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Journals 2008/2009

Megan O'Neill
Fairhope High School, Fairhope, Alabama

"Thermal Tolerance of Antarctic Fishes"
R/V Laurence M. Gould
April 21 - June 11, 2009
Journal Index:
April 17/18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25
        26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30
May 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11
       12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20
       21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29
       30 - 31
June 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11

June 1, 2009
Fish Prints

My tasks today were to complete the organization of the tissue sample log sheets, enter them into the computer and to gather the materials for the night activity - fish prints! After I finished entering the log sheets, I was able to catch up with Raydene for a few minutes to interview her about her interesting story of how she got to Palmer Station as the Administrative Coordinator. It seems like so many of the station staffers have some interesting background and how they became interested in working here. Raydene's is particularly interesting because she was in India traveling around and met a couple that had just finished working in Antarctica. As soon as she found out that working in Antarctica was a possibility, she raced to an Internet café and sent in her resume! She has been here for two seasons and is going to work at McMurdo next year as the Retail Shop coordinator. That is another common thread among the staffers - they return year after year. This is definitely a sign of positive experiences!

In the afternoon, I went up to Skua and started going through the arts and crafts materials to find the fabric paints and brushes. Making fish prints entails using a Styrofoam mold in which fish (dead) are placed and then painting them with fabric paint. Next you place a t-shirt or piece of paper on top of them and press the paint onto the t-shirt. It is sort of like crayon rubbing, which transfers the features of the surface. Using the unique icefish to do this resulted in some beautiful transfers. Harry and Kris played some more live music for us, which was a treat while we worked in the Carp Shop (carpenter shop). Everyone really got into the art project and had a good time choosing which colors to coordinate for their shirts. Another fun filled evening at Palmer Station!

Jeff, Irina & Kristin taking a break from science to do fish prints

Harry paints some eclectic colors on the icefish.