Happy New Year!

Although it might not be 2009 in Boston yet, it is in Antarctica. We celebrated (like everybody else in McMurdo) with the annual Icestock concert. There was a wide range of bands, from rock to bluegrass. But the midnight favorite that got the entire crowd dancing (yes, Robert and Rob too) and counting down in the frigid sunshine was a funk cover band called Porn Spill.

Just before midnight, Father Time interrupts the band to pass responsibility onto Baby New Year

Not too much else exciting going on down here. We've started sorting and cleaning gear and packing up samples to ship back to Harvard. Since everything is closed here today, we took a hike to see the Discovery Hut and a nearby ridge.

Looking out at the Trans Antarctic Mountains across the thinning sea ice

A LIVING Weddell Seal lounges on the sea ice (the first living non-skua-non-algae wildlife we've seen in Antarctica)

Discovery Hut - alas, we couldn't go inside without a guide

For all those dying to know about the poll...Drumroll please....around 320 samples was the final count! So congratulations to those who voted for 300-399. Ask Jenny about your prize. And of course, vote in our newest poll.

And in case you were wondering, the newest Blog header is from Sessrumnir Valley, home of our first camp and also where we'll be heading for a daytrip on Saturday.