The ship Laurence M. Gould arrived only recently with more scientists, supplies and food. Click on the image to see a short time-lapse on my Instagram page (@AntarcticResearchAdventures) to see how the ship "parks" on the pier! Fantastic!

The Gould departed today, on New Year's Eve to start the next long-term ecological research (LTER) cruise. Bon voyage and happy sciencing!

Last night there were two whales, a mother and calf most likely, who were feeding on krill near Palmer Station. Apparently, they were not the only ones eating! Flocks of gulls and even a dapper Skua were eating the leftovers.

All photos were taken right on shore. Incredible!! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Yesterday we had a White Elephant gift exchange. My "prize": three wonderfully etched petri dishes, made by Lance and Hannah. People here are so talented and creative. That includes the wooden chalice by Ian, art by Marissa, etched wine glasses made by Joe, and many more!

One first for me was having a stocking! This morning I opened up the wonderful little gifts inside, courtesy of several at Palmer Station. My husband Ken and I always traveled to family for the Holidays, so we never had our own stuffable stockings.

Yesterday we focused on Christmas, and today we celebrated Hanukkah, complete with latkes and dreidel - Latkes are so tasty!!!

Wishing you all a most wonderful Christmas / Holidays. Thank you Francis and Aleah for a veritable FEAST! You have put so much work into the culinary creations.

Meanwhile, outside, gentoo penguins are basking in the low light. They seem content too.

We found a good field site close to the glacier. We left heavily packed with equipment, warm and dry (Thanks Ian, for the photo!) and returned a bit bedraggled! There was a snow storm while we were out. Weather is so unpredictable! But we got one site selected - we will finish setup during the next good weather window.

See the blue-ish hue of the glacier compared to the snow at the bottom. The glacier has lost much of its height, exposing the much older and compressed ice (which is more blue). Not that long ago, our site was still buried underneath the glacier. So much glacial retreat in very little time - it scares me!

When we traveled through the Gerlache Strait, just before the Neumayer Channel, I remained awake from 22:00 onwards (we arrived at Palmer Station at 08:00). So glad I did - I would have missed a magnificent moonset!

The last few days, the weather has been less cooperative, refraining us from heading into the field. This gives me some time to sift through all the images. The Palmer Station area is great for explorations. After hiking up the Marr Ice Piedmont glacier and descending to the other side, we had some fun surprises: great views of the mountains, seals, and penguins. So lucky to be here!

The Antarctic Research and Supply Vessel (ARSV) the Laurence M. Gould returned back to Punta Arenas, Chile, on Sunday December 11. It's always such a sight to see the  carefully choreographed procedures for releasing the ship from the new pier. Much work was accomplished to get everything ready for the return trip. People on the ship are already missed by those remaining on Palmer Station.

One of the returning passengers included Frigate Lieutenant don Thomas Gutierrez - a naval observer from the Argentinean navy, a fellow passenger and friend.

Have a safe journey home!!

Plants, such as moss, are protected in Antarctica (among many things). Apparently, Skuas have an utter disregard for moss as they simply walk on them and even use moss plugs as material for their nests. Meanwhile, Sara and I avoid stepping on moss on Litchfield Island by carefully balancing on rock, while trying to avoid the lichen. Two skuas observed us from the same spot throughout our work at Litchfield (we are probably their entertainment!).