Ships Arriving...

For the last week or so there have been two ships arriving at McMurdo.  The first ship to come in was the "Ice Breaker".  The Ice Breaker comes in to clear a path through the ice, in order for the other ships to follow behind.  It moves super slow and basically just crawls up onto the sea ice and the weight of the ship smashes through the thick ice below, foot by foot.  So, after the ice breaker had cleared a path into the McMurdo ice pier, the second ship to follow behind it was the Nathaniel B Palmer.  The Palmer is actually much bigger and it is used for science expeditions all over the world, from Greenland to Antarctica, to South Africa and South America, etc.  I was able to take a tour of the ship and it was pretty cool to see.  The ship itself is huge, and pretty high-tech with all kinds of science equipment and different labratories on board etc. 

So for now, the ice breaker will continue to circle around the area and clear a path for any of the other ships scheduled to come in.  As soon as enough ice gets cleared out, I am hoping to see a whale or two in my last couple of weeks on the ice, but we'll just have to wait and see I guess.