Patrick Robinson at Signy Island--After completing most of the science work for the expedition, the ship stopped at Halley Station (a British research base on the Brunt ice shelf) to pick up about 25 people and drop off supplies for the folks who will remain there during the winter.  This station is unique because it is built on a thick ice shelf rather than land.  The buildings must be raised on stilts to prevent the inevitable accumulation of snow from burying them over the course of several years.

Patrick Robinson from somewhere near the South Orkney Islands -- Today, chief scientist Keith Nicholls and his team from the British Antarctic Survey recovered a pair of oceanographic moorings that were deployed two years ago.  First, we traveled to the exact location the mooring was deployed.  The mooring line and instruments sit well below the surface and stretch all the way to the bottom, some 3,000 meters below.  

Patrick Robinson at Signy Island, South Orkneys -- We made it through the drake passage with very calm seas and have arrived at our first stop, a British research base on Signy Island (part of a small group of islands called the South Orkneys).  We are dropping off a few biologists and will return for them after the oceanographic and seal-tagging work in a few weeks.