Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2002 00:45:29 +0000 From: "Coronesi, Stephanie" Subject: Message 7 16:53 (2002.01.11) 64 Degrees 43.137' South Latitude 68 Degrees 02.644' West Longitude (Bellingshausen Sea) Air Temp: 1.2 Degrees C SST (Sea Surface Temperature): 1.1 C Wind Speed: 12 knots 006 Degrees Air Pressure: 985.4 mBar Hey Everyone! I can't take full responsibility for any rambling I might do in this message. I was jostled awake by the noisy sea at about 3AM last night. I slid down off the top bunk and stumbled blindly into the bathroom to put a sea-sickness patch on to save me from complete nauseous dysfunction today. Well, I'm not nauseous, but I am certainly a bit loopy! The patch makes me kind of tired and dehydrated and dilates my pupils just enough to make typing a peculiar and challenging experience. I am a PLEASURE to be with right now. ;) We're doing a deep CTD drop right now (2737 meters - approx. 2 miles). That's a long way down, with pressure increasing the further we go. Can you imagine what would happen to, say, a styrofoam cup under that kind of pressure? Well, it just so happens that your average styrofoam coffee cup collapses until it's just larger than thimble-sized. When we do these really deep drops people take cups, draw and write on them in permanent marker, then put them all in a mesh bag and send them down attached to the CTD. When the CTD comes back up we have a whole bag of miniature souvenirs from the bottom of the ocean! Very cool. For those of you who were born before 1982, think "Shrinky Dinks." Today's entry is not going to be particularly scientifically enlightening as I am working with a compromised comprehension capacity (I'll just call that a "CCC" in keeping with all the other fantastic scientific acronyms). That's okay though, because part of your truly sharing my experience here is my description of the non-scientific aspects of the journey. That said, the food here on the Gould is much better than I expected, which isn't so good if you're trying to eat sensibly. Oh yes, there are baskets full of oranges, apples, mangoes, kiwi and avocado. There is a lovely spread of melon and grapes and stuff which are always out for our snacking pleasure, BUT - there is also a wide array of chips, crackers, cheese, and various desserts! There's a constantly re-stocked container of homemade chocolate chip cookies, there are pies and cakes and brownies and puddings galore, and yesterday there were actually homemade doughnuts! Now these aren't the doughnuts you're used to seeing at your local Dunkin' Donuts boys and girls, these are doughnuts that are so big, doughy and freshly fried that you can fairly hear your arteries screaming "Nooooooooooo!" at the mere sight of them. These are doughnuts that are so heavy that were you to wing one at someone's head you would stand a fair chance of knocking them unconscious. These are doughnuts that I have been making a concerted effort to ignore all day. I think there are only chocolate-covered ones available now, so I should be alright. Whew! There is a gym on board though, to help atone for doughnut-related moments of weakness. Today is the first theme day, and they eased us in gently. "Flannel Day" is not an overwhelming challenge for people who spend 75% of their time in flannel anyway. Tomorrow is "Crazy Hair Day," which should get the old creative juices flowing ship-wide. I hear it was a big hit last year. Rich and I are still tossing ideas around for how to make our mark on the Gould. As Robin Ross (our Chief Scientist) told us, "we're creating a legacy here!" I'm not so sure this is the legacy she had in mind, though. ;) Okay, back to my chlorophyll samples. "Water, water everywhere....." Attached is a fun picture from the top of the glacier Sunday night. I'm not in it. I was just the one with the bright idea and the digital camera. Bottom row (l-r): Bruce, Kyle, Rich & Pete Second up: Anne, Paul and Amy Standing: Karina Second from top: Lisa and Stian Top: Michael That's it for now! I hope you all have/had a marvelous weekend. I'll get the old brains cooking more on Monday, so rest up! -Miss C (Steph!)