Week 4 at the Pole

icebreaker1
Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF

IceCube winterover Raffaela got to see some amazing wildlife on her break, but check out what Johannes spotted on his R&R trip to McMurdo. That’s an icebreaker, and the photo below with people in it gives a better sense of its size—it’s quite large. Icebreakers are needed to cut channels through the thick sea ice to allow fuel and cargo vessels to reach McMurdo Station, the US Antarctic Program’s largest research station and the portal through which everything coming or going the Pole must travel. Well, Johannes got to observe some skuas and seals, too. And back at the Pole, after some recent unsuccessful attempts, they finally completed a Swedish Camera run, an image from which is at bottom.

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Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF
skua_takeoff
Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF
seal_swimming
Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF
swedencam
Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF