Station 146 was notable for its fog That was enough to make it station of the day for 2/4/06. Yesterday was an excellent day. At the second station we saw a bunch of pilot whales. The winch driver called down to the lab to tell us that they were swimming off of the starboard side. Pretty much everyone in the lab ran outside to see them. They were probably within 300 meters of the Knorr. Mostly we saw lots of fins.
Here Scott, my watch deck leader, is starting to sample the rosette for oxygens. He goes first, because he is sampling a gas (dissolved oxygen). It's pretty cold on the hands. David, a Chilean, and I collect salts and nutrients after Scott. Salts and oxygens are used to validate the CTD data. The CTD doesn't give us nutrients. Parissa is the sample cops. She keeps track of the samples. She entertains herself and us by trying to guess the number of each oxygen flask and the draw temperature. Last night was beer night. Once a week everyone gets two beers. The night watch gets theirs the next day after lunch. We all enjoyed the Polar Imperials from Punta Arenas. Its the Chief Scientist's responsibility to get the beer before the cruise.
