St Patrick's Day=Groundhog's day

Today was a very relaxing day. We actually had a day off from science as
we head back west to hit another transect. Because we are headed back west
we crossed the dateline for the second time and, therefore, we repeated
March 17 or St Patrick's day. Not only do we have a day off but we have
been privileged with a beautiful scenery of ice, a sunny day with blue
skies (but really, really cold!) and many sightings of penguins. I just
looked out the window and, hello, there's a penguin. I also just enjoyed a
session of yoga with 5 other fellow scientists. Moreover, tonight is
'Chick flick night' where we are going to watch 'Sex in the City' episodes.
Days like these are good opportunities to socialize with your fellow
scientists. I know most days I am so wrapped up in sampling that I don't
take the time to really talk to others. You cannot make a ship an island,
meaning it is difficult to stay sane if you isolate yourself from others on
a research vessel. It can become very lonely and depressing. So, on such
days as these, take the time to get to know one another!

I am attaching a couple of photographs of penguins and a view of our bright
and sunny day!

Chow.

Cool iceberg

We have a pretty cool iceberg near our current station. Thought I would
share a couple of photos. The skies are pretty stormy looking, as you can
see but seas are calm enough. We are still heading south on 150W. We are
seeing more and more icebergs as we go. We will eventually get pretty
close to the ice shelf. An ice view always lifts everyone's spirits.
Also, where there is ice, there is a possibility of penguins! Everyone one
loves penguins!

Otherwise things are pretty uneventful here. We haven't seen much of clear
skies or the sun lately. But the weather has been decent so I can't
complain. There is definitely much more algae biomass in these parts,
which is good for me. But obviously, because of the clouds, I am not
getting much in MODIS-Aqua imagery except for some patches. However, the
images are good enough to give me an idea of what to expect,
chlorophyll-wise and, thus biomass-wise.

Chow for now.