20 December, 2000

Greetings,

The Gould arrived this morning and I will be making my way back to Punta Arenas. I will miss all of the people I have met here at Palmer Station. Some that traveled with me on the Gould. I meet one of the people on the ship and he said, "Hey, aren't you that teacher guy". That's me. Many of the people on board the Gould when I arrived on Palmer Station are no longer on the Gould. It's a great opportunity to meet new people.

Today we took our package out to station E and B and did deep casts. At station E it was one hundred meters and at station B thirty-five meters. While we were casting we saw three whales. They were far away but by the size of their tails we thought they were humpbacks. We got back to station around lunchtime. I packed my bags and then worked on sunphotometer data and a protocol worksheet for Kirk and Sarah. I also trained them in the use of the device.

At around 9:30 pm we celebrated the solstice. To celebrate this event we jumped in the water. There were about fifteen of us that made the plunge. That is like a record number of jumpers. My mother sent me e-mail just this morning to say "Don't you do that again". It's hard for me not to. The water is so cold and the hot tub so warm. It just seems like it would finish off my stay here at Palmer. Sorry mom, but it felt great. The water actually felt colder.

There was also an unscheduled science lecture tonight. The scientist that came in on the Gould spoke. I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

C-Ya,

-- Bill

Another picture of the penguin known as Blonde.

Another shot of Blonde.

A late night sunset. Taken around midnight.

Where is Bill in this picture? Sorry mom.