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Antarctica!
Seascapes and Science on the Ice
Photographs
by Dr. Karen Haberman
September - October -
November - December - 2006
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So what makes for a great
learning experience?
In
the summer of 1991, I began my studies on the
most superb of all zooplankton, the Antarctic
krill (Euphausia superba). These shrimp-like crustaceans
are food for
the multitudes of birds, seals, and whales that
inhabit the icy Southern Ocean.
But what do the krill eat? That is the focus of
my research. You can find the science in the papers
I have written, but my actual experience of Antarctica
is best viewed in these photos. I took them during
the nearly thirty months I spent on the Antarctic
Peninsula,
both at Palmer Station and on a Norwegian Research
Vessel, the Polar Duke,
over the course of seven years.
Karen
Haberman, Ph.D. |
| Scenes of Antarctica
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Exhibit Pictures Copyrighted
by
Karen Haberman
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Reflections
of Antarctica
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Wonderful
sights of the great icebergs
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Kelp
gulls in tandem flight |
Iceburgs |
This
photo is my favorite. I love the way
the two birds are perfectly synchronized.
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Adelie
penguin with chicks
In
years when krill are abundant,
a mated pair of Adelie penguins
will often raise a pair of chicks.
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Giant
petrel chick (right)
The
giant petrel chicks protect themselves from predators
(such as this fur seal)
by puking up a very malodorous, sticky substance
called “gack”. If you are gacked,
you must burn your clothing and bear
the wrath of fellow station dwellers.
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Fur
Seal
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Weddell
Seals
Weddell seals are not common along
the Antarctic Peninsula. They are known for
their extraordinary diving ability.
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Antarctic
Krill
(Photographer
unknown for photo)
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The Antarctic krill, food for many species
of Antarctic predators, occur in
large swarms in the Southern Ocean.
The biomass of just this species is more
than that of all the humans on earth.
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Leopard
Seal
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Crabeater Seal
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Both
of these seal species have specially-adapted
teeth to strain krill from the water. However,
the leopard seal often eats higher on the food
chain,
and the crabeater seal could be his next meal. |
Dr. Ray Smith and his student
lower the Bio-Optical Monitoring System (BOPS)
off the stern of the Polar Duke. This system measures salinity,
temperature and chlorophyll fluorescence along a vertical
profile, and also collects water samples.
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Divers use aquarium nets
to scoop juvenile krill from beneath the ice.
The young krill feed on ice algae during the
austral winter and spring.
We also collected krill dragging a net behind
us in the trawl boat. |
Mt.
William
Mt.
William looms large near Palmer Station, Antarctica,
the National Science Foundation station where
I spent most of my time on the ice.
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Tim and Sharon on
Cormorant Island
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Karen Haberman on
the pack ice
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Tim
Newberger and Sharon Stammerjohn are two of
my closest friends from Antarctic days.
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And
yes, that’s me on the right, bundled
up in my float coat just in case the ice gives
way.
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I
enjoy being a girl!
Mark and Vance found these dresses in
a box at Palmer Station and had a bit of fun.
There are generally many more men than women on
station, although gender ratios at Palmer have
become steadily more equal over the years.
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Sights of the cold Continent
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Blue-eyed
shag on Cormorant Island
The blue-eyed shag is actually a type of cormorant,
seen here on one
of its breeding colonies.
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Humpback
Whale
Humpback
whales feed on,
you guessed it, krill!
Single,
black-and-white
penguin seeks mate.
Must
enjoy swimming in cold water.
Ability
to find krill schools a plus. |
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The
ice cave
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This
ice cave was accessible for only a couple of months
out of the year, and was a prime destination on
our precious (and few) days off from research.
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The
Peaceful Antarctic
Pack
ice at twilight
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Statues
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The sky on an austral spring day--a shifting palette
of sunset colors.
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In the Antarctic summer, the sun never fully
disappears. I took this photo early one December
morning as we trawled for krill.
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| Storm
light
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Storm
Petrel
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The
Polar Duke
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I was extremely fortunate to spend time at
sea on one of the finest ships ever to sail
the Antarctic—the Polar Duke and her
highly-skilled crew of Norwegians and Chileans.
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Adelaide Island Sunset
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This
is the farthest south I journeyed, just south
of the Antarctic Circle. |
This page was last modified
April 17, 2008
, A.E.
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