Mikkelsen Harbor (Trinity Island)

 Yesterday we had a talk by a scientist who spent 12 winters at the south pole. This is what we learned. They were allowed one two minute shower per week he did point out that you didn’t sweat very much. The temperature during the winter was 40° below 0  Fahrenheit. However, it was very dry and in fact, the south pole only gets one and a half inches of snow per year. The dorm sleeping space was so small that it would’ve been illegal for prisoners in the penal system. When he first went down to the south pole the bathrooms weren’t in the building with the dorm. There was a conundrum in that it was so dry on the south pole one had to drink quite a lot on the other hand, If you drink a great deal, you’d have to go out in 40° F below weather to pee in the other building. What did they drink? They drill down 600 feet. Pump down 1 gallon of  hot water and brought up 2 gallons of fresh water: and then drink water that was thousands of years old. The scientist who spoke was an engineer who designed and built some of the structures that have been replacing those from 30-40 years ago  

Today we were in Mikkelson Harbor.  We had an incredible hike and saw 2 gentoo penguin rookeries. This is summer at Antarctica and most penguins breed in the summer. They wait for the snow to melt and then make their nests which are made out of pebbles. The only type of penguin that lays eggs in the winter are the Emperor penguins. They hold the eggs on their feet during the bitter cold. 

We also heard 2 icebergs calving. David saw the second one as it calved.  The sound is impressive! 

An awkward moment happened today. David and I were hiking and   David decided to walk up another trail while I stayed and watched the penguins. He came back and tapped me on the shoulder and asked if “ I was ready to go home”. Unfortunately the woman he tapped wasn’t me. Both her husband and the woman were not happy with David. (Actually they were both laughing).  To be fair, we’re all wearing the same red jackets.

Big news was that David did get to go down 300 meters (~200 feet) in the Submarine. 

Another surreal experience. So much of this trip cannot be captured by photos. But we hope these attempts are interesting

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We did have snow today. The air is so dry the flakes were large and perfectly formed.