These reports highlight science activities and events from the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program Field Camp in Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, part of the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.
U.S AMLR Program 2021/2022 Cape Shirreff Field Team:
NOAA’s U.S. AMLR Program relies on logistical support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to open and close our Cape Shirreff field camp on Livingston Island, Antarctica. To ensure a safe field season, the Cape Shirreff field team adhered to the quarantine and travel protocols of the NSF’s United States Antarctic Program (USAP). Due to travel restrictions and logistical concerns driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. AMLR field team—along with the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) science team—entered quarantine on 19 October in San Francisco, CA. From there, the field team flew to Punta Arenas, Chile, on 25 October. After a 15-day quarantine in Puerto Natales, Chile, the team moved onto the NSF’s Research Vessel Ice Breaker (RVIB) Nathaniel B. Palmer on 10 November. The entire field team remained COVID-free throughout the quarantine period. The U.S. AMLR Program extends a huge thank you to the NSF’s USAP and Antarctic Service Contract (ASC) travel and administrative support teams, which coordinated all international travel and quarantine arrangements. Without this support, we would not have the opportunity to complete our science mission. We would also like to thank Dr. Carlos Moffat and the entire LTER science team, who provided company and collegial support, and who fostered open communication through uncertain times.
We departed Punta Arenas for Antarctica aboard the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer on 15 November at 2:45 p.m. A storm in the Drake Passage—the strip of ocean between the southern tip of South America and the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula—delayed the vessel by approximately 10 hours, and the weather and sea conditions during the crossing were poor to moderate. We arrived at Cape Shirreff early in the morning on Saturday, 20 November.
The ship arrived at 5:00 a.m., gear staging began at 6:00 a.m., and Zodiacs were launched by 6:30 a.m. Although wind speeds were relatively low (< 15 mph), recent storms provided a mix of 2-3 m swell, which was workable but slow for loading Zodiacs. We spent the next four hours transferring cargo from ship to shore. A group of energetic volunteers from the ship assisted us on deck and ashore, moving provisions between the beach and the camp. An Electronics Technician from the ship also came ashore and helped set up the VHF radio system (and shovel a lot of snow). Just after 10:30 a.m., the last Zodiac of cargo was delivered, and all on-shore volunteers returned to the ship. By that time, all NOAA cargo and crew had been transferred to shore. The total number of Zodiac trips for gear and personnel was estimated at ten.
After opening camp, the ship proceeded to deploy the U.S. AMLR Program’s two oceanographic gliders. We would like to thank Joe Gradone of Rutgers University, who provided invaluable support with the gliders throughout the deployment.
When we arrived, snow cover at Cape Shirreff was below average for this time of year, but fortunately there was enough snow to use a sled to carry cargo from the beach to the camp. Using the sled was necessary because our ATV, along with a host of scientific and logistical gear, did not arrive to Chile in time to be loaded on the ship. We had to shovel a lot of snow to access the doorways to the camp buildings. All overwinter storage bins remained intact. Other than the damage noted below (under “Camp Maintenance”), there was no detectable damage to the camp or the emergency hut/bird blind on the north end of the Cape.
So far, we have focused on assessing the camp’s condition and have not begun collecting data. While we have not conducted any formal counts yet, over a dozen southern elephant seal weaners—young animals that have recently weaned from their mothers— have been seen around the camp, although there are currently no active breeding harems. A census of Antarctic fur seals is planned for all U.S. AMLR Program study beaches on 22 November.
We have planned an initial assessment of the penguin colonies and the bird blind for 22 November.
All supplies and gear, other than propane tanks, have been moved up to the camp from the beach. We have noted damage at all three VHF monitoring stations. The antenna mast on Maderas broke off and the antenna was terminally damaged. The solar panel from the Cabo Lodge system was ripped from the building and blew away during a winter storm. Both deep cycle batteries appear to be dead. An Iridium external antenna has been installed above the fur seal lab, and is now functional. We are working on replacing a propane wall heater in the main hut that does not work.
During quarantine, the field team read and signed the Operations and Safety Manual, and received the U.S. AMLR Program’s scientific permit training.
The weather has been favorable since arrival, including two days of clear skies and beautiful sunsets. Not much to complain about at Cape Shirreff.
We continue to organize and prepare the fur seal laboratory for data collection and analysis.
To the eyes of researchers who have been to Cape Shirreff in previous years, the fur seal breeding beaches appear exceptionally empty, even for this time of year. During our first fur seal census on 26 November, we counted 39 fur seal females, 11 pups, and 132 males. Of these males, 117 were territorial. So far, we have observed 9 tagged fur seal females and 3 tagged fur seal males, including one juvenile male tagged in 2016-17. We have recorded zero pup mortalities.
During the phocid census on 26 November, we observed 184 elephant seals, 28 Weddell seals, 1 leopard seal, and 1 crabeater seal.
As mentioned last week, we arrived too late in the season to observe any active southern elephant seal breeding harems or mother-pup pairs. However, we have counted 21 elephant seal pups born and weaned at Cape Shirreff this year, and we are enjoying watching them play and gallivant around the Cape.
On 24 November, a one-year-old female leopard seal hauled out on Marko beach. We obtained size-referenced photo ID photos and a DNA sample. A nearby scat sample contained penguin feathers and, likely, squid parts.
Overwinter cameras were retrieved from Hue and Marko beaches. We are currently reviewing the images.
When we arrived at Cape Shirreff, we were greeted by a curious lone chinstrap penguin welcoming us ashore! A gentoo penguin joined shortly after and an Adélie penguin even showed up near the end of the offload.
The team opened Ms. Skua’s, the observation bird blind located on the northern tip of Cape Shirreff, on 22 November. No obvious damage to the structure or inventories was evident. Interior mold and dampness were prevalent. We cleaned and organized the hut, successfully tested the stove, heater, and the 12V solar array, and stocked the pantry for a season of snacking.
Thanks to support from the NSF’s USAP/ASC team that visited Cape Shirreff in December 2020 to re-battery and repair our network of autonomous cameras, almost all were still operating and were still pointed at their target penguin nests. The three cameras that needed to be adjusted were at Colonies 13, 23, and lower 29. Minor repairs were made on 22 November, and we’re hopeful that useful data is being recorded for this season’s reproductive studies.
Snow depths are being observed and recorded every Monday from 4 locations around the Cape.
Gentoo penguins appear to have initiated nesting earlier this year than in previous years, and the majority of nests already contain two eggs. Chinstrap penguin breeding appears to be more delayed, and many nests only contain one egg. On 22 November, we conducted our standard study to assess parental condition by weighing each chinstrap penguin adult and the single egg in their nests. The total sample size was 5 peripheral and 19 central nests distributed throughout the entire colony.
On 23 November, we completed measurements of egg sizes and weights from 50 gentoo penguin nests containing two eggs. On 28 November, we completed measurements of egg sizes and weights from 50 chinstrap nests containing two eggs. Measurements of the eggs in the nests of known-age (banded as chicks in prior seasons) females will be conducted this coming week.
We started penguin flipper band reading on 24 November to identify all banded birds, particularly those of known age. Twenty-seven known-age nests were identified and we will monitor them for the remainder of the field season.
On 28 November, we started collecting penguin guano. These samples will be used for a host of analyses related to characterizing penguin diet and detecting ingested microplastics.
A solo macaroni penguin has settled onto a nest in Colony 29. Smart bird—it’s a great view.
We started reading bands and monitoring nests of brown skuas on 26 November. So far, four nests containing eggs have been discovered.
The Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station has been installed on a new mount, and it appears to be measuring all weather parameters correctly. However, we have not been able to connect to its hard drive in order to download or summarize weather data. The data continue to be logged, and we will transport its hard drive back to NOAA at the end of the season to get help from Davis with recovering the data.
The overwinter Hobo temperature logger recorded temperature and relative humidity every 30 minutes between March 2020 and July 2021. The lowest temperature was -17.1 oC, recorded in September 2020. Coincident footage from an overwinter pinniped camera shows that all Cape Shirreff bays were completely frozen over.
We are working on repairing the damaged (broken antennae and solar panels) VHF monitoring stations at the camp and on Maderas Ridge. A new 100 watt solar panel was installed on the north wall of the supply hut.
After several days of intense cleaning, the majority of ever-present mold has been abated in most major camp spaces. We have started working on the supply hut.
After the heater and the associated propane regulator were replaced in the main camp, the system is now functional.
One wind generator was installed and tuned on 22-23 November. It has been operating well.
The Iridium Certus unit is up and running. However, the skyfile email software continues to be rejected by the host server, so we have not been able to send or receive email. For now, our daily safety check-ins have been done over the phone with Dr. Jefferson Hinke in La Jolla.
A second Iridium antenna was set up on the main camp building in case a medical emergency requires Iridium access in the kitchen area.
On 22 November, we completed a Cape Shirreff facility orientation and fire drill.
After removing roughly 650 lbs of snow and ice, the legendary Cape Shirreff smoker box was fired up on 25 November, Thanksgiving Day. COVID disruptions left us without any turkeys (sigh) or cranberry sauce, but that didn’t slow this crew of incredible cooks! After an appetizer of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and crackers, a grateful group of NOAA scientists broke bread over a sumptuous meal of cherry glazed chicken breasts, smoked salmon and vegetables, green bean casserole, stuffing, cinnamon apples, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, and perfectly crispy country bread. After the calorie-induced coma abated, pumpkin and apple pies were adorned with freshly whipped Chilean cream.
On 27 November, LT Wang led a medical drill, during which he familiarized the crew with the location and content of our emergency medical gear.
The projector has been installed. We can now enjoy cinematic adventures after our evening meals.
On 23 November, an orange twin-prop plane was observed flying low along the coast of Cape Shirreff.
This week we completed cleaning, organizing, and setting up the fur seal laboratory for data collection and analysis. We successfully tested or repaired all equipment associated with Antarctic fur seal (AFS) captures.
On 3-5 December, we conducted three AFS restraint and anesthesia captures in support of our annual attendance and foraging behavior study. We deployed a satellite transmitting instrument on each captured female that records her movement and foraging behavior. The instruments will remain active through the austral summer, after which they will naturally fall off during the females’ annual molt. We also marked the fur of the females’ pups with a distinctive bleach pattern, allowing us to track their growth rates, behavior, and fates through the end of the field season.
After several repairs and improvements—installing a new solar panel and controller, replacing a 9’ VHF omni antenna, and installing two new batteries—both VHF monitoring stations are up and running. Each captured AFS female this season will join eighteen females from the 2019-20 field season that are carrying micro-VHF transmitters. These small transmitters will remain attached overwinter and, in conjunction with our VHF monitoring stations, allow us to track both colony arrival times and foraging trip lengths.
New adult female AFS have been arriving to the breeding colonies each day. Although the overall daily counts of all age classes are lower than previous years, each of our study beaches contains multiple harem groups. The calls between mothers and pups are a welcome sound! During the study beach AFS census on 1 December, we recorded 86 females, 11 pups, and 134 territorial males. During a pup-only census on 5 December, we counted a total of 110 live and 0 dead pups.
We have observed 29 tagged AFS females and 4 tagged AFS males to date, including two juvenile males and a primaparous three-year-old female who pupped on Daniel beach.
During the phocid census on 2 December, we observed 230 elephant seals, 29 Weddell seals and 3 leopard seals.
This week, we saw two previously tagged adult female leopard seals and two juvenile leopard seals. We photograph all tagged and untagged leopard seals from standardized angles as part of our photo ID catalog. All ID photos and associated metadata will be uploaded to Happywhale.com.
Based on a review of a pilot study of overwinter cameras deployed between 2019 and 2021, we designed a time-lapse camera plan for monitoring early season AFS breeding behavior. Two Reconyx trap cameras will be mounted on tripods, and two SLR camera systems with integrated solar power (North Pacific Wildlife Consulting, LLC) have been mounted on custom built platforms (Thank you LT David Wang and Adam Fox!). All will be deployed over three of the largest AFS breeding areas. The cameras will record one photo every 15 minutes during daylight hours year round.
We continue to resight banded penguins and monitor known-age penguin nests daily.
On 30 November, we collected 212 more krill for our krill measurement study. We now have a total sample size of 432 krill.
This week we focused on deploying animal-borne instruments to monitor foraging behaviors of chinstrap penguins. We use GPS tags to track foraging locations, time depth recorders (TDRs) to record diving behaviors, and digital video loggers (DVL) to observe predation events from the point of view of the penguins at sea. We deployed instruments on 7 individuals this week. On 30 November, we deployed 2 GPS/TDR instrument pairs, and on 2 December, we deployed another 2 GPS/TDR instrument pairs. These instruments are programmed to record data for 5 or more days. Also on 2 December, we deployed 3 DVL/TDR instrument pairs. The video deployments are nominally programmed to record data for 2-3 days. As of 5 December, we have retrieved one GPS/TDR pair and one DVL/TDR pair.
We completed the annual nest census of all gentoo and chinstrap penguins on 5 December. The estimate of population size is forthcoming.
We assisted the pinniped team with their AFS captures on 3 and 5 December. We measured pups and provided them protection while their mothers were sedated.
We continue our efforts to find and identify banded brown skuas that breed at Cape Shirreff. We identified three new nests, bringing the total active nests at Cape Shirreff up to seven.
Doug and Sam kindly came out to the blind to assist with penguin guano collections on 5 December. We now have 15 total samples for analysis of diet and microplastics.
The Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station continues to both display weather data and keep its recorded data a secret. Overall, this week was windy. Three days had average wind speeds over 30 knots. Saturday, 4 December, featured sustained winds over 50 knots for several hours and a maximum gust of 66 knots.
Through diligence and hard work, between bouts of science, every camp space has been inspected and cleaned. The last space that requires additional cleaning and organizing is the supply hut that stores our medical gear and non-perishable foods. This week we cleaned, inventoried, and disposed of ~75 gallons of spoiled and damaged foods and food containers.
Minor repairs continue apace to window covers, fire extinguisher mounts, and the like.
We completed an inventory of fresh water storage. We are currently at approximately 50% of capacity.
The rain-gutter freshwater collections system was installed this week, and to date we have collected approximately 75 gallons of fresh water.
This week we posted the camp closing checklist and began storing drinking water and inventorying critical supplies.
This week featured an array of delicious dinners prepared by our dedicated staff. Everyone’s creativity and talent in our Antarctic remote kitchen is deeply appreciated.
On 4 December we ALMOST observed a rare solar eclipse.
The camp has been divided by an issue central to all human life and social structure. Does one add raisins to oatmeal cookies when chocolate chips are available? We remain civil in our work and discourse, but some divides are simply too deep to overcome.
Due to the diligence of LT David Wang, Anthony Cossio, Jen Walsh, Jefferson Hinke, Heidi Taylor, and the NOAA contracting team, the Skyfile email system is functional for the first time this season. Updates to our various contacts and safety check-ins will be forthcoming.
After long days of science and activities, all campers have been determined to enjoy a few episodes of Ted Lasso despite the late nights. Thank you Victoria for the suggestion.
Rebecca: “Do you believe in ghosts?” Ted Lasso: “I do believe in ghosts, but more importantly, I want them to believe in themselves”
Just like that, science is done for the year. As of 11 December, we have completed all pinniped science studies for the season except for our annual Cape-wide pup census. We successfully completed 10 Antarctic fur seal (AFS) captures, rebuilt and deployed two autonomous VHF receiving stations, built and deployed four remote camera systems, conducted three Cape-wide phocid censuses, performed daily resights and AFS censuses, and assisted the seabird program. It’s been a brief, but highly productive season!
On 6-11 December, we conducted four more AFS restraint and anesthesia captures in support of our annual attendance and foraging behavior study. We deployed a satellite transmitting instrument on each captured female to record her movement and foraging behavior. The instruments will remain active through the austral summer, after which they will naturally fall off during the females’ annual molt. We also marked the fur of the females’ pups with a distinctive bleach pattern, allowing us to track their growth rates, behavior, and fates through the end of the field season.
As of 11 December, only one attendance study female had departed on her first trip to sea. Her pup was measured approximately 24 hours after her departure to track its initial growth rate.
In addition to our 7 attendance study animals, we captured 2 AFS female-pup pairs to deploy micro-VHF transmitters and collect samples. We have now deployed 9 micro-VHF tags this season to join the 18 females from 2019-20 field season. These small transmitters will remain attached overwinter and our VHF monitoring stations will allow us to track both colony arrival times and foraging trip lengths into early 2022-23.
New adult female AFS have been arriving to the breeding colonies each day. During the study beach fur seal pup census on 9 December, we recorded 154 pups.
For over 23 years, we have annually deployed a set of individually-identifiable flipper ID tags on a subset of pups born at Cape Shirreff. Additionally, we have ID tagged each adult female AFS that we captured for our attendance studies. Resights of these tags allow us to estimate the total population size and calculate a survival rate for the population. So far this year, we have observed 44 tagged AFS females and 4 tagged AFS males.
During the phocid census on 10 December, we observed 280 elephant seals, 21 Weddell seals and 3 leopard seals.
Based on a review of a pilot study of overwinter cameras deployed between 2019 and 2021, we designed a time-lapse camera plan for monitoring early season AFS breeding behavior. Two Reconyx trap cameras will be mounted on tripods, and two SLR camera systems with integrated solar power (North Pacific Wildlife Consulting, LLC) have been mounted on custom built platforms (Thank you LT David Wang and Adam Fox!). All will be deployed over three of the largest AFS breeding areas. The cameras will record one photo every 15 minutes during daylight hours year round.
Our daily effort to resight and identify banded penguins concluded on 11 December as we transition all efforts to the camp closing process.
Snow melt has been rapid this past week and there has been no new snow to report for our “Snow Stake Mondays”.
On 7 December, we completed measurements of eggs from a total of 27 nests of known-age chinstrap and gentoo penguins. Based on past records, one of our female chinstrap penguins is 16 years old!
This week we focused on gentoo penguins for our telemetry studies. We deployed 2 GPS/TDR pairs and 2 DVL/TDR pairs and have recovered all of them. The GPS/TDR instruments successfully collected data and one of the DVLs recorded approximately 2 hours of at-sea foraging imagery.
As promised last week, the final tally of occupied nests from our penguin census is in! We counted 2,353 chinstrap penguin nests and 605 gentoo penguin nests. The last complete census occurred in 2019/20 before the COVID-19 pandemic, when 2,170 chinstrap nests and 708 gentoo nests were counted. The count of 605 gentoo nests is 15% lower than the last estimate and represents the lowest population estimate recorded during U.S. AMLR Program research at Cape Shirreff.
We assisted the pinniped team with four more AFS captures on 6 and 7 December.
We completed nest monitoring and identification of breeding brown skuas this week. We collected GPS waypoints and egg measurements for 13 brown skua nests throughout the Cape for the 2021 season. No nests have failed while we have been monitoring them.
On 10 December, we completed our census of breeding kelp gull nests at the Cape. At the Loberia colony we counted a total of 9 nests and at the Toqui colony we counted 33 nests. On our way from Loberia to Toqui, we were lucky enough to see a blonde fur seal pup!
We completed penguin guano collections and have a total sample size of 6 blanks, 10 chinstrap, and 29 gentoo samples for analysis in La Jolla.
With our daily transits to and from the Skua Shack, daily visits to each colony, and surveys of skua and kelp gull nest around the Cape, we collectively hiked 108 miles in three weeks in the name of Science.
Like last week, it was windy. Every day had average wind speeds over 20 knots, and several had average speeds in the 30s. All projects have been moving forward with efficiency and aplomb despite the added difficulty…but at some point, it starts to feel personal.
We continued cleaning and organizing the supply hut this week. In addition to hunting mold and organizing storage areas, we completed an exhaustive inventory.
We completed an inventory of fresh water storage. We are currently at approximately 47.3% of capacity.
Intermittently last week, and at full speed this week, we are completing activities necessary to close the camp safely for the winter. We are conducting inventories of all major spaces, repairing everything that needs it, and packing broken or worn equipment to remove it from the island. We are currently scheduled to close the camp for the year on 17 December.
Without an ATV, all heavy equipment must be transported by hand between the camp and the boat landing beach. David and Sam created a “human mule” cart solution using an ATV trailer that has to be seen to be fully comprehended. To date, thousands of pounds of trash, propane, and scrap lumber have been transported to the beach for pickup.
On 7 December we ALMOST watched the first two episodes of Ted Lasso, Season 2.
The return of our functioning email system has been wonderful. Thank you, again, to all that supported us in that endeavor. Even though it’s good to be connected again, it made us appreciate being disconnected.
Despite the windy days and hard work, the team has enjoyed a steady stream of delicious dinners and dessert treats followed by a Harry Potter movie or working on the 1500-piece puzzle that Jen Walsh, Tony Cossio, and Christian Reiss so thoughtfully gave to us.
See attached photo for the best ATV that our current budget could provide.
We closed the U.S. AMLR Program’s field camp at Cape Shirreff on 18 December 2021, ending a COVID-abbreviated season that began on 20 November 2021. The RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer approached the Cape on 16 December while attempting to recover one of the U.S. AMLR Program’s gliders and sheltering from the stifling west winds. Just like the previous 22 days of the season, the winds did not abate between their arrival and the evening of 17 December. Based on forecasted lighter winds in the early morning of 18 December, we made radio contact with the ship at 3:00 a.m. and commenced closing operations. Closing operations began with two Zodiacs launching at 4:10 a.m., and the offload began shortly thereafter. All of the NOAA/AMLR samples, gear, and trash—as well as some equipment left behind by the Costa research project—was removed from the island. The main camp was secured, and all NOAA personnel were safely taken to the ship.
In all, 10 crew and science team members (including 4 Zodiac operators) came ashore to assist in moving gear. Approximately twelve Zodiac loads of personnel, samples, gear, retrograde equipment, and trash were removed from the island. The last Zodiac was aboard the ship at about 7:10 a.m.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Captain and crew of the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer and USAP/ASC support staff for a safe and efficient camp closing.
The AMLR crew will now quality check data, organize meta data, summarize permit information, clean and dry field gear, and prepare customs and shipping documents. We are due back to Punta Arenas on 22 December 2021.
The majority of this week was spent inventorying, cleaning, organizing and packing up the fur seal lab, associated pinniped gear, and the main camp for the winter.
We conducted a Cape-wide AFS pup count on 15 and 16 December. Each of the four pinniped team members conducted an individual pup count from all breeding beaches at Cape Shirreff. This census provides crucial data about the population dynamics for AFS at Cape Shirreff, which harbors the largest Antarctic breeding colony and which was recently shown to be genetically distinct from other AFS breeding populations around the continent. This year’s count through 16 December was 546. When compared to the equivalent census from 2019-20, we saw a decrease in pup production of 42.4%.
We installed a new VHF antenna tower outside one of the main camp rooms to improve reception coverage for Marko and Daniel beaches. We also completed a final download of all VHF receiving stations for the year. We will analyze the data soon to assess how well the new system worked. Two listening stations (Maderas Ridge and Cabo Lodge) were deployed over winter to record the arrival times and early season trip durations from our micro-VHF tagged study animals.
On 15 December we ID-tagged and collected DNA from an adult male leopard seal which was resting on Modulo beach. We’ll keep an eye out for this individual (166 Orange) during resights in the future.
We completed construction and set-up of 4 overwinter camera systems that will take photographs of three major breeding beaches every 15-20 minutes throughout the winter and spring.
A significant portion of the week was spent cleaning, inventorying, and performing general maintenance on the main camp, along with compiling and proofing the seabird data.
All 18 trap camera systems throughout the colonies were repaired, rebatteried, and redeployed. These cameras support the year-round monitoring of occupation and breeding activity in the colonies, providing 12 pictures per day of nesting locations used by gentoo and chinstrap penguins.
On 14 December we cleaned, inventoried, and packed up the bird blind. Ms. Skua’s is closed for the season.
Windy.
We finished cleaning and organizing the supply hut this week. This is the cleanest and most organized that space has been in 10 years.
We completed an inventory of fresh water storage. We are currently at approximately 45% of capacity.
The last week of the season was dominated by camp closing activities: cleaning, inventorying, organizing, and preparing all equipment to survive both winter cold and mold.
Despite the unusually high winds, we managed to complete a site survey of our proposed site for the Cape Shirreff replacement buildings. We are all extremely excited to see that project progress!
This year we reinitiated a Cape tradition and weighed ourselves at the beginning and end of the season. The person who gained the most weight gets to skip their dinner cooking rotation and dictate the menu (to be made by their camp mates) for that evening. The person who gained the least weight gets to pick dessert. Dinner was festive and fun, featuring meatloaf, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, bread, and a gorgeous yellow cake with raspberry filling.
This year brought a suite of new challenges, hardships, and problems. Each was overcome by the resilient and hard-working crew from Cape Shirreff, but we didn’t do this alone. We would like to thank the support team at USAP for getting us all through the extensive quarantine period (19 October – 17 November). And, a humongous thank you to our U.S. AMLR Program colleagues, who provided crucial and unexpected support to us throughout the entire season. We would not have been able to succeed without you all!
Central Valley salmon fisherman and Nor-Cal Guides and Sportsmen’s Association Vice President, Scott Hambelton, casts from his boat on the American River. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Cape Shirreff field camp on Livingston Island, one of the most breathtaking places in Antarctica. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
North Pacific right whale. Credit: Brenda K. Rone
