25 October
The objective of the previous two weeks of work was to get the camp in working order. All the dive holes had been blasted and most cleared of ice. The dive hut on the sea ice was built and preliminary dives finished without incident. The hut on shore was cleaned, the heaters made functional, and the electric generator serviced.
The next step was to move the scientific gear to the field camp and to begin
collecting samples. This included dissecting microscopes, compound microscopes,
a container of liquid nitrogen, constant temperature baths, incubators, a small
scientific oven, glassware, reagents, plastic containers and various data collection
instruments, including a delica
te
device that measures tiny loads for studying the biomechanical properties of
the shells of foraminifera. These needed to be carefully packed -- though the
helicopter ride across the Sound to Explorers Cove is usually fairly smooth,
it is always sensible to take a few precautions. The compound microscopes and
delicate instruments get particular attention and are packaged in several layers
of bubble wrap - but no polystyrene peanuts (these are banned from the continent).
While we remained in at the Crary Lab, one of the main things that occupied our time was checking that all the gear was in good condition and worked properly. Some of the scientific gear was brought from the United States; other instruments, like the microscopes, came out of the Crary Lab inventory. These had to be checked out, taken to our office, and thoroughly inspected and tested.
26 October
Cape Evans is an interesting location on Ross Island, both scientifically and
historically. It is the location where Scott and his men built the hut for the
1910-1913 British Antarctic "Terra Nova" Expedition. 
It
is also a very interesting locale for marine ecology. The ocean bottom in front
of the hut is a cobble and boulder field. These rocks are covered with large
algae, leafy reds of the genera Phyllophora and Iridaea. Cape Evans is one of
the furthest south locations where macroscopic algae can be found on the Antarctic
Continent.
Our reason for going to Cape Evans was to collect samples of these Phyllophora and Iridaea for the purpose of studying the pigments in the algae and some species of foraminifera that live attached to the blades. While we were there, we also visited Scott's Hut and enjoyed the scenery.
We drove up in a Spryte with all the gear necessary for the dive. We also took the standard issue of survival gear which is required for each individual who ventures away from McMurdo Station. Sprytes are not particularly speedy vehicles. The trip to Cape Evans, which is a distance of about 15 miles, took an hour and forty five minutes, a speed of about 8.57143 miles per hour. At that speed, it would take one about 14 hours to dive from Albany to New York City.
Sprytes are noisy and not known for comfort - but at least the heater worked. So, we trekked north, past Castle Rock, the Erebus Ice Tongue, Big and Little Razorback, Tent Island and Inaccessible Island, arriving at Cape Evans on a fine sunny day. The air was a warm 20F, the air calm, the sky clear. However, we couldn't find the dive site as expected; we were told a hut with dive holes had already been set up there. So we decided to look inside Scott's Hut for a few minutes and then look for the dive hut. A few minutes was all that could be spared, since our goal was to dive and get algae samples and we had to get back to McMurdo at 5:30 PM. By the time we had located the dive hut site, there was not enough time to make a dive and keep within the schedule, so we drove back to McMurdo.
27 October
Sam, Neal, Doug, and Jeff flew back out to New Harbor today, while Dr. Stockton remained at McMurdo Station to greet the two remaining members of Dr. Bowser's team, Dr. Susan Goldstein (University of Georgia, Athens) and Jan Pawlowski (University of Geneva). It was learned later that the C-141 flight from New Zealand to McMurdo Station had been canceled due to mechanical problems. It was rescheduled for the 29th.
Those at New Harbor had numerous camp maintenance tasks upon arrival. Two of the holes, that were blasted the previous Thursday, needed immediate attention. This took until 9 PM to complete.
28 October
The string of 14 days of beautiful, and unseasonably warm, weather came to
an end as the weather began to turn less favorable at McMurdo Station. Low clouds
appeared behind Mt. Discovery in the southwest. By the middle afternoon, there
were occasional snow flakes. It looked less likely that there would be any flights
the following day. 
Black
Island was shrouded in clouds and the wind had picked up. This very often indicates
that a significant storm is approaching.
Black Island is called that because of its dark color. To the east is White Island, which is so named because it is covered with snow and nearly white. The absence of snow on Black is a good clue about the nature of the weather found there: strong winds remove most of the snow that falls there. If Black Island is covered with blowing snow, it is likely that the storm will move out on the Sound and maybe reach McMurdo Station.
29 October
The weak storm had settled on McMurdo Station. The winds at the station were
not strong, usually not much more than 20 knots, but there were occasional gusts;
however, the problem was blowing and drifting snow. 
At
times, visibility was down to a few hundred yards, which prevented all flight
operations. Later we learned that the ice runway had been shut down completely
due to high winds and blowing snow that prevented people from even traveling
between buildings. Dr. Stockton was scheduled to fly to Explorers Cove in the
morning, but even at 6:00am, this looked very unlikely. The helicopters had
been put in the hangar for protection and local weather prediction couldn't
tell if it would clear up quickly, so we were placed on stand-by. About 2pm,
the day's schedule had been canceled.
This light storm prevented the two scheduled C-141 flights from Christchurch. Enough snow had drifted onto the ice runway that most of the afternoon, after the storm dissipated, was required to clear the accumulated drifts of snow from the landing surface and prepare the runway for landings.
30 October.
In the afternoon, Doug and Neal made a dive near the mouth of the Wales Stream. This was a new area for us. The purpose was to look at the marine environment in front of the slowly advancing Wales Stream delta. Each austral summer, the Wales stream flows fairly swiftly into the ocean at a site near the camp. It carries sediment from the valley into the cove. This sediment forms a delta which, like all deltas, slowly extends out over the marine bottom.
The dive went very smoothly and afterwards we reviewed some video footage that covered the slope of the delta, and the junction between the sea ice and the "ice foot" (the ice which is frozen to shore). There were scallops (Adamussium colbecki) and the brittle star (Ophionotus victoriae); some of the scallops had white finger sponges (Homaxonella sp.) attached to the upper shell. The under surface of the ice was bright blue in places, with bright lines where the ice was broken at the tidal juncture.
The sea ice rises and falls with the tide. It is usually not firmly attached to shore. The shore ice, or ice foot, is solidly attached to land. Where the sea ice and ice foot meet, there is an irregular line of breaks; at these "tide cracks" the sea ice has broken as it flexes with the movement of the tide. Portions of these cracks freeze and again break as the tide rises and falls.
31 October:
In the afternoon, the weather turned overcast and the sky up the Taylor Valley was gray. In a less polar climate, one would guess that it would be raining soon. Then the wind turned around from the west to the southeast. By late evening, there were a few snow flakes in the air. We are already expecting that the helo flight from McMurdo scheduled for tomorrow will be cancelled due to weather.
In the mid-afternoon, a dive was made away from the main camp adjacent to an underwater ice cliff. There, we used a mini-airlift device to collect foraminifera to bring back to the main hut for study. The dive hole at this site was the smallest of all our locations. At the top, only 1 diver could easily pass at a time. However, it is shaped like an inverted funnel, opening into a very wide space just under the surface.
No trick-or-treaters Halloween evening. We were ready with granola bars and chocolate. We needed no costumes, having been out in the field for several days, we would have scared anyone even half-civilized.
