| Today was an easy
day as far as sampling efforts are concerned. We sampled the waters located
along the transect of A. Water samples were collected for dissolved oxygen
analysis, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD),e-coli
determination, toxicity testing, inorganic nutrient analysis, major ion
analysis, chlorophyll a analysis, and plant pigment analysis. Water sampling
required between 3 and 4 liters of seawater at each of the three sampling
depths (top, middle and bottom)from every station. Some stations along the
transects were sampled from the large diameter Reed Drill holes (generally
the middle and deep stations) while the remaining stations were sampled
from the "Jiffy Drill" holes (10 inch in diameter). The "Jiffy Drill" stations
required two 2 liter Niskin bottle casts at each depth due to the smaller
diameter of these holes, otherwise a single 5 liter Niskin bottle cast at
each depth would provide sufficient water for our sampling needs. Once our 4 foot diameter ice holes are drilled, it is important to keep them cleared of any trash ice or debris that may cause them to freeze over once again. I spent 20 minuted clearing the hole so that Guy could winch down the hydrolab and Niskin sampling bottle. During my efforts of clearing the hole, I noticed what seemed to me to be reddish brown macroalgae. Instead of stopping to pick it up for examination, I continued my efforts to get the hole cleared for Guy and Steve. All of a sudden up popped, what seemed to me, a large bubble. After a prod or two I realized that a 2 foot diameter jellyfish was blocking my cleared hole. I soon realized the seemingly large macroalgae I had been pulling up were stinging tentacles! Knowing that I could not leave the jellyfish in the hole, I struggled for some minutes to get my dipnet around the largest portion of its form. It took some time for you see as soon as I began to pull it in it would just slide back out of the net. I did finally get it on land and called for Steve to come check it out. He ran out and was amazed at my catch, and then he ran back to the fishing hut for the digital camera. After a pose with my Scyphomedusa, Desmonema glaciale, a species that is found in Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula near the surface in continental shelf waters, I admired the reddish-pink color of its umbrellaesque shape. Not wanting to kill it, though in retrospect the minute it was pulled from the water it had probably died, I found a bucket and spent several more minutes to get its large bell and tentacles into a bucket. I then dumped into the fishing hut dive hole where we had completed the water sampling. As I made my way back to watch Guy and Steve sample and to help capture the water in the various sampling containers, I see Guy scramble away from the hole yelling, "Bubba!". You see, my pet Weddel seal had come for a visit. Now as an aside, whenever a dive hole is drilled a curious seal will pop its head out of the water. If its pleased with its location, then it will haul itself out of the water to bask in the eternal summer sun of Antarctica. That is why Guy almost teetered over the snow bank, to get out of Bubba's way. While I came closer to admire Bubba and take a few pictures of him, he caught several breaths, ducked under water, and returned for several more breaths. His nostrils flared open and shut horizontally like pinball machine flippers. This continued for some minutes until he disappeared permanently. After Bubba's departure, Steve went back to Fishing Hut number 9 to hang the Niskin on the rack. I heard Steve yell, "Bubba's here!". Of course I scurried like an excited child to grab one last sight of him. As Bubba dove again, the jellyfish seemed as if it had been munched on with little pieces of it missing. D. Gielstra |
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