Last time on the glacier we had to dig a 2 by 3m hole about 4m deep in order to retrieve a plastic container and a steel structure.
Three weeks are gone, the weather is changing very often and the good periods become rare. Good that we took every chance to go out with the zodiacs, sampled water and stayed up several nights to process the material.
Me encuentro en la base Jubany desde Diciembre 2011 y en el mes de Enero comienzan a llegar a esta, los primeros científicos extranjeros como nacionales y mi actividad comienza a aumentar y compartir con ellos los trabajos en el agua, yo como operador de bote y técnico en el apoyo de sus proyectos, salíamos al agua a realizar filmaciones subacuas, extracción de sedimentos, limos, redes, CTD, Ictiologia, Oceanografia, etc con proyectos Alemanes a través del convenia Argentina-Alemania (AWI) científicos como Anne Wölfl, Susann Henkel, Michael Staubwasser, Jan Hartmann, (con sus idioma alemán, e ingles y algo de castellano), y mi idioma entrerriano...sacábamos algo…jajajaja
We left from Buenos Aires the 2nd of January 2013 and the same day late at night we arrived at Carlini Station! Since we arrived we have been very busy organizing all the samplings and activities in the labs. Our research is dependent on boats and diving support so weather conditions are extremely important for us. January was a cloudy and cold month but in general in was not too windy allowing us to work a lot with the zodiacs.
In the first days here at Carlini station, the weather did not permit us to go out with the zodiacs - the wind was just too strong. But as soon as th the sun came out, I went for a walk around the station and was amazed, how green the island gets in the summer, when the snow had melted away.
Our trip to Carlini took quite some time. From Buenos Aires via Santiago de Chile and Punta Arenas finally with “Antarctic Airways” to the Chilean station Frei.
After roundabout ten hours of travelling from Buenos Aires, we arrived at King George Island in the evening of January 2nd. From Frei/Bellingshausen (the Chilean and Russian stations) we were brought to Carlini station by the Argentinian ship Castillo.
There are a lot of unwritten laws in nature and in experimental science. After the one that sais 'what can go wrong, will go wrong' there is the one that sais 'and the probabability that it will happen always is higher towards the end'.
Working in such a fascinating environment is a pleasure despite the harsh conditions, like the cold and the strong winds that can blow you off your feet, but also the isolation of the place and the contraints of moving space.
In early October, the divers and the overwintering scientist Damián at the Carlini base made an excursion onto the sea ice near the glacier calving front of the Fourcade glacier.