Post the Twenty-Fifth

SCIENCE!

There's a bit of it going on down here, you know.



Mostly I only get to hear of it second or third hand as the boffins discuss science-y matters amongst themselves.  Or as I look out of the windows and see science being conducted in the distance.

But on this particular day, Swim-Swim and I were offered the special opportunity to get involved; to get right in amongst the SCIENCE!    Swim-Swim was certainly excited by the prospect, and who am I to disappoint the little feller?  So we got ourselves involved.

Cath King, who is heading up the Ecotoxicology team here at Davis, asked if we'd be interested in coming out in the boats to assist in the collection of samples.

(Wait, wait, wait! I hear you cry.  The Eco-what-a-what-ology?  The ecotoxicology program is setting out to determine the impact of human generated pollutants on marine life in the vicinity of the station.  They have been focusing on a couple of species - Antarctic Rock Cod Trematomus Bernacchii and Antarctic Heart Urchins Abatus spp)

Swim-Swim and I could think of nothing that we would rather be doing with our Saturday, so we jumped at the chance.  As with the berg cruise, I had to get myself dollied up with additional survival gear and the Mustang survival suit, and then meet the boffins at the boat shed for a day of SCIENCE!

I should say that my first impression of science is that it looks an awful lot like we're all going on a fishing trip while dressed in orange spacesuits.

Jokes aside, though, that is a reasonable way of describing it.  Collecting the specimens is actually a kind of fishing.  It's just that you neither eat nor kiss-and-release the specimens once you have them.


And so, here we are getting the boats into the water.  Here Cath is chatting with Fran as she reorganises the equipment (the SCIENTIFIC equipment!) in the boat.

Preparations.  For SCIENCE!

There were two boats involved.  I was on a boat with Cath and Ian, whose five year mission is to boldly go where no-one has gone before task was to collect between 60 and 80 Abatus (heart urchins) specimens, consisting 20 of each of four different species (nimrodi, philippii, shackletoni and ingens).

The other boat, with Snake (John van den Hoff), Trish and Fran aboard, was out to lay traps for the Rock Cod.

Both boats headed out to a site known as Long Fjord a few kilometres north of Davis, and we set to.

Once we got to Long Fjord - or more accurately, some small islets off the mouth of Long Fjord - Ian whipped out his trusty bathyscope to survey the bottom looking for likely places to dredge for Abatus specimens.

Checking out the bottom. 

Abatus eat by consuming fine sediment, and digesting food material clinging to it before then ejecting it again.   So we needed to find patches of said sediment to begin collection.


Having found said sediment, Ian now whips out his trusty collector - which in reality is a chinois kitchen strainer attached to the end of a 4 metre long bamboo pole.  But that's SCIENCE for you - it will make do with whatever works.

Precision equipment

On this occasion it didn't work.  Well, not entirely.  There were no Abatus to be had here, but Ian did manage to get a couple of Sterechinus neumayeri.  Not on the menu, so to speak, but useful for study anyway.  Cath proudly shows one off here.

Spiky

Off to the aquarium with this one.

As if being knee deep in SCIENCE weren't enough, were had the added bonus of being surrounded by other Antarctic wildlife.  Of course, for you it's probably old hat, and as dull as dishwater by now, but I still thought I would share a couple of photos with you.  In case your headwear is not aged as all that.

As we dredged near one of the islets we came across this Weddell seal (!) having a bit of a kip.  So naturally, here is a pic!

!

And, of course, some Adelies.  Of course.

Of course.

This Adelie was high up on a small bergy bit, and so as the two boat crews came together for a bit of a conference, he/she got a berg's eye view.

(Ouch.  Sorry).

'ello!

Conference over, it was time to return to collecting.  Although...

ummmm...

Cath and Ian both assured me that other sites around Davis had yielded copious quantities of Abatus species.  However it was rapidly becoming evident that Long Fjord was proving somewhat less forthcoming.  In the photo above they are both examining the contents of Ian's latest dredge, and determining that it is, in fact, entirely devoid of Abatus.  Entirely.

But, as the refrain goes (and goes and goes and goes), SCIENCE never sleeps.  So we press on.

Such dredgery

Anything?  Anything?

Any Abatus in there?

Nope.

Hang on a sec.  There is something in there.   It seems that Ian had managed to snare some baby Abatus.  (Mnaw, how cute!)  Cath decided that they were worth keeping, so using the finer grained net they strain the contents of the dredge to separate the juvenile urchins.

Team effort

And then it's off in search of yet another site.   We'd been out there for a couple of hours with little success, but perhaps another area would prove more productive.  Maybe.  Perhaps.  With a bit of luck and a light nor'easter.

Cath and Ian were remaining chipper, as the smiles on their dials attest.

High spirits. 

Oooh look!  More wildlife!  More dependable wildlife.  (I can't help but have the feeling, though, that had I been out with a team studying Adelies that we would have struggled to find a penguin, but that there would have been heart urchins EVERYWHERE.  Or maybe I'm just being silly).

Reliable

Adelies are by nature quite curious - within limits.  They'll cluster at the ice edge to get a better look at the boat full of orange spacemen, but should the boat begin to drift too close then they'll suddenly remember that dentist appointment they had.

So at this juncture you may be asking yourself, "Sure, I know what Cath and Ian were doing on the boat - but what was Jeff's fearfully vital role?"  And it's well that you ask.

To be honest I am not sure that my role was terribly important.  However my two boffin crewmates made me feel quite useful indeed by employing me on the bow as a lookout, identifying silty bottom (not a nasty medical syndrome) and also warning of hidden dangers such as rapidly shoaling bottom or submerged rocks.

Being crouched in the front for a long time had its downside, and after a while I began to get cramps.  So here I am trying to remedy that situation while Cath takes a photo.  (A photo with dependable wildlife in the background).

Not slacking off.  Not!

I am not, repeat NOT, being a lazy bum lying down on the job.  I just thought I should make that clear.

And while she was at it, Cath took some more shots of the wildlife.  In this one, a penguin is proving that some penguins actually can fly.

Oh what a feeling..

And this guy is racing to get a better look at the orange spacemen.

Holey moley, what on earth are they?

At this point in the journey we came across the other boat again (containing Team Cod Collection).  Unlike us, they had had a sterling day with their specimens, and had actually trapped so many that they released some as being surplus to requirements.

Not all was roses and violet crumbles, though.  They had inadvertently deployed one of their traps on a steep underwater drop-off, and the float which should have been floating on top of the water was in fact floating some two metres below the surface.

So Team Cod was now spending their time using one of Ian's bamboo poles to try to ensnare the float and the line,  and retrieve the trap.

IT'S A TRAP!

Which they did in the end.  A successful outing for them.


As for us...

Here Swim-Swim examines the results of our collecting activities.  There are two Sterechinus neumayeri, and...

What,,, is that it?

Well, there are two Sterechinus neumayeri.  Which is better than nothing.  Just.


But it was growing late.  Time to head back the the station

On the way we encountered a berg of interesting shape and colour, so decided to detour and have a mini berg cruise.  Why not?

Oooh, pretty!

Ian enjoys himself immensely.

Cool shape!

And then it was back home to Davis in time for tea and bedtime stories.

But despite our signal lack of success in terms of collecting specimens from the nominated site, I had a marvellous day.  As did Swim-Swim.  We got absolutely coated in SCIENCE, and it was instructive to be at the coal face, so to speak.

So thank you Cath, Ian et al.  It was a privilege to join you for your day's work.