Final Preparations Before Antarctica!

Having successfully arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, our team has started working straightaway to get all the final preparations done before we push off the dock in a few days.

The main focus has been preparing the crab traps we will be deploying.

Although SeaSled, our underwater camera vehicle, provides us with amazing snapshots of the Antarctic seafloor, in order to fully study this population of king crabs it is very helpful to collect actual samples.

By collecting a small number of these king crabs, we hope to be able to determine what they are eating, their size, and their sex, as well as do genetic testing.

Among lots of knot tying and line splicing, we also created an "escape route" for the crabs on each trap in the event that one of the traps is not recovered.  By cutting a slot in the side of the trap and then sewing it closed with organic twine, the crabs will be able to get out of the trap once the twine has decomposed and the slot opens.

Antarctic expedition guru, Maggie Amsler, preparing an "escape route" on a crab trap.

Our research vessel, the Laurence M. Gould, is set to be arriving here in Punta Arenas today or tomorrow and then only a few more days until we officially set off for Antarctica!  We are working hard to prepare for the expedition while also enjoying our time here in this beautiful and unique place!

The view from the U.S. Antarctic Program's warehouse where we have been working.