Scott Afar

The Pegasus fuel line is a fuel hose that runs from Scott Base over the Ross Ice Shelf to the Pegasus Airfield.  A system of piping and valves connects the fuel tanks at McMurdo Station to a pipeline that runs along the road about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) to Scott Base. At the transition from [...]

The USNS (United States Naval Ship) Paul Buck arrived at the ice pier in the late morning of Fri., Jan. 22, 2010. It was guided to the pier by the icebreaker Oden.

Oden clearing the way.

Oden backing out of the way.

USNS Paul Buck. (No smoking is good advice near a vessel [...]

Whales have started to appear in McMurdo Sound.

Here are some photos of a Minke whale in the waters just off Hut Point:

Minke Whale

I saw another whale off the Ob Hill Loop earlier in the morning, but it was evidently camera-shy.

A morale trip, or boondoggle, is a recreational trip away from McMurdo Station. They are offered to allow people to visit areas and see sights that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. (I suspect they are also offered to prevent people from launching morale trips of their own, only to end in disaster.)

On the evening [...]

Watching the penguins at Hut Point after work.

A few were hanging out on the ice and decided to head in for a swim.

"Last one in's a rotten skua egg!"

An oblivious seal made its regular appearance.

A skua also made an appearance. Fortunately, it dropped its cargo prior to its final approach. [...]

Perhaps a ship like the Oden was what Brody (Roy Scheider) had in mind when he uttered his famous line in Jaws: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

With a length of almost 354 feet (107.8 meters), a beam (width) of over 101 feet (31 meters) and a displacement of 13,000 tons, the Oden is a [...]