PULL YOUR TRAP!
Now that we have our Pisten Bully (vehicle below) ready we decide pull the trap we dropped a few days ago at the Jetty to see if fish do like hot dogs after all. I believe this was the day with the minimum windchill of -57F. We were not being lazy - it was just really, really cold and windy and on days like that it's better to have the protection of a vehicle even if the distance is technically walkable during reasonable weather conditions.
Below we have loaded our survival bags on top so that in the unfortunate event of being caught off of the base in a surprise storm we should have enough to hold us over for a few days. We are also loading route flags so that if we happen to head off of a previously established route, we'll be able to find our way back - as long as we can visualize the next flag.
The hot dog trap is being pulled
Some minor success...
Three hot dog loving fish...
And one adorable starfish.
Bravo 308: I'm not totally sure what's going on here.
This hut stove is keeping us toasty warm while we go about our business.
Divers!
We were lucky enough to happen upon a dive team just about to plunge into the icy sea through the same exact hole that we've been fishing from for the last few days.
They've geared up
One at a time, they submerge themselves to go and retrieve experimental results that are waiting on the seabed below several feet of ice. I want to say the water depth is only 70 feet or so here - I may have to fact check that one.
Final adjustments being made.
Although his glove immediately leaked and he was exposed to seawater at a temperature of nearly -2C (28F) - he just sealed it up and proceeded with the dive for approximately 30 minutes. Brave cold human!
Once in the water they are handed any additional equipment to record results and continue with the experiment.
Off he goes...
Here you can see the neon indicator to mark the point of entry
Once the divers are safely down - we attempt to catch any additional fish with a few people that accompanied with the dive team.
The ladder that's dropped just before they are ready to make their way back up to this side of the ice.
Back at the lab another group has collected nearly 200 sea urchins from a similar dive expedition a bit farther from McMurdo
Starfish seem to not want to part from their sea creature neighbors and apparently came along for the ride here as well.
Love those star fish and watching the divers. WOW just absolutely intriguiing. Makes me feel like I m on the journey with you. Thank you.
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