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12/20/01  1500 hrs.
in the area of 64 58 S
65 23 W
-1 C, light winds, gentle rolling seas, heavy clouds with passing snowstorms

We are currently out of sight of land in an area known as the Palmer Deep which lies south southwest of Anvers Island. The sea floor here contains a number of deep basins some of which are over 1400 meters deep. These deep basins, first mapped by Eugene Domack in 1999, appear to have associated canyon systems and our current mapping project is designed to further delineate these canyons and collect a number of cores that will help date their development. This afternoon and early evening we should be on station for the first of these sampling operations.

Holiday decorations are beginning to appear around the ship. Support poles are wound with green and red crepe paper. Cutout paper snowflakes adorn computer monitors, printers and various other equipment. A small decorated Christmas tree sits in one corner of the dining area.

Cabin doors are decorated with symbols of the holidays including a Menorah, to which has been added a nicely designed colored paper flaming candle each day of Chanukah.

Previous Antarctic expeditions had little contact with the outside world while they explored or worked here. While on a dog sledding expedition on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula David James wrote in his diary on August 20, 1945:

"Down here in this remote and silent land, one's own little problems assume such importance that there is hardly time to think of the outside world and, until this moment, we had not given the news a single thought."

These words were written after picking up a stray radio broadcast announcing the end of the Second World War in the Pacific.

The same wonders of communication that allow me to send these daily updates and images of our work, unfortunately also let the news of the outside world in. From a continent dedicated to science research and with no territorial claims, all of us on the Nathaniel B. Palmer wish you peace during this season and the year to come.

Dave and everyone else on the Palmer

photo caption: The RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer  viewed from the zodiac as we return from work on Robertson Island. RVIB stands for Research Vessel Ice Breaking class.

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