Antarctica? Seriously?

It has been overcast, snowy, and the wind has been blowing a sustained 50-60 knots going on six days now. Everybody is a little crazed from it, and coupled with being end of season tired, people are stepping lightly around each other here. In spite of the weather, there are definitely a lot of changes happening around Palmer Station. For the last couple of months, all we've seen is the occasional leopard seal hauled out on an ice floe, and a couple of resident sheathbill scavengers that hang around station, but lately there has been a lot more wildlife around as the days get longer. Lots more giant petrels , kelp gulls (I think I got my id right), cormorants , and various other seals. I'm really hoping the penguins come back before we leave. We get Adelie, Chinstrap, and Gentoo penguins here. It definitely feels like spring is around the corner, even with the terrible weather we've been having lately. I guess I shouldn't be complaining about the weather, it is Anta...

Earlier in the season, the Detrich science group had a photographer/videographer, Frank Hegyi, documenting their work here. The videos are up on YouTube now, and I thought I'd share the link to them with you. They have an overview of the trip down, including the detour to Ushuaia Argentina for a medical emergency that I alluded to in an earlier post. Now that the story is out in public, you can see for yourself what happened. In addition, it shows a lot of the station, the area around the station, and the science that the Detrich group is doing in Antarctica. I think you will recognize a lot of the people in the videos from some of my previous posts. Thanks to Frank Hegyi and Bill Detrich for sharing these videos, and I hope you enjoy them... Palmer Station videos