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ANTARCTIC SOCIOLOGY Dear family & friends - Today we went back to Smith and Low Islands and retrieved the GPS equipment we had left there. For this project, the program is that at each site the equipment must collect data for two full GMT days. However, since weather may prevent us from reaching a site, we install enough batteries to allow the site to operate for ten days. Smith Island has the worst weather and sea conditions of all the sites, and so it was a relief to be able to pick it up. |
 (Click for larger view)View from the Low Island GPS site. |
| The GPS sites at both Smith and Low Islands are smack in the
middle of penguin rookeries. Basically, in these rookeries every flat spot has
been staked out by penguins who situate themselves at intervals of perhaps a
meter. The penguins are social at least to the extent that they live in these
large groups; a goodly fraction appear to hunkered down on top of eggs and they
don't move even when you come within a couple of meters. Their lives seem to
involve a considerable amount of squawking 'Hola', pointing beaks to the
heavens, and waving of flippers. Off in the distance I occasionally see penguins
queued up in lines sliding one by one down the ice towards the water. And, while
in the zodiak you see them porpoising-swimming fast and jumping in and out of
the water. The penguins seem awkward at everything they do except swimming, at
which they are truly expert. Cindy, who just got her M.S. degree in birds, told
me that while we visited Low Island she saw three different species of penguins
there. However, I can't confirm this; when Cindy started explaining to me how to
tell the difference between the various species, I kind of tuned out because she
wasn't using any equations. Mathematically, all the different species are
equivalent.
At Low Island we also picked up Brenda Hall and John Evans, who had been camping there. When we got back to the ship I asked Brenda how her work went. She said she did manage to find examples of the glacial morains that she was searching for, but she was disappointed because most everything was under snow and it was difficult to really make good maps of what was going on. Possibly it is too early in the season to do what she wants to do. February or even March might be better because there would be less snow. The official name of the ship, incidentally, is the ARSV Laurence M. Gould. Before your wheels grind too much about the ARSV you should know that it stands for Antarctic Research Support Vessel. On the LMG as in the penguin rookery, the occupants fall into distinct groups. |
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 Captain Robert Verret of the ARSV Laurence M. Gould |
One group are the professional seamen; these seem mostly to be Filipino or
Chilean, and they work on ships as deck hands or cooks or mechanics. Most of
them seem to have gone to sea when they were quite young and have never since
held an on-land job. Another group are the ship's officers; these people steer
and manage ships, which takes quite a bit of training and education as well as
families who think that leaving home for months at a time is normal.
A wrinkle on the LMG is that some of the officers are Cajuns, e.g., the captain, Robert Verret. Captain Robert has wavy black hair down to his shoulders and speaks with a Cajun accent. He told me he is from south of New Orleans and that his father and grandfather both ran ships; if he told me he was a direct descendant of Jean Lafitte, I would believe him. Maybe he is... |
| The third sociological group are the professional scientists,
principally Fred, Brenda, and myself. Most of these people went to college when
they were fairly young and never since managed to leave and get a real job. The
last group are the young adventurers; these are men and women, mostly under 30,
who decided they want to go to Antarctica and work for a few months or a year,
rather than settle down in some human rookery and acquire a mortgage, a family,
and a real job. Tomorrow morning we arrive at Palmer Station, where we let off
some of the youthful adventurers. Tomorrow evening, we sail again back towards
Spring Point, to retrieve the GPS station we left there.
Cliff |
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