The Latest in Palmer News

We've hit a cold spell here at Palmer station with temperatures hovering around 6 or 7 degrees F. These drafty, old buildings can't keep up, and I'm wearing 2 layers on bottom and 4 layers on top just to work in my office this morning. The Gould is sitting right outside our door, waiting to dock. The water in Hero Inlet and Arthur Harbor has frozen over. This normally wouldn't be a problem for the Gould as it's an icebreaker, but hiding underneath the ice is a long fishing line that was let out by our scientists before the cold spell. The line is now frozen in, and they've been unable to pull it up. The Gould is concerned about getting it caught in their propellers and will not come in any further until it is in. So for now, the Gould is standing by while some solutions are batted around for this problem of the frozen-in long line. I'm thinking that since dropping a zodiac in to help is an impossibility, maybe a sledgehammer and someone wearing an immersion suit may be in order, but we'll see. Stay tuned for updates...