March 11, 2006

Funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs

Location: Latitude 63° 58.8' S, Longitude 54° 58.1' W

Air Temperature: -3.7°C

Shooting Seismic

Yesterday, I awoke to the sounds of my roommate informing me there were Orcas outside. The thrill of the chance to see one of my favorite animals drew me rapidly out of my bottom bunk and took me running up the stairs towards the bridge in my pajamas. The sunny day, however, did not last long as the winds changed, the sky turned grey, and it began to snow. Today is another grey day, but, there is still beauty in seeing the ice that surrounds us and the hope of another sunny day.

We are currently shooting seismic. The ice conditions never seem to be exactly what we need or want them to be. Even when we find an open patch of water, there is no guarantee that it will last longer than a few hours. We began shooting seismic yesterday evening. It was interesting to watch the large orange float balls holding the seismic guns floating behind our ship rolling with the waves and bouncing off little ice pieces. Annie and I took the first mammal watch as dusk approached. It was exciting to be on the bridge waiting for a seal, whale, or some form of life to appear in the water or on the ice. However, no mammals were present and our shift seemed uneventful but it signified that we were now underway on what we thought was about a 12 hour transect shooting seismic.

As it turns out, we will shoot seismic now for much longer than expected. The ice conditions are not wavering and we have no opportunity to drill, so we are doing transects along the north to expand our knowledge of the James Ross Basin. This will help us to determine if there are other places in this area that could have a potential drill site. Hopefully our seismic data will turn out good and the ice will clear and drilling can commence again.

Nicole Evans
Florida State University

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