Life on the Research Icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer

By Peter Sheehan and Linda Welzenbach

The Nathaniel B Palmer is, without a doubt, one of most amazing places I can say I call home.  It is taking us places that even those of us who are “Old Antarctic Explorers” have never seen.  The Palmer can manage Southern Ocean tempests (see blog…), dodges amazing icebergs, glides through sea ice, and is now charting new waters in front of Thwaites glacier. 

The Nathaniel B. Palmer at the face of the Thwaites Glacier Ice Shelf. The ship’s close distance to the ice allows detailed mapping of the front and multibeam bathymetry. The angle of the echo sounder beam extends beneath the ice edge to see the seafloor a few meters under the shelf. I will talk about Thwaites Glacier itself in the next blog.

Twenty six people from more than 7 nations and scientific disciplines (from marine mammal biology, physical oceanography, glaciology to geology) are focused on Thwaites Glacier. Yet regardless of our collective focus, each of us experiences life on board in different ways. 

With nearly a month on board, we have all settled into some measure of routine, most of which (and most everyone will agree) revolves around chow-time and the shiftwork that defines our science activities. Beyond that there is always something new to discover and yet may remind us of what it was like at the beginning, trying to find our way (and our sea legs) around the Research Vessel/Ice Breaker (RV/IB) Nathaniel B. Palmer…

The following account was written at the beginning of the cruise, with the hope there would be time to talk a little bit about life on the RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer.  The early Hugin testing, the very rough seas  and complex start to our cruise shifted that focus.  As we are currently at Thwaites, but experiencing yet another tempest (blizzard conditions- sustained 35-40 knot winds gusting to 50) we thought this would be a good opportunity to provide a look at what living on board a research vessel is like.

In the Beginning…. By Peter Sheehan

So this is a big boat. Spread over six occupied decks, and with a vast underbelly of engine rooms and storage hangars built into the hull, the Palmer measures almost 100 m (300 ft) from one end to the other and has room enough for some 50 people. But what has surprised me most, even though, unusually, this cruise carries almost a full complement of scientists and crew, is how roomy things feel. Writing this blog in one of the many labs and work rooms that comprise the main deck, I have only one other person for company. People bustle up and down in the corridor – someone just waltzed past but by no means are we all sat on top of one another like inhabitants of a human beehive.

The E-lab is the nerve center and office space for all the science teams. Everyone in the E-lab looking excitedly at the Hugin AUV (see blog…) high resolution side-looking sonar of the seafloor surface in front of the Thwaites ice shelf.

I have been aboard the Nathaniel B Palmer, the ice-breaking research ship operated by the United States Antarctic Program, for almost two days now, yet there is scarcely a foray out of my cabin that does not involve a protracted mix-up over decks, corridors – or even which end of the ship is which. I just went for a coffee and ended up in a laundry room. To exacerbate my problems getting around, all of the corridors have the same green doors and the same green laminate flooring. It is this disorientating similarity that makes a laundry room look a lot like a mess hall – dining room, to you and me – to the unsuspecting junior scientist.

THOR coring PI Becky Totten Minzoni consults the map of the 01 deck to locate the room she and Linda will share.

The other thing that’s spiced up my first couple of days on the Palmer is the fact that everything has a silly name on a ship. The mess hall I’ve mentioned; the kitchen is actually the galley; bathrooms are called heads – go figure; and even words as ostensibly straightforward as front and back are, in fact, fore and aft respectively. The crew drop bandy (British to English translation is “ship speak”) these terms about with a breezy confidence, but to the uninitiated they add considerably to the brain fog – so don’t even think about asking for directions. I am assured that I shall know the Palmer like the back of my hand within another couple of days, but I am not convinced that people appreciate how heroically series I am when I say I have no sense of direction.

The mess hall is located near the bow the ship. Its outer walls are right next to the ice breaking going on, making conversations difficult to hear at times.

The silver diner-like atmosphere is quite comfortable, with each table providing at least 20 different sauces, condiments and spices to accommodate most palates.

One of the highlights of the Palmer is the fantastic array of baked goods, from handmade dinner rolls to a cinnamon “King cake” to start off the Mardi Gras season.

The room that I was most excited to find on my misadventures was the sauna. My friends are always delighted when I talk about going on a science “cruise” given that there is not a piña colada in sight – and, granted, this is a far cry from hopping about Greek Islands with David Hasselhoff or the last surviving Bee Gee. But we have had two weeks in one of the coldest parts of the world: and although I’m still waiting for a swimming pool and a suite of sun loungers I defy you to tell me that a sauna is anything other than a game changer.- P.S.

The sauna serves a dual purpose. While arguably a place to unwind from long days of the hard work that comes with maximizing the science, it also provides warmth to cold crew and scientists coming back from icy excursions or science-based deck work that can’t be accomplished in the labs.

News is posted on “The white boards”. Each day will list scheduled science activities, but may include training, lectures and even social activities.

The Palmer’s gym

The aft cargo hold not only holds two sets of propeller blades, but also a strapped down Ping-Pong table, a good way to manage stress through friendly competition and physical activity. Peter and Chef Julian battle it out during the Transit Tournament.

The heart of science on the Palmer is located on the main deck, which hosts 3 dry laboratories.  Two are computational  (the primary one is called the E-lab) and one is for processing THOR Cores.  There is one laboratory dedicated for biology and chemistry activities and includes a walk-in refrigerator that holds all THOR’s core archives and samples.  

Scientists on NBP1902 spend most of their time in the E-lab.  The E-lab is the nerve center, meeting room, seafloor mapping, Hugin mission control, CTD data monitoring and workstations for all the participants. The E-lab is our office on the sea.  When not working, most of us can be found on the bridge, perched some 60 feet above the water line offering a 360 degree view of the world around the ship.  The bridge holds a certain serenity, even during the worst of conditions, where one feels at once safe yet in touch with the wildest world outside.

Sunset on the bridge

Science is conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Everyone works 12 (and more) hours per shift to accomplish as much science as possible in the short window of a cruise. Weather delays, equipment adjustments and fixes, environmental constraints (mostly weather related, but they can include ice issues) can create “hurry up and wait” situations. While we are always prepared to act on a moment’s notice, the in-between times may be filled with literature reading, data processing or ‘easy to pick up and put down’ creative activities.  The E-lab has a stash of guitars within easy access, and there is no lack of musician scientists who make use of them.

Guitar scientists! THOR scientist Ali Graham, NBP electronics technician Barry Bjork, TARSAN scientists Bastien Queste and Guilherme Bortolotto.

At the end of the day, it is the 20 ship’s hands- captain and mates, engineers, seaman, oilers, cooks and 10 science support team members, keep us safe, well fed and ensure the success our science activities.  It is an understatement to say that we all appreciate the hard work they do on our behalf. Life on board ship is not just about the Nathanial B. Palmer, it’s about the people who make it the most amazing and one-of-a-kind experience of a lifetime.

Peter is a postdoctoral researcher with TARSAN hailing from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. Usually his field research takes place in the distant and warm Indian Ocean making observations of ocean currents and the fresh water that exchanges from the ocean into the air during the seasonal monsoons. Peter finds himself out of his element, you might say, in the icy reaches of Antarctica, but has taken to it well, helping to deploy the various TARSAN ocean instruments (including the CTD), creating visualizations of the ocean data as it arrives from the instruments, and providing hilarity through unending witty sarcasm to lighten the most mundane of activities.

Time lapse videos touring the ship

Sea Ice on the transit to Rothera station (by Peter Sheehan)

THWAITEing…at Rothera station

On the 15th of February, the Palmer had to make an emergency transit to the closest base for a medical evacuation.  Although EMT trained ASC staff can work remotely with doctors to solve many issues, some ailments require higher order facilities and care.  So off to the British Antarctic Surveys’ (BAS) Rothera Station we go, located some 1000 nautical miles north on the Antarctic peninsula.  

“Grease” ice forming on the sea surface. This type of ice forms by direct freezing of seawater and is one of the first stages for formation of drift ice.

Rothera station is four day journey at 13 knots (the fastest the Palmer is rated(?) to go), back through sea ice festooned with seals, penguins, and breaching whales who taunted the photographers with their brief and distant appearances, and more icebergs whose myriad shapes and sizes continue to fascinate.  But it is essentially an end to Thwaites glacier science for about 8 days if all goes as planned.  During these days, the scientists slowly wind down from the intense energy associated with round the clock science, as if they are going into hibernation until we can return. 

An iceberg peaked by a precariously perched pinnacle.

Adelie penguins

Emperor penguin

Weddell seals

Humpback whales

Peter I Island, an uninhabited Norwegian dependency.

The morning of our arrival (the 19th), my room mate and THOR team lead scientist/coring expert Dr. Becky Minzoni, bursts in exclaiming that she would never forgive herself if she didn’t wake me (I am on the noon-midnight shift, so tend to go to bed late and not wake until mid-morning).   Anticipating that what I might see is best viewed outside, I throw on everything I can think of, grab my 10 pound bag of camera gear and run up the 60 stair steps to the bridge.  Out of breath already, the view literally finishes off what little is left.  No matter, the view keeps me standing.  

Mountains rising straight out of the water of Marguerite Bay, snow like smoke whispering away from the highest peaks and edges.  Streams of ice, sinuous with hints of blue bending through the valleys between, the terminating glaciers cracked and crevassed where they make their way over the final bedrock hurdle into the sea. 

Everyone is on the bridge. 

The morning sun, low on the horizon and directly ahead, creates intense shadows on the mountains which fill the port side view as we round the eastern side of Adelaide Island. They seem close enough to touch.  

It takes about 2 hours to go from Marguerite Bay to the small cove called Ryder Bay where Rothera station sits, nestled on the point of a low exposure of glacially carved volcanic rock in the shadow of Sheldon glacier. Within what seems like minutes of our arrival, a small craft departs the wharf (which is under construction, preventing the Palmer’s berth, and why there is a ferry rescue operation).

By mid-morning the mood becomes restless with the need to get back to Thwaites. Since there is the better part of two days before the arrival of our new marine technician, a practice collection of a multi-core (known as a MEGACORE) as well as a possible Hugin deployment is suggested. The Hugin is not ready, so the MEGACORE activities proceed. Opportunities to refine and practice a complicated technique, time permitting, can only increase the probability of success later on.  It also allows us to anticipate and plan contingencies when things don’t work out exactly how they are planned.

1- THOR team works with marine technicians to assemble the MEGACORE and to practice extracting the tubes.

NBP1902 Chief Scientist and THOR PI Rob Larter caps off the archive sediment core extracted from a MEGACORE tube.

The next morning brings two pieces of news. The first, and most important, is that the mission succeeded; the patient has safely arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, and will even be able to make it back to their home town for treatment.   The second is that we are stuck for another day.  The weather in Punta Arenas prevented the return flight until tomorrow (the 21st).   A possible visit to the station is also negated by 30+ knot winds, which frustratingly die down just after mid-morning. By this time the Hugin is ready for a test.  The sea is amazingly flat and the air a balmy 2-3 degrees above freezing.  Serendipity.

Image courtesy of Aleksandra Mazur and the TARSEN Hugin Team.

Unplanned events, planned contingencies and serendipity are expected when conducting Antarctic science. The next serendipity comes as a follow-up invitation from Rothera. We would be able to walk on land, tour the facility and send mail to our loved ones, but more importantly, our media experts will provide outreach for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) by interviewing and reporting the work of other International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration scientists who just happen to be on station.  

Halley research station will be closing as a result of the breakup of the Brunt Ice Shelf.

A note left in a cairn in 1957 by J. M. Rothera, namesake of Rothera Station.

Twin Otter inbound! These rugged aircraft are mainstays of Antarctic research.

Rothera Point has been home to the BAS research station since 1975 and is the largest British research facility in Antarctica.  It houses approximately 140 people, from staff scientists to the construction workers that are currently expanding the wharf.  They maintain four Twin Otter research science planes and one Dash 7, the latter of which is solely for transport of people and supplies from Antarctica.  The Dash flies to and from the station to South America and the Balkans 1-2 times per week.  Rothera Station is one of seven bases the BAS maintains in Antarctica, plus smaller field stations used to depot fuel and supplies for field activities around the continent.  

Nansen sleds stacked for storage. These sleds are another mainstay of the Antarctic, used from the earliest days of Antarctic exploration.

Sheldon Glacier sliding down into Ryder Bay, carrying ice from inland into the sea.

Onshore, we are met by BAS’ Mairi Simms, Rothera Physical Sciences Co-Ordinator and meteorologist who will guide us through two laboratories; the Bonner laboratory from which all the Antarctic marine research is performed, and the Bransfield House where much of the glaciologic and geologic research is conducted.  

The Bonner laboratory is one story, and like most of the buildings of the station is metal skinned and painted green. It is located close to the bay where samples collected by the science divers are easily transferred to special aquariums.  We are met by Ali Massey, who is the lab manager. She shows us the pressure chamber used to decompress divers (when needed) and then leads us on to the experimental aquarium laboratory to talk to Dr. Melody Clark, who studies marine animals’ genetic evolution in response to climate change. 

The Bonner Laboratory

Decompression chamber used to treat divers if needed.

The interior of the decompression chamber.

 The lab is smaller than one might expect, but has not only her research charges (clams, snails and brachiopods), but a number of other Antarctic residents, from the many legged starfish of the genus Labidiaster, or the Antarctic sun star (and yes I thought it was an octopus too!), to the Sea Lemon (snail with a very interesting protective layer that looks like a lemon) sharing space with a sea spider and seaweeds (all of which are red!

We go on to talk to Dr. Amber Annett, a visiting biogeochemist, and Sam Coffin, marine physiologist, who study the chemistry and sedimentary materials within glacial melt water that is coming from the Sheldon glacier, and how it impacts the ecosystems of Ryder bay.   

Back outside, we have to walk along the airplane runway (because of the construction) to cross into the heart of the station and over to Bransfield House, where we will meet up with Dr. Andy Smith, glaciologist who is recently arrived from the field, to talk about preparations for next seasons Thwaites Glacier GHOST project. We would also chat with Carl Robinson, head of BAS Airborne Sensor Technology, who is just back from flying a month of geophysical surveys along Thwaites Glacier.

Check for passing aircraft before proceeding. Propellers are not your friend.

Heading up the hill from the airstrip, we face an unlikely sight- a sleeping Elephant seal parked in the middle of a bridge.  We are told that they adopted this spot many years ago, and Antarctic treaty regulations prevent interfering with the natives, so they get to stay, the BAS get to use a second bridge built a bit further away from the coast for thru traffic.

A sign for the Rothera Station, with one Linda Welzenbach for scale.

At Bransfield House, a large weathered wooden door with a metal bar as the latch looks out of place in the modern green metal skin. Also out of place on the new metal is mounted a wooden sign with pealing read paint and carved letters of the station name. We enter into a vestibule common to all Antarctic buildings, meant to buffer the cold. Through two more doors, we meet Dr. Andy Smith, his own measure of weathering apparent being fresh out the field.  In an upstairs conference room we settle down to talk about Thwaites Glacier science.  

Dr. Andy Smith, one of the PI’s for International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) GHOST project is just back from the 2018-19 BEAMISH field site where they conducted seismic profiling and hot-water ice drilling of the Rutford Ice Stream to characterize the bed below. The Rutford effort, like ITGC’s GHOST project, is part of a broader effort seeking to illuminate the past behavior of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) system. 

His wiry frame is a testament to the 20+ years he’s been working in Antarctica. “Drilling is grueling work.  You have to assemble and operate large heavy equipment for 24 hours over many days.  Once we start, we have to keep going regardless of the weather,” Smith says of the field work they just completed.  The ice cores show the structure of the ice to help identify the processes operating from the base to the surface, but also captures the rock at the bottom, the type of which has been a mystery.  They set explosive charges that create localized shock- waves (like mini-ice quakes) that penetrate the rock below.  When asked if these explosions might destabilize the ice, the response is that the charge is part of a well-tested technique that only produces a “small kick” to the ice. Seismic instruments measure the waves that bounce off the rock layers below, showing both the structure and makeup of the rock.  Rutford is smaller than Thwaites, but is similar in thickness at 2km. Information from Rutford will provide similar information to what they expect to extract from Thwaites in during the 2020 field season, using the same techniques. 

Dr. Andy Smith, Principal Investigator (PI) for the ITGC GHOST project.

The GHOST project will focus on the physics of how ice works- how it flows, what allows it to speed up, what holds it back. “THOR is looking at ice behavior in the past, we on the GHOST project are looking at how the ice works presently, particularly at the bed; what happens at the bed is a big factor of control over how it flows. We want to know the detailed bed topography, the places where its rough or smooth.” Prior work at Pine Island Glacier (PIG) which has been a main focus of the BAS, suggests that PIG and Thwaites (and their proximal boundaries) work together. As one changes, it will affect the other.  They will also look for evidence that can be used to model future glacier behavior.  For example, in a situation where the material below the ice sheet is soft and smooth, and wet and deformable, the glacier could move easily and speed up. Conversely if the topography is rugged, models may say that the glacier is better grounded.

“A rise in the topography under the glaciers is a good thing because they tend to stick there.  But the bad side is that once they retreat from those points they tend to retreat quite quickly.” So they want to try and understand at what stage the glacier might remain pinned there and then quantify the time scales for how long it will stay there.  “At ~70km, which is not that far inland, it is a critical bit of information to know!” emphasized Smith.

With Thwaites Glacier, there is a time factor involved.  “We think [Thwaites] has the greatest potential to surprise us in a not so good way.  Part of the problem is that Thwaites has been hard to access, and thus far has been ignored because of that. Little information exists earlier than 25 years ago, so this collaboration should provide a large amount of the missing information,” says Smith.    

Andy’s parting advice when asked how the world at large can learn from the research and the challenges of gathering this information is to make the best plans you can. But also make sure you have contingencies to that plan.   “The secret to the work we do, in many ways, is to keep asking yourself ‘what if, what if, what if….’  You can have a wonderful plan on paper, and it will change completely when you actually try to achieve it.  Get used to change, work with it rather than fight against it. And hope you have enough contingencies to be able to know what the next best thing is to do…”

Lapsing into a thoughtful distant gaze, Andy mentions Scott and Shackleton.  “Shackleton especially - his methods and leadership are used and put forward as good ways to deal with difficult situations. The principles and approaches of his leadership are also applicable elsewhere.”  This of course makes me think of frontiers beyond Antarctica.  Such as space.

Carl Robinson, head of the BAS’ Airborne Survey Technology group.

As a compliment to Smith’s research at BEAMISH, Carl Robinson, head of BAS Airborne Survey Technology, is just back from a month of flying geophysical surveys over Thwaites Glacier. His team uses a remarkable suite of remote sensing instruments, radars that cover a range of shallow snow to deep depth-sounding radar (which can see just below the rock-ice contact) as well as gravity and magnetic sensors that also look at the geology below the ice.  

Robinson and his crew use Twin Otter aircraft, which need refueling before reaching the Thwaites Glacier field camp.  After stops at BAS’s Sky-Blu and then BEAMISH sites, they actually begin their systematic surveys en route, similar to how NBP1902 takes continuous bathymetry during transit. Surveying requires good weather to allow for up to 4 hour flights at 1000 feet, sometimes retracing a path to re-cross certain features like grounding lines (places where the ice shelf is fixed to the seafloor).  “When we get close to the coast, the glacier features look more dramatic.  You see heavy crevassing and bergs forming, reflecting the different processes that are happening internally, where the ice is moving over mountain ranges buried under the ice,” says Robinson with a smile.

This year’s data should provide a top to bottom look at the entirety of Thwaites Glacier, the effort of which is scheduled to be repeated over the next 5 years. Robinson emphasizes the importance of the multi-year effort.  “This is a rare opportunity to see how the glacier changes over the next 5 years. Because of the way most funded grants work, surveys typically are only conducted during a single season.”  The information will also be used by Andy Smith and the other GHOST scientists to decide where to take ice cores that will provide the best information about the glaciers structure to help model Thwaites future behavior. 

Within two hours of returning to the Palmer, the BAS Dash 7 arrives, delivering our new marine technician. Wasting no time, the Palmer turns her bow south, leaving the beautiful peaks surrounding Ryder Bay behind. Back to Thwaites Glacier we go.