We're in fairly thick pack ice today, which is bad news for the guys who want to put out the moorings as they need a stretch of open water, and infuriating for me as, after a leak on my equipment, I must wait until the morning to start sampling again. 

The large iceberg you can see in the background is a piece of the ice shelf which has broken off from the mainland and floated out to sea. This is freshwater ice, formed from years of snowfall on the antarctic continent, which compresses down to form ice. The ice then flows down the continent and out to sea, where it eventually breaks off and will gradually melt. Only 10% of the ice is visible above the water

The brown colour in the sea ice above is a layer of diatoms. When the surface of the pack ice gets flooded with seawater this brings a fresh supply of nutrients to these planktonic organisms, which, along with favourable light levels and protection from predators, leads to a bloom of diatoms in between the ice and snow layers. Let's hope they're emitting lots of iodine compounds!!

My air sampling site at the front of the ship

Cedric working on the moorings

The flotation devices which go on top of the moorings 

I've been upgraded, I now have a room with a view :)