. Eventually I took everything
off the shelves and put it on the floor, reasoning that whilst it might slide
about, at least I wouldn't get hit in the face by a ballistic camera tripod. So
my cabin looks like a bomb hit it and I am frankly exhausted. I read in my bunk
from 2.30-4.00 because it was simply pointless trying to sleep. We were doing
15 degree rolls to each side- which adds up to a glorious 30 degrees of sway!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In a slightly tetchy frame of mind therefore, I inquired of
our geologists what exactly we were looking at on the ocean floor. (Add
expletives to taste.) And it was really rather exciting. Apparently back in
pre-sonar days, ships used to map the ocean floor (because beaching your vessel
is always embarrassing) using weights lowered down to the ocean floor on bits
of wire. Now, this was very good in terms of a broad-brush strokes picture of
the ocean floor and avoiding the aforementioned beaching scenario but didn’t
really allow for much of an understanding of what was going on down there.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Echolocation solved
that problem. This device works in exactly the same way as an ultrasound probe
does; beams of sound waves are directed out into the surroundings. When the
sound waves hit something that has a different density –like the ocean floor
(or a foetus if you’re looking at pregnant ladies)- then the waves bounce back
and are picked up by the receivers on the ship. Because we can direct our beams
from several angles- we get a complete picture of what the ocean floor looks
like. A lot of this work is done nowadays by radar from satellites- but the
satellites are a bit too far away to provide the fine detail needed for our
geologists. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The geologists are curious about bits of continental crust
that have ended up in the middle of the ocean floor. They wonder if perhaps
these bits of continental crust represent parts of South America that peeled
off in ages past and went off in a huff to sit in the middle of the Atlantic
and Southern Oceans- forming islands like South Georgia for example. So the
swathe work is vital to find these hills on the ocean floor. The geologists can
then dredge up rocks from these lost bits of continental crust and determine if
they actually match something in South America. If they do...then geologically
speaking South Georgia may be a very far flung out posting of South America!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Regrettably our circuits classes have come to an end. The
main hold is now stuffed full of things to be delivered to Rothera and there’s
no floor space for the mats. I’ve been driven down into the science hold to do
anything that requires mat work (I avoid the gym like the plague now). I’m
using a TRX-type trainer which is fairly entertaining- the device consists of
two long straps of alterable length that are suspended from the deck head
(ceiling to everyone else). Using them is supposed to add instability into the
workout with the idea that it really focuses on your core. Allow me to assure
you that it does! Half of the exercises, I can barely do. Although I’m putting
that down to the brisk motion of the ship and not the vast number of pastries
that seem to be mugging my taste buds and forcing their way into my digestive
tract.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FRJ1skMUX6kJkQIsmJEO_ZSQ_RmIOWgZ_cxVPGITwAdO19fuj2XH1z2YIfxpjrpEGfPYzDo8da4Kd8_mEB_qVUbbTtqjU3SRM0QymTxZmT9o1F6YlhDrfQT4ZahyxQzooV7wsn-OMYM/s1600/IMG_2624+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2FRJ1skMUX6kJkQIsmJEO_ZSQ_RmIOWgZ_cxVPGITwAdO19fuj2XH1z2YIfxpjrpEGfPYzDo8da4Kd8_mEB_qVUbbTtqjU3SRM0QymTxZmT9o1F6YlhDrfQT4ZahyxQzooV7wsn-OMYM/s640/IMG_2624+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The science hold and my gym. I skip in this space which is fun when the ship rolls.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also skipping in
the hold. I’m slowly but surely getting better at this. Sometimes a whole 20
seconds can pass without whipping myself so hard in the back of the head that I
see stars and seriously wonder if we need to divert the ship. The reason for
this sudden fitness enthusiasm is that in a moment of naivety (read: stupidity)
I said to my other half that he can pick the holiday when we get back to the
UK. Why did I do this to myself? I have a horrible feeling that he'll pick something
excessively active! And so instead of degenerating into comfortable sloth and
size 24 trousers with a gleeful smile, I’m going to have to exercise so that I
don’t die when I get home.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
Anyhow, enough of my slightly manic caffeine fuelled maunderings. Have a lovely
day my cherubim!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-91880066723783024922016-12-15T12:45:00.002+00:002016-12-15T18:35:27.346+00:00The JCR when it's a little bit...rough.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So, I hasten to add that this video is from the last trip, on our return into the Falklands. But I thought it might be nice for you to get a feel for the motion of the boat when it's a little bouncy. Hope this loads up for you (it took me ages to work out how to clip the video!).</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyokfzt-wgOLEPykLFsCu84C2K_wCy-rBfaYzdloHlkpCLtLSRnwSZNzcyMtuPpDJWNCamg2X7fqWMjpCC0Kg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I think this second video is even better, if slightly off-centre!</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxBzVzJ7eCXKZTjQ1N3ED5yabJGci3KTWvilcvhPWFUJJoaNCUrVQ3lPiWKcB3Z08EOjXHmzpsKQ6pzDTxmrQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-81530255087310863332016-12-11T20:40:00.002+00:002016-12-11T20:40:11.939+00:00The Festive Season is Nigh...
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having a slightly surreal moment this weekend; my lovely
other half and my parents are meeting up for a pre-Christmas lunch. It feels
very alarming not be there to control all eventualities. Not to be able to kick
my father under the table if he becomes more than usually strange (this is the
man who once attempted to locate a duck pond by quacking) or indicate to my
other half, very gently, that my mother will definitely NOT be on social media.
Although she is now reading my blog (“David, where have you put Helen’s blog?”)
so who knows, I may come back to find her friending me on FaceBook and asking
plaintively why I keep ignoring her tweets. But in the spirit of Christmas, I
thought I might share the preparations that the James Clark Ross is making for
the big day and the ways in which previous expeditions and explorers have
chosen to celebrate this midwinter festival.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I should probably mention that I love Christmas. Absolutely
love it. It's the one time of the year when it’s acceptable to have chocolate and
alcohol with breakfast, to eat until you feel mildly sick and to open presents
with the same kind of joyous abandon with which Scottish reavers descended on
particularly affluent villages. So it won’t be a huge surprise to know that
I’ve posted my Christmas cards from the Falklands. They may well arrive sometime
after the New Year, but this is not the point. The point is that I tried! My
presents for family- various souvenirs from the James Clark Ross- have already
made their way home with the previous crew and even now I’m waiting for the
rapturous cries of joy (which will be clearly audible across the Atlantic) that
will greet the discovery of a JCR-logo’d top that’s far, far too small.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The drawers under my bed are stuffed with glossy papered
presents- waiting, full of promise, for me to open them. I’ve left one of my
bars of dark chocolate with the purser, under strict instructions that he can
only give it to me on Christmas day (or I probably won’t have any left). My
favourite decoration- a stocking that I think my Mum made- is hanging in pride
of place on my curtain rail! And most importantly I’ve started listening to The
Hogfather audio book, without which it is impossible for me to feel properly
festive. And also more keen than usual on black pudding and all related pork
products...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPZC0pyQq7nBZo3cSBuRELysQLrDowYRMy2945ludRiT1kvezdUUFHQ2e7b4L8mZlhaPYLC-pP7UkJSrwBRspI4GC2l6uKwT4tJz0QE3Usi7SWzOAiFFKpJuDpGOm6kqMt5GVG3MPYw4/s1600/Christmas+and+falklands+016+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJPZC0pyQq7nBZo3cSBuRELysQLrDowYRMy2945ludRiT1kvezdUUFHQ2e7b4L8mZlhaPYLC-pP7UkJSrwBRspI4GC2l6uKwT4tJz0QE3Usi7SWzOAiFFKpJuDpGOm6kqMt5GVG3MPYw4/s640/Christmas+and+falklands+016+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My stocking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before leaving the good ship JCR, the scientists on the
previous cruise were kind enough to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the
bar/social area. It now looks deeply festive in a wonderfully garish kind of
way. If I was to be unkind, it looks slightly like Santa vomited in the bar-
which I always feel is the optimum kind of Christmas decor to aim for. If there
aren’t enough twinkly lights to blind a reindeer then what, may I ask, is
Christmas really for? Regrettably, as we have quite a tight time frame to get
all the science work finished before getting to Rothera, it doesn’t look like
we’ll be taking Christmas off. We might have a half day, however, which would
be very nice. And I’ve been assured by the head cook and his sous chef, that we
will still have roast turkey with all the trimmings!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifh1NYX-K6kSmy49mObNU1sGBioMFm_JACRLYGoDbSioflDpexR4DunlzMBklxjeTXzi4MKVrCZK6nucncP54tzVC2F62cAr1RwZ_zwBuBHCZUgNFuTEVSQY_QcAfO2h1jeps4eJfgaWQ/s1600/Christmas+and+falklands+026+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifh1NYX-K6kSmy49mObNU1sGBioMFm_JACRLYGoDbSioflDpexR4DunlzMBklxjeTXzi4MKVrCZK6nucncP54tzVC2F62cAr1RwZ_zwBuBHCZUgNFuTEVSQY_QcAfO2h1jeps4eJfgaWQ/s640/Christmas+and+falklands+026+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGN9uY1RdndfY6pdXyzC4q-3a_gjjIh1zHnEklE83CoOS8Y44Vmwe3IW8g6rt6b6A645dXR9h-BE-5vgbb_CY1sE94vnr0-TK01GOsr3XYp56zw54JAx58uclvo8w5V-2yh9oHVMgNSL4/s1600/Christmas+and+falklands+027+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGN9uY1RdndfY6pdXyzC4q-3a_gjjIh1zHnEklE83CoOS8Y44Vmwe3IW8g6rt6b6A645dXR9h-BE-5vgbb_CY1sE94vnr0-TK01GOsr3XYp56zw54JAx58uclvo8w5V-2yh9oHVMgNSL4/s640/Christmas+and+falklands+027+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christmas is for many a Christian festival, but there have
been midwinter festivals celebrated for thousands of years. Generally these occasions
are related to the winter solstice and probably celebrate the fact that the
nights are finally getting shorter and the sun is slowly returning to the
skies. In Antarctica, things are slightly topsy turvy. Whilst Christmas may
still be celebrated by the teams down there, the December period of the year
doesn’t represent a period of darkness and enforced inactivity. Rather December
is the mid-summer period when the majority of outdoor work can be done. The
actual midwinter celebrations in Antarctica are usually partaken of by the
wintering teams who make each other presents and have a mid-winter feast. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But Christmas still has its place for the Antarcticans. It
may not be necessary to salute the return of the sun, but it’s always a good
idea to have a celebration to lift the spirits of the team and to provide a
safe outlet for difficult emotions. The Belgica expedition in 1898 became mired
in the sea ice of the Bellinghausen Sea for almost a year. Amundsen reported
that the crew began experiencing gloomy thoughts, paranoia and began hearing
“uncanny screams” after a year of consuming what the ship’s doctor called
“embalmed beef” in tins. Cook (the ship’s doctor) gives a description of a
particularly bleak and dismal Christmas dinner in which the crew had to feign
enthusiasm and “doubt of our future was pictured on every face.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lessons were learned from the experiences of the Belgica
expedition and attempts were made to introduce a spirit of frivolity into
future Christmas celebrations. It was difficult to have a full Christmas dinner
whilst manhauling sledges across Antarctica, but Christmas was at least a time
of double rations. Scott’s Discovery expedition feasted on “pemmican, biscuit,
seal liver, boiling cocoa and large spoonfuls of jam” during Christmas 1902.
One hopes, not all in the same bowl-full. This represented a welcome break from
a period of semi-starvation and Scott described a “sense of comfort which had
not been experienced for weeks.” Scott also mentioned Shackleton ferreting in a
sock, only to produce a plum pudding which he had squirreled away for the
occasion and served immeasurably to lift the spirits.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most impressive celebrations however, were by the ship
Erebus which was captained by James Clark Ross – our namesake. The Erebus
anchored itself to a massive ice floe and the crew carved from the floe a ball
room complete with ice throne for Cap’n Ross and a refreshment area with an ice
table! I feel that this sounds like a splendid idea; I can just see us lighting
up an ice berg with flashing disco lights as Noddy Holder booms out into the
frosty Antarctic air...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Merry Christmas Everybody!”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfpWCIFFPlN0qi65nHEYl2uW9lWhyydckoiPe-J4HI89JlqoD_To5wJgmDRvYaoRqbYILyPtqy0vqL1ThPiQkJ-E_fMgQ-NmQGzItqFHToThSTPZxalB2h2YUpLEe-Zhyt4q3B3BsZb4/s1600/Christmas+and+falklands+030+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfpWCIFFPlN0qi65nHEYl2uW9lWhyydckoiPe-J4HI89JlqoD_To5wJgmDRvYaoRqbYILyPtqy0vqL1ThPiQkJ-E_fMgQ-NmQGzItqFHToThSTPZxalB2h2YUpLEe-Zhyt4q3B3BsZb4/s640/Christmas+and+falklands+030+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">NB : I recommend the very interesting article “Christmas at
the Poles” by Shane McCorristine and Jane Mocelline in the Polar Record Vol 52
Iss 5 Sept 2016.</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-40553653886152548812016-12-09T01:12:00.001+00:002016-12-09T01:12:08.755+00:00The Birds! And Rockhopper Penguins!
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As any non-medic who has been unfortunate enough to attend a
medic party will testify, doctors love to talk shop. It’s just one of our
favourite things. We have a wealth of smutty jokes, revolting anecdotes and our
war stories turn most people pale and queasy. We like to pass it off as
laughter in the trenches and the only way to get through the emotional burden of
it all (and sometimes this is definitely true!) BUT my suspicion is that most
of us are just plain weird. Hanging out with sailors has therefore been a pretty
good surrogate. Most of them don’t flinch over my potty mouth or look surprised
when I snigger at the dirty jokes...and then contribute my own. My only concern
is that I may actually be turning into a man. And when I’m feeling really
paranoid, that it wasn’t that big a step anyway! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But this was never going to be enough. It’s like a
one-hundred cigarette- a-day man going onto nicotine patches- sooner or later
they long for the real thing. And today I got it! I wrangled my way onto a
neighbouring ship (by the clever manoeuvre of asking for a tour) and was taken
to meet the doctor. It was infinitely reassuring. The same problems, the same
hiccups. The same horror of dental work (how do dentists find so much space in
what is, after all, quite a small area?) and most enjoyably he also had a copy
of the Ship Captain’s Medical Guide. Don’t leave home without it! So I’m
feeling curiously upbeat. Underlying all of this is the feeling that I am still
actually just five years old and I’m not quite certain why the grownups have
let me go to sea. So it was deeply soothing to meet someone else doing my job
and to hear that they’ve had similar experiences and struggles. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This feeling of eternally being a child is actually fairly
ironic given that I celebrated my 32<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup> birthday as we reached
Stanley. How did I get this old? I had a wonderful birthday however. A vast
number of parcels were waiting for me as we docked; my mother and sister sent
me lots of dark chocolate and a pair of earrings (thank you Pookie!) and my Dad
sent me books and DVDs. I have to report that the cherry flavoured Lindt dark
chocolate was much appreciated by the cognoscenti at morning smoko (that’s
coffee break- no actual smoking) but I’m being very selfish and keeping the
rest to myself. Every so often I take my chocolate out of the fridge and stroke
it, murmuring “My precious” to myself. I feel that this is totally legitimate
behaviour.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was thoroughly
spoilt, opening all the presents and cards that I was sent South with. Hand
creams and soaps, books and notebooks. My favourite thing without a doubt is a
selection of loose tea with a tea strainer- type thing which lends a certain
elegance to my tea breaks. This is in no way detracted from by the fact that I
drink my tea from a mug with penguins on it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Once ashore in the Falklands, my time is pretty much my own.
If the crew or scientists need medical assistance there is a hospital in
Stanley, so I’m encouraged to escape the ship. I therefore leapt at the opportunity
to visit a colony of Rockhopper penguins at Murrell Farm. We were driven by Landover
along the bumpy gravel roads to Murrell Farm itself and then off-roaded for an
hour before reaching Kidney Cove. I could smell the Rockhoppers before I jumped
out of the Landrover, and the screeching din assaulted the ears from yards
away! </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo7hTjY46jw2emyDgHSDyQh460K8owURBHZuSwK97Klg_1HeRxVGZZzm_B-Gq4yrzjgUUB7cte_aSbL3NHZFfsZv_UrjOJfgkdNhdSvMAOxm1CeKCPf3C2PoEEkapXZEYoZq5fHfsLZ8E/s1600/IMG_2037+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo7hTjY46jw2emyDgHSDyQh460K8owURBHZuSwK97Klg_1HeRxVGZZzm_B-Gq4yrzjgUUB7cte_aSbL3NHZFfsZv_UrjOJfgkdNhdSvMAOxm1CeKCPf3C2PoEEkapXZEYoZq5fHfsLZ8E/s640/IMG_2037+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rockhopper enjoying the sunshine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi210rDrhvwUIXZNvf9h5WbeYj3YOI1c6b9u4z0oChiR1dW566cW20Uc8OfyMoHemNZ8hoP8UbyV4ftZ3n88NIRMK3QIN3ss69OmXUmmC9IAHV1CDOFCOVgW4CDrUOyXKK9bJaK_3HcNc4/s1600/IMG_1985+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi210rDrhvwUIXZNvf9h5WbeYj3YOI1c6b9u4z0oChiR1dW566cW20Uc8OfyMoHemNZ8hoP8UbyV4ftZ3n88NIRMK3QIN3ss69OmXUmmC9IAHV1CDOFCOVgW4CDrUOyXKK9bJaK_3HcNc4/s640/IMG_1985+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kidney Cove</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The waters of kidney cove are of a bright aquamarine shading
to dark blue and full of kelp. The mouth of the cove is very narrow which helps
to keep the waters of the cove relatively placid even when the fury of the
Southern Atlantic is hammering the coastline. No doubt this is why the
Rockhoppers have made their colony here and it’s easy to see how they’ve earned
their name. These penguins look like a strange cross between crazed chickens
with their red eyes and their crests and Igors as they hunch over, the better to spring from rock to rock on their
way up from the waterline. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKImP0GrV5fJv8RZ4NEmTyNvectPrlxyDU7IqkRQNBKlZPuIbZwZArLrMQ0wIE4VVwYtxCX5w3zHiL6L10RsWNLqkje3jsdi5den4G98mIdbzXVtGeBgqtqW6vLSJgD2U-DdykIMRmsr4/s1600/IMG_2177+%2528Medium%2529+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKImP0GrV5fJv8RZ4NEmTyNvectPrlxyDU7IqkRQNBKlZPuIbZwZArLrMQ0wIE4VVwYtxCX5w3zHiL6L10RsWNLqkje3jsdi5den4G98mIdbzXVtGeBgqtqW6vLSJgD2U-DdykIMRmsr4/s640/IMG_2177+%2528Medium%2529+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crouch...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSO4eF1QE3NaBS2qypM91LZg-vsy_43RGsJowA2vA0dpx1SKKTkvn4hNE7YB3VIwpYH8w_I4pQD7adzYIt3ll4kt8AC-QdrbHzHg-_1-4IV0I7qeAmv8BkV0UBYMKSU50V9qdv59ufZc/s1600/IMG_2178+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSO4eF1QE3NaBS2qypM91LZg-vsy_43RGsJowA2vA0dpx1SKKTkvn4hNE7YB3VIwpYH8w_I4pQD7adzYIt3ll4kt8AC-QdrbHzHg-_1-4IV0I7qeAmv8BkV0UBYMKSU50V9qdv59ufZc/s640/IMG_2178+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The leap...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYKY3jEVa0WfxOlKgvMLQGTn47uCETfdjl9RwfqjpV0ZWpPHzaLDTyikN4fPA1Z8JHE62e8qfH8YBuQsm1cbUHBx13YI3yRuxY9mfx2tRtD0TDCCsAk6ojruDRn1lcm306Lhitfmfcuw/s1600/IMG_2179+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYKY3jEVa0WfxOlKgvMLQGTn47uCETfdjl9RwfqjpV0ZWpPHzaLDTyikN4fPA1Z8JHE62e8qfH8YBuQsm1cbUHBx13YI3yRuxY9mfx2tRtD0TDCCsAk6ojruDRn1lcm306Lhitfmfcuw/s640/IMG_2179+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phew...the safe landing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Rockhoppers are full of a pugnacious character
that becomes apparent whilst watching squabbles breaking out over bitterly contested
pebbles or territory. The anxiety of the birds was well merited though. Whilst
we were there, a skua was actively hunting and twice stole chicks from the
nests. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsxIyVJrEpsFNo3TCL7rEjh88x-vrNpVkrP1UmZNIr7dM03Cn7lPP3m2JP7ot84ltTR0Iq1tF-yq5xQb1NM3RFwrYju3QigdYGO2T0I04Y50wO5qGpq5OVJy9epL1HH_qM3kr9yM21Z0/s1600/IMG_2478+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsxIyVJrEpsFNo3TCL7rEjh88x-vrNpVkrP1UmZNIr7dM03Cn7lPP3m2JP7ot84ltTR0Iq1tF-yq5xQb1NM3RFwrYju3QigdYGO2T0I04Y50wO5qGpq5OVJy9epL1HH_qM3kr9yM21Z0/s640/IMG_2478+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fighting off the Skua</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV07tpi14gSU3P66PcfaS1sjUf52_LnGhY1p_5oaavbk-1X0mZqWRE02a9GhYTwt4Eeda8vdtTb4hwYizFDcdjZ4sDbrAWYijeE0EvuXBcKLA8gbKeiVsVk-c90oS3f8kSKOImSFkewHE/s1600/IMG_2497+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV07tpi14gSU3P66PcfaS1sjUf52_LnGhY1p_5oaavbk-1X0mZqWRE02a9GhYTwt4Eeda8vdtTb4hwYizFDcdjZ4sDbrAWYijeE0EvuXBcKLA8gbKeiVsVk-c90oS3f8kSKOImSFkewHE/s640/IMG_2497+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Circling for another attempt...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My other birthday treat to myself was a round robin ticket
on a flight around the islands. The Falkland Islands Government Air Service
(FIGAS) is an airline that provides on-demand flights out to remote communities.
The planes arrive either bearing supplies or providing transport into Stanley
or other communities. Many of these remote farmsteads may consist of two or
three families living in comparative isolation and these flights are a vital
link to the outside world. It’s possible to book a ticket and simply enjoy
views afforded by the trip. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The flight that I went on started in Stanley, headed north
to Port San Carlos and then hopped across to Pebble Island before heading south
through the skies to Sea Lion Island and finally Stanley again. The plane was a
Britten-Norman Islander with two propellers and capable of seating 8 people
including the pilot and co-pilot. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_4B8lfH4p-oVzlWIl9i5Imb8EnTulZZJdCGnTWKyykb5UrwV5VdMwiubR-2_Wo_DjQaz6KFOsA2x7IEfjvD7an8pVinO8szo-pKNeil51pI06BokoqXtwi-dDP00Q2C4EAoA3N56Ec4/s1600/IMG_2546+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG_4B8lfH4p-oVzlWIl9i5Imb8EnTulZZJdCGnTWKyykb5UrwV5VdMwiubR-2_Wo_DjQaz6KFOsA2x7IEfjvD7an8pVinO8szo-pKNeil51pI06BokoqXtwi-dDP00Q2C4EAoA3N56Ec4/s640/IMG_2546+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My ride</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSmqYTYS4M_fQMgGY_5IJPHzWl-YkE8p8Up7ofIqF45l26CJOoyh8mx0WL10Q7sOWyFb3Nx8k-0YAI3OdhZh_tm6FBb238EEtrQvZGeM8hdnfih1UOD9eln4ZjagbMnO1yw5CqDv4Hpg/s1600/IMG_2584+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSmqYTYS4M_fQMgGY_5IJPHzWl-YkE8p8Up7ofIqF45l26CJOoyh8mx0WL10Q7sOWyFb3Nx8k-0YAI3OdhZh_tm6FBb238EEtrQvZGeM8hdnfih1UOD9eln4ZjagbMnO1yw5CqDv4Hpg/s640/IMG_2584+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't touch anything!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve never flown in a plane that small and I
was allowed to sit in the co-pilot’s seat! We took off and landed on remote airfields
that consisted of a strip of mown grass and a wind sock and I thought to myself
that I had never done anything half as cool before! The views were astonishing.
The land was a creamy mint colour with grey rocky spines projecting from the
earth. The sea was a bright cobalt blue and we were lucky enough to see sea
lions and whales from above. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLWbxXaFL_rR8hCOIcAzqkA7nhAiZqfWPCIV6g5DSJIYLw7cftN2LVbX8KX72lPgi9OU1KrXYVB49K-Zz3rkgSBuZwYvYQB8aTV9PtRKnOfXjFd2O-t48CEeY-3bLfyEepMJl80fmS_M/s1600/IMG_2578+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLWbxXaFL_rR8hCOIcAzqkA7nhAiZqfWPCIV6g5DSJIYLw7cftN2LVbX8KX72lPgi9OU1KrXYVB49K-Zz3rkgSBuZwYvYQB8aTV9PtRKnOfXjFd2O-t48CEeY-3bLfyEepMJl80fmS_M/s640/IMG_2578+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not sure this needs words</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeb6FYmI-EOSjNyziVJ4MMW6W0F9teUyt41w0XVT42ncLjXBQC_PvIclVH5nkSiUBeHl7tE95OTzfRraMqST3a5N-wpc59bgkBepK-kNcTWQaKNja-4FQRsuXkUqMP6VAVhSrpTcL0t8/s1600/IMG_2574+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeb6FYmI-EOSjNyziVJ4MMW6W0F9teUyt41w0XVT42ncLjXBQC_PvIclVH5nkSiUBeHl7tE95OTzfRraMqST3a5N-wpc59bgkBepK-kNcTWQaKNja-4FQRsuXkUqMP6VAVhSrpTcL0t8/s640/IMG_2574+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The airstrip at Pebble Island</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPmI6Bi6kA77Ui12qLlcEOR9dHAjdleV1YNdk5IgfgSZD0RwKFgS2cZ6bEDdWbSE-c89TQiN-KHPmnpZWrPNHrc5BMoUiMEkFhgIWdD3WG6Vt41C8ZmsW7Qx_zk5lyxnZDPIHHd3Apxo/s1600/IMG_2579+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPmI6Bi6kA77Ui12qLlcEOR9dHAjdleV1YNdk5IgfgSZD0RwKFgS2cZ6bEDdWbSE-c89TQiN-KHPmnpZWrPNHrc5BMoUiMEkFhgIWdD3WG6Vt41C8ZmsW7Qx_zk5lyxnZDPIHHd3Apxo/s640/IMG_2579+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The world from above</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was informed that the Giant Petrels have started to become
pests. Their numbers have increased in the Falklands which has meant that
rather than scavenging as they normally do, they’ve been forced to start
hunting. They force penguins under the water until they drown and they’ve also
been known to attack and kill ewes in the middle of lambing. As our plane
gained height over Sea Lion Island we banked to take a closer look at a killer
whale carcass being stripped by a team of busy birds. The pilot remarked
nonchalantly that he’s known a whole fin whale carcass to be stripped by them
in less than three weeks. And then we were speeding away, back towards Stanley
and the friendly, familiar shape of the James Clark Ross at harbour.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYr-MKbqTCIuy2WesZgxJKKyxwtfkM8wJCkNlDBs2Aplyh8mAg7qWompsyiF04ZUNL2Uh5oIUxIoKtUmfX19TV8cCqVoRZIuwAgezWWd2LAN66H_Dwou1PP1BqRpWGQy4G_FWRBALhrI/s1600/IMG_2599+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYr-MKbqTCIuy2WesZgxJKKyxwtfkM8wJCkNlDBs2Aplyh8mAg7qWompsyiF04ZUNL2Uh5oIUxIoKtUmfX19TV8cCqVoRZIuwAgezWWd2LAN66H_Dwou1PP1BqRpWGQy4G_FWRBALhrI/s640/IMG_2599+%25282%2529+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JCR from above</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2169688313964593611.post-54294582908007180792016-12-02T19:27:00.002+00:002016-12-02T19:27:58.670+00:00Yes, I still have my appendix!
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>(I should probably mention that bits of this post are a bit...graphic. Sorry.)</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m feeling rather smug this afternoon, having wrestled with
and finally subdued the autoclave. For those who don’t know, the autoclave is a
bit of kit that is used to sterilise instruments. Control of the autoclave
usually lies safely in the hands of theatre staff who may be trusted not to
screw it up. This is because they have completed THE TRAINING. If you do things
without THE TRAINING, badness will result. I can’t be specific- but I’m pretty
sure that zombie apocalypses are involved.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTuKxFFIripPmXOkxkIk6Lw9L1euYeooP8kJgiZS1tcJpMxy36AYzJFPfhBNSHUOJhS8CEKsXIXf4BlInEUGqgF_UY8DFP58U9jT1AN46D9VnJ83iEuDuK2c6kEuA1p7dyD6Piur5wm8/s1600/ship+captains+006+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPTuKxFFIripPmXOkxkIk6Lw9L1euYeooP8kJgiZS1tcJpMxy36AYzJFPfhBNSHUOJhS8CEKsXIXf4BlInEUGqgF_UY8DFP58U9jT1AN46D9VnJ83iEuDuK2c6kEuA1p7dyD6Piur5wm8/s640/ship+captains+006+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My autoclave</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, I’m all in favour of staff having to demonstrate that
they can successfully use a piece of equipment before they’re let loose upon
it. But personally I find that it stifles any urge that I might have to experiment.
I tread warily around new toys, nervous of what I might do to break them. The
great and noble urge (as the late and wonderful Terry Pratchett would have it)
to “stick your finger into the plug socket of the universe just to see what
would happen” has been quashed by the layers of safety built into our everyday
lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In part, this has been one of the more empowering (to use an
irritating word) aspects of working for BASMU. I’m a one-woman hospital; if I
want equipment sterilised or X-Rays taken, I have to use the training that we
received or work out how to do it myself. Before starting this job, I had never
even seen the equipment used to cross match blood samples, let alone been the
proud possessor of the necessary bits! And whilst I very much hope that I never
have to use that particular facility (If I’m doing blood transfusions at sea, the
situation has deteriorated somewhat) it’s nice to know that probably nothing
terrible will happen if you just poke around a bit. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Clinicians from a century ago had the burden of being much
more self-reliant. “Call the Midwife” and James Herriot’s books about working
as a veterinarian in the 1930s are full of tales of make-shift operations in stables and the delivering of babies in East-end slums. And they did all
this without any of the backup that I can call upon in my daily job. I
visited the site of the Thai-Burma railway line (on the border of Thailand with
now Myanamar) which was built through the labour of Allied soldiers in Japanese
POW camps. The thing that struck me was how doctors in the camps improvised in
truly appalling circumstances to treat their patients. I even remember seeing
pictures of syringes that were made from lengths of bamboo! </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before coming South, loads of my fellow doctors relayed a story that was published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal. Apparently a Russian doctor, whilst over-wintering in Antarctica, had developed appendicitis. I was informed, with unseemly relish, that he had taken his own appendix out with nothing more than a lot of local anaesthetic and an assistant to hold the mirror. No, the story got better; it was two assistants! An extra one, in case the first one fainted! I would then be fixed with a beady eye and asked if my appendix was still in situ. I could tell that my questioners were already picturing me on the operating table, scalpel in trembling hand, beads of sweat breaking out on my upper lip as I made the first dread incision into my own abdomen...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To a certain extent, this willingness of doctors in days gone by to “have a go” may
reflect the levels of medical knowledge one hundred years ago. Jack London
relates an eye watering tale in his “People of the Abyss” of a homeless man in
the Whitechapel district of London in 1905. This gentleman attended a hospital
with a hernia which was then smeared with Vaseline to help reduce it and was
then turfed out onto the streets. It might be laughable if not for the fact
that the man died later from a strangulated hernia.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the trusty “Ship
Captain’s Medical Guide” the indefatigable Charles Burland , MD FRGS,
confidently recommends “a brisk emetic in the form of half a teaspoonful of
Ipecacuanha...a cup of hot strong coffee is also useful...” to treat acute asthma.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cups of coffee. I’m just not sure that the
middle of an asthma attack is the right time to administer one. Or indeed to
start bouts of vomiting.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VDspgiw6EouAqK1H22FhxGXUJGtdJrIacBrl4x4NsCeuJ0R_Q801J48DtfjtoYWYfrHWurx1ZLIwOfkHg-iT6Hn5k47BiGZvU4ng3Ze5bKEt8-C4qrLRy_eRg2ta6f378kLvV7t4r8c/s1600/ship+captains+003+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_VDspgiw6EouAqK1H22FhxGXUJGtdJrIacBrl4x4NsCeuJ0R_Q801J48DtfjtoYWYfrHWurx1ZLIwOfkHg-iT6Hn5k47BiGZvU4ng3Ze5bKEt8-C4qrLRy_eRg2ta6f378kLvV7t4r8c/s640/ship+captains+003+%2528Medium%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Burland's exhaustive text on what the Captain could expect medically</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My favourite museum in all the world is the Herb Garrett and
Old Operating Theatre opposite Guy’s Hospital in London. I particularly love
the descriptions of surgery in the days when speed was what you really looked
for in a competent surgeon. The operating theatre was sited above a church,
which meant that the space between the floor of the theatre and the rafters of
the church had to be packed with sawdust lest blood drip onto the heads of the
congregation below. There was a bucket of sawdust that lived under the
operating table and would be kicked towards whichever end of the table had the
worst “run-off”. And when the contents of the bucket resembled a “bloody
porridge”...the cry would go up “More sawdust!” The state of a surgeon’s white
coat generally indicated his (no ladies in those days- boys only club) level of
experience- a muckier coat indicating a greater level of experience. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9BJyPh0AMgCcZMJzbjcFGuWy7bhiI14eaHboIjkzM3Sxv4CU2WS5-jvLgdUWmvCnLENYDyA0YpR_uQaKj7xy14A92fF91GOifLlBdyF49wFYsEVDyvKFChPE9t70Y4v6GU7awOZySwE/s1600/operatingtheater+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9BJyPh0AMgCcZMJzbjcFGuWy7bhiI14eaHboIjkzM3Sxv4CU2WS5-jvLgdUWmvCnLENYDyA0YpR_uQaKj7xy14A92fF91GOifLlBdyF49wFYsEVDyvKFChPE9t70Y4v6GU7awOZySwE/s640/operatingtheater+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Operating Theater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So in no way do I wish for a return to those bad old days.
Things like pathology and radiology shoul</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">d be done by people who are experts! Patients
deserve to be treated by specialists. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTF5iWBpN74B36gkPIgufssk38fxFeJ5jdDjLfX83mqKjpQAYI67I77cbQ9M-xsEia7u8EOfxyHXMe0GROUdNgIPMN2X0lCyO7OF8kOaKSOUpqPakhH4riCO1jLoX4lF3UWie_sLk3Ec/s1600/maggot+wash+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTF5iWBpN74B36gkPIgufssk38fxFeJ5jdDjLfX83mqKjpQAYI67I77cbQ9M-xsEia7u8EOfxyHXMe0GROUdNgIPMN2X0lCyO7OF8kOaKSOUpqPakhH4riCO1jLoX4lF3UWie_sLk3Ec/s640/maggot+wash+%2528Medium%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmmm...strangely maggots do still sometimes get used in wound management</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But as specialisation marches on within
our hospitals, it’s awfully nice to have a chance to experiment with these
skills and to improve my understanding of them. Admittedly this urge “to boldly
go” did lead to a certain amount of apprehension (read- naked fear) on my part. I was utterly convinced that at any minute the autoclave would go “bang” and fill the room with clouds of super-heated steam. Half an hour was therefore spent cowering in the corner of my surgery behind the A&E trolley
(which I didn't doubt could protect me from the shrapnel of the exploding autoclave) and squealing nervously every time it let out a little hiss of steam. But, I am proud to say, I did it. I took one
little step closer to self-sufficiency. I acquired a new skill. And from now
on, I shall look at autoclaves with a steely gaze and take no more of their
nonsense!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04815573353500696711noreply@blogger.com8