Monday, December 3rd
We spent several hours on the deck staring at various oceanic birds. The wind chills to the bone, while tears run freely on my cheeks, making hard at times to keep watching the same bird. I guess it's not going to be that much fun when we are going to start our study.
The suits that we are provided with are supposed to save our lives if the ship will sink - thick neoprene suits, of a pretty intense orange color that makes you cheerful. It is a sobering thought to consider being in the engulfing infinity of the ocean all in a little neoprene suit.

Tuesday, December 4th
Still training to correctly identify birds. It is more tempting to take in the surroundings than to watch one bird at the time. I saw the spouting of whales.
The ship is rocking a lot. I have to wedge a life vest under my mattress to keep me from rolling continuously left and right in the bed.

Wednesday, December 5th
Right about lunch time, I went back on the bridge and saw two orcas coming as close as 30 feet from the ship. Dr. Veit and Dr. Sundaram were on the bridge at the time, yet no one had a camera handy.
Late evening. Starting from the bottom to the top of the ship, I live at the bottom, Level -01, with no windows. Sleeping here is disorientating because you never know if it's light outside or not. The general opinion is that there is less rocking in the ship's belly, but you get pretty much the same. To top it all off you can hear this loud noise when the wave breaks against the hull. This is the same level as storage and the engine room. Level 00 has the computer room, the laboratories assigned for study, the back deck, the laundry room and the mess hall. The chief cook is a Philippine, Rudy and his right hand is Mark. Level 01 has some of the sleeping cabins, the work-out room, the chief scientist's quarters, and the lounge that has the most comfortable sofas and a considerable collection of DVDs and VHS tapes with movies. Level 02 has the sleeping cabins of the captain and mates, as well as some of our team. Level 03 is the bridge.

Thursday, December 6, 2001
Tomorrow we will reach Antarctica, or better said Palmer Station.

Friday, December 7, 2001
Everything around us is a tremendous white sheet of ice. It seems the winds changed before us reaching Palmer, and all the water is covered with ice pancakes. Once anchored. Bob, the manager from Palmer station came aboard to brief us on safety issues while getting off and on the ship, to invite us to a pizza lunch, and talk about the shop's hours.
We went to Bonaparte Point, a piece of land separated by water from Palmer station, and where we were able to get to via a rusty trolley. Quite a workout to get 8 people across. But worth it!… we saw seals from afar, giant petrels in their nest and we also saw a young elephant seal. We returned from Bonaparte point, and after grabbing a slice of pizza went to the shop. Bob came on the speakerphone advising that all LMG crew should return to the ship immediately. Once everybody assembled, we found out that Rudy, the cook, was sick with chicken pox. Rudy is quarantined on Palmer station.

Saturday, December 8th
We leave Palmer station. Early in the morning, Randy who is a former EMT and the Raytheon liaison got seriously sick, with an asthmatic type of a cold. The ship had to turn around and drop him off at Palmer.
Going through the Bismarck and Gerlache Straights, I saw plenty of icebergs. One particular little piece of ice I saw from the mess hall was a temporary harbor for an Adelie penguin. Spectacular sights in general.

Sunday, December 9th
Our work started. We have long 12 hour shifts, even though we break for breakfast and lunch. 3 AM to 3 PM is a little hard, but it should last only 10 days.
The rocking of the ship got worse. My new bed has a harder mattress which is more conductive to roll left and right on. Jay, the chief mate and quite a character, dropped by to fix my mattress.

Monday, December 10th - Thursday, December 14th
Routine - waking up at 2 AM working 3 to 3. The birds are majestic, the work is interesting, even though at time it's strenuous as the ship keeps on rocking and rolling, making it harder to keep the binoculars fixed on our little subjects.
Too tired to write. However, in the bed fixed by Jay, I sleep like a baby.

Friday, December 15th
The rocking continues. Fog so heavy that we can hardly see 50 feet from the ship. After several hours on the bridge, we went on stand-by waiting for better weather.
Inside, I am having a world of fun with my friend Luciano. We like the same kind of movies and make it a point to get together between work schedule to sit together watching movies and discussing it afterwards.
After Rudy (the cook) got sick, Luciano got a job in the kitchen. It is nice to wake up in the morning and find Luciano in the kitchen listening to salsa music and dancing while he gets things ready.

Saturday, December 16th
Another foggy day. Spent it indoors watching more movies.

Sunday, December 17th
The fog lifted up only to be replaced by strong winds that send the ship running to hide behind Elephant Island to find shelter. Before I started writing this note, I looked at the command panel on the bridge, and the wind was blowing with about 55 knots/hour. The waves breaking against the ship keep forming nice little rainbows, hinting to a note of happiness in spite of the loud threatening hum of the wind causing tremors in the body of the ship.
The sky is purple-gray in one side, and sparkling blue on the other. Talk about extremes!

Monday, December 18th
I woke up early. Still behind Elephant Island. The ocean looks pitch black, we will not work until we return to our transect.
Tuesday, December 19th- Wednesday, December 20st
Almost to the last transects. The ship's rocking has became a mundane thing, even sometimes makes for funny mishaps…I was sitting down on the linoleum floor entering data while Jennie was observing. All of the sudden the ship took a deep roll and sent me forcefully sliding from the middle of the bridge onto the "welcoming" side wall which had the kindness to stop me.

Thursday, December 21st
The last transect. We are heading out now towards Deception Island-a reward for our work. It seems that there is no way in, which actually is the origin of the name Deception Island. At first sight it looks like a circle of mountains with no access whatsoever, but as you get closer you can see a narrow passage into the heart of the island.
Once inside, you are surrounded by the mountains… we anchored almost in the middle, and used our the little boats to go ashore, where we saw plenty of penguins, in the first unfenced contact with these wonderful birds. There were Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins, quite inquisitive! The island was used in the last century for whaling, and there were still ruins of whaling boats on the sand. Large whale vertebras were here and there, as well as ribs, all bleached by the long time exposed to air, rain/snow and sun.

Friday, December 22nd
I did mostly nothing the whole day, except take pictures, watch movies and relax. We should be at Palmer Station tomorrow morning.

Saturday, December 23rd
After reaching Palmer station, Randy (who recovered from his horrible cold) took us to the other side of Bonaparte Point to visit penguin colonies. There were so many penguins all around us that it didn't seem real. Their happy chatter was noisy yet pleasant. An elephant seal was basking in the sun, and to think some of those penguins might be the seal's next meal.
That night at Palmer station, we got a chance to do some socializing. Of course after a couple of drinks, everybody warmed up and started talking. A friendly game of pool started. At some point the two marine technicians of the ship, Josh and Pete wanted to play, so I teamed up with Frank against them. It was a great feeling to win three games in a row, before returning to the ship.

Sunday, December 24th
In the morning I got greeted by Josh as "Good-morning, shark!", which definitely started my day on the right foot. We will keep working for the next 4 days, this time for only 6-hour shifts a day, with the exception of one day when each of us will have to work a double.

Monday, December 25th
Christmas day! Today after work Frank and I were challenged by Josh and Pete to a game of foosball in the belly of the ship. I guess Josh and Pete won back their with their foosball victory.

Tuesday, December 26th-Wednesday, December 27
I am so ready to go home.

Thursday December 28th
The ship did better time than expected--the custom officers came on board the ship and confirmed our plane tickets. I am going home