Angling for Science

About two weeks ago I received a phone call about one hour before I needed to be at work.  I picked it up and it was my boss.  “Hey Chris, you’re not coming into work today.  You’re going fishing.”  Well that’s normal, I thought.

Driving on the Ross Ice Shelf

Mount Erebus

A couple of hours later I met up with a grantee, Dan, and we loaded up the piston bully with a few supplies and hit the ice.  We left “town” and headed onto the Ross Ice Shelf.  The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in the world and floats on top of the Ross Sea.  Driving on top of the frozen sea we headed north, roughly following the coast.  For about one and a half hours we made our way across the ice, all the while getting an ever improving view of Mount Erebus.  We drove past the Erebus Glacier Tongue, a glacier that extends into and sits on top of the sea.  Since the sea is currently frozen it sits on top of ice.  

  

Erebus Glacier Tongue with a Weddel Seal in front

Piston Bully with Mt Erebus

We reached our destination, a point on the sea in between the coast and a small island named Inaccessible Island (which is very easily accessible due to the sea being frozen).  I hopped out of our vehicle, helped unload some of the equipment then we began to dig our fishing holes.  The ice was about 12 feet thick and quite hard.  Using a gas powered drill we spent the better part of an hour drilling three holes.  I was so glad to be wearing my bunny boots and wind pants since both are water proof.  As you break through the bottom of the ice, sea water comes rushing up the hole, you then take the drill and lift and lower it in succession about 3 times to make sure the hole is clear.  The whole time sea water is flooding up all over the place.  Within a minute the water all over my boots and pants had frozen solid.  After the third hole was drilled we raced to pull the drill out of the hole, drop it on the ground and disassemble it before it froze together.  It can’t fit in the piston bully when it is assembled.

My rod of choice for an epic afternoon of fishing in the harshest continent on the planet?  A plastic Walmart brand Star Wars themed fishing rod, of course!  It even lit up once in a while!  The grantee was using the same model rod only his was Barbie themed.  Consummate professionals. 

Our haul

We dropped our line down the holes, and began to catch fish immediately.  It was about 100 feet down to the sea floor, and that is where the fish resided that we wanted.  The fish were so eager for food that it took me longer to drop the line down 100 feet than it did to hook a fish once the line was down.  We fished for one hour and caught 31 fish!  More fish than I’ve ever caught in my entire life.  We were catching the fish for study so as we caught them we had to unhook them and place them into a large bucket filled with sea water.  My hands were so cold and in a lot of pain by the end. 

It was an incredible experience.  After catching a few fish I paused and thought to myself “I’m standing in minus 30 degree temps, on top of a frozen ocean at the bottom of the world next to a smoking active volcano, catching fish with a plastic fishing rod……”  All I could do was laugh.

A partially dug fishing hole

After one hour of fishing we packed up the equipment and headed back toward McMurdo.  As we drove along the Ross Ice Shelf we saw something moving just ahead.  What in the world would be out here in the middle of Antarctica where the temperatures and winds are the harshest in the world……….PENGUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!