Picture of the Day for August 15

Sunset at Ice Henge

Work continued today at Ice Station Sparky. The seal team caught and put out their 10^th satellite tracking tag (out of 11) on a male crabeater seal. The divers were in and out of the water through out the day, continuing their search for krill. The ice team took ice and snow samples from three different sites. They also made optical measurements on the ice. These measurements look at the amount of sunlight reflected by the snow surface, and after shoveling, by the ice surface. Also measured is the amount of sunlight that penetrates through the ice and snow. All work stopped as everyone watched the spectacular Antarctic sunset. In the foreground of the picture is a dive hole, encircled by the blocks of ice that were cut out to make the hole. Photo by Kerry Claffey.