PALMER STATION SCIENCE SITREP February 1995 S-013 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT). William R. Fraser and Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. SEABIRD INVESTIGATIONS AT PALMER STATION AS PART OF THE NMFS/AMLR ECOSYSTEM MONITORING PROGRAM. William R. Fraser, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. THE IMPACTS OF TOURISM ON ADELIE PENGUIN POPULATIONS AT PALMER STATION. William R. Fraser, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. PERSONNEL ON STATION: Eric Holm, Bill Fraser and Donna Patterson. Access to nearby islands continued to be good during February, allowing us to complete diet and telemetry (foraging trip duration) studies on Adelie Penguins, and complete our work on the species' reproductive success. Final results of our diet work suggest that the availability of Euphausia superba was low early in the season, but subsequently improved throughout the month of February. Three lines of evidence support this conclusion. First, another euphausiid, Thysanoesa macrura, which represented up to 40% or more of the stomach contents by weight early in the season, dropped out of the diet completely, leaving Euphausia superba as the dominant (100% of the samples by weight) dietary component. Second, foraging trip durations, which averaged 30 hours each early in the season, were averaging 8-10 hours by early February. Third, the freshness of stomach contents (i.e. E. superba) improved considerably through mid- February when the final samples were obtained, suggesting the resource was relatively close to the colonies. Although krill availability improved later in the season, Adelie Penguin chicks nevertheless fledged at significantly lower weights than in past seasons (e.g. averaging 2950 gm vs. 3200 in past years), suggesting that early season food shortages did have an effect on normal chick growth and development. The season was thus characterized by high reproductive success (1.30-1.54 chicks creched per pair), but significantly lower fledging weights. Tourist visits to Torgersen Island ended on 26 February with the departure of the season's last scheduled vessel. At this writing, approximately 560 people visited the island's colonies. The reproductive success of Adelie Penguins located in areas on Torgersen Island open to tourism and in control sites without tourist access exhibited no differences relative to each other (1.35 and 1.44 chicks creched per pair, respectively), or to the Palmer area as a whole (1.4 chicks creched per pair). Data to look at specific, egg and/or chick loss rates at tourist and control sites, however, have not yet been examined for patterns. Final results of a new, experimental marking system being tested as a substitute for flipper bands on Adelie Penguins have been positive. The system, used primarily by fisheries biologists, involves thin plastic tags that are anchored subcutaneously. Results to date suggest the tags are more visible than conventional bands and thus greatly improve the probabilities of finding all the marked birds in a population. Tagged birds, for example, were seen by independent observers at almost twice the rate as flipper banded birds in controlled experiments where the total number of marked birds was known. Moreover, no evidence of tissue damage, inflammation or infection was detected among tagged birds. One problem, not detected until later in the season, was that tag retention rates were slightly lower than band retention rates. These losses were all confined to tags placed at sites level with the shoulders, a common "striking" point in aggressive chases. Such losses did not occur for tags placed above this site, suggesting the problem can be solved by placing the tags in the better location. Further experiments will be continued next season as part of a four-part evaluation process. Study sites to examine Brown and South Polar skua diets and reproductive success continue to be monitored on Shortcut, Humble, Christine, Litchfield and Dream islands and on Biscoe Point. At this writing, Brown Skua pairs have fledged 1.5 chicks per pair; South Polar Skuas continue to exhibit a complete reproductive failure due to an apparent lack of Antarctic Silverfish, their primary prey. Basic information on the breeding biology and population status of other species is being obtained as weather and time permit as part of studies incidental to the LTER, AMLR and Tourist programs. Kelp Gulls, Cormorants and Giant Petrels are all exhibiting slightly decreased breeding success relative to last season, although final estimates are not yet available because many pairs are still feeding chicks. Results of activities related to our seabird research as part of the LTER cruise were reported by Dr. Raymond Smith, Chief Scientist. S-016 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (PHYTOPLANKTON COMPONENT). Maria Vernet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Personnel on Station - John Harrison, Ted Ruel, Wendy Kozlowski After a brief recuperation period from the January LTER cruise, the group was busy unpacking and setting up analysis equipment in the aquarium and labs three and four for the second time of the season! We were able to get out and sample stations E, D and B on the thirteenth - all and all the first day in the Zodiacs for the new crew went well. On Wednesday the 15th we did a run to station B for our Carbon:Chlorophyll experiments, and on Thursday we were able to get out again and completed an E to B sampling set to fill out the week. The Duke arrived on station Feb 20th, preventing sampling that Monday, but we were able to get out on Tuesday and did full sampling sets at B and E, with surface samples collected at stations C and D. We did station B again on Wednesday and another full run of E through B on Thursday. Monday the 27th was wrought with mishap, but we were able to sample at station B; for our last week of sampling we are hoping to complete at least another full E to B run and one more C:Chl experiment. The R/Z Maria will not be taken apart immediately as Kricket Haberman will probably use the setup for some water collections of her very own (where is that phaeocystis this year anyway?). With the frequency of the sampling this month we were able to monitor an apparent diatom bloom that has been hanging off the end of Bonaparte for the last few weeks. It appears however that the bloom is dying off, right on cue for our departure in the beginning of March. The remainder of the stay here at Palmer will be spent sorting, cleaning and packing in preparation for next season. S-028 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED SYSTEM. Robin M. Ross and Langdon B. Quetin, University of California, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, California 93106. Personnel on station: Karen Haberman, Janice Jones (split position with S-032), Arnold Ammann, Tim Miller February has not been a good month for targetted tows - we have been unable to locate any krill schools since returning from the annual LTER cruise on 2/06. Standard tows were completed at A-B, D-E, F-G and I-J on 2/15, at A-B, D-E and F-G on 2/22, and at I-J on 2/26. The BioSonics acoustic equipment continues to perform well. We have completed 5 transects thus far and hope to complete the final one this week prior to dismantling ROZE, our sampling zodiac. A complete inventory of all equipment currently in use by S028 here at Palmer Station is currently being compiled and we are preparing everything for overwinter storage in Punta Arenas. We are hoping to be able to continue searching for krill until the departure of Janice Jones and Arnold Ammann on March 9 before the Rubber Duke, our other sampling zodiac is dismantled. Karen continues to conduct feeding rate and selectivity experiments by krill on various phytoplankton types, despite several problems with culture growth which have impeded her progress. Tim Miller has assisted her with culture care and experimental analysis. S-032 LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT. Ray Smith, University of California at Santa Barbara. Personnel on Station: Janice Jones (split position with S-028), Jens Sorensen, Brady Seely The monthly CTD cast for verification of tidegauge data was done on February 23. After returning from the annual LTER cruise on 2/06, time was spent on station on and offloading equipment from the Polar Duke. Our regular station sampling protocol resumed on 2/13. Full runs (B-E) were completed on 2/16 and 12/23. A partial run was done on 2/13, but due to equipment malfunctions, no data was collected. Full runs (F-J) were completed on 2/14, 2/17 and 2/20. We expect to complete one more full run before ROZE is dismantled for the winter. A complete inventory of everything that S032 has on station is now underway. The majority of equipment currently on station will be moved to Punta Arenas for storage over winter. S-038 FORAGING ECOLOGY AND REPRODUCTIVE ENERGETICS OF ANTARCTIC PETRELS. Wesley W. Weathers. University of California, Davis, CA. PERSONNEL ON STATION: Wes Weathers, Dan Osborn Access to nearby islands has been good during the four days that we have been on station. We have setup the laboratory equipment in Lab 5 and scouted Bonaparte Point, Janus and Torger- sen Islands for Wilson Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus nests. The best prospect seems to be Bonaparte Point, on which we have located four chicks thus far. Several adults were flying over the "colony" near dusk, indicating that other nests were nearby. The chicks appear to be about midway through development, ideal for our studies. Fecal samples for the first chick brought into the lab contained exclusively eyes of the euphausiid Thysanoesa macrura, which Fraser found in 60% of the penguin diet samples collected earlier in the season. We have begun to measure total CO2 production of nestlings simultaneously by DLW and direct gravimetry (Haldane method). Respirometry studies of nestlings force-fed known quantities (ca. 10 g) of a 50% krill - 50% fish oil mixture will begin tomorrow using our open-circuit metabolism system. CO2 production as measured by DLW will be compared with that measured gravimetrically and its energy equivalent calculat- ed based on the measured O2 consumption. S-091 PALMER IRIS SEISMOLOGY. R. Butler/G. Holcomb, U.S. Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM. No personnel were on station. The system has been monitored by the station science technician. All IRIS operations were normal. S-106 VERY LOW FREQUENCY (VLF) REMOTE SENSING OF THUNDERSTORM AND RADIATION BELT COUPLING TO THE IONOSPHERE. U. Inan, Stanford University. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. The Kinemetrics clock was intermittently losing the satellite lock throughout the month. On 23 February, the GOES antenna was reoriented to point at the GOES East satellite. On 25 February, synoptic recordings were stopped pending a resupply of 1/4" tape, expected 07 March. S-254 CHLORINE- AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science and Technology. There are no personnel on station. Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The samples are returned to the Institute for analysis of a number of trace components, especially chlorine- and bromine-containing gases. These elements have been implicated in the chemical processes that contribute to the austral-spring depletion of the ozone layer over Antarctica. This work will contribute to a better understanding of the buildup of trace constituents, particularly those of high-latitude marine origin. S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA/CMDL WORLDWIDE FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. James T. Peterson, Palmer Station, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are no personnel on station. Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory team continue long-term measurements of trace atmospheric constituents that influence climate. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA laboratory for analysis of trace constituents, including carbon dioxide. These measurements are part of NOAA's effort to determine and assess the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the atmosphere. These data will be used to determine how the rate of change of these parameters affects climate, particularly by including them in climate model studies. S-275 UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM. J. Prospero/T. Snowdon, University of Miami; C. Sanderson/N. Chui, EML/DOE N.Y. No personnel were on station. The system has been operated by the station science technician. One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts was maintained. T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA. Personnel on station: Burt Baker and Jim Hamlin The system has been operated by the station science technician. The TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and NOAA telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 15-17 passes per day. AWS data was collected from the Bonaparte Point and Hugo Island automatic weather stations in support of the LTER project. On 3 separate occasions throughout the month, the primary tape archiving device intermittently displayed error messages and then returned to normal operation. On 04 February, the TeraScan system inexplicably failed to acquire data from 7 scheduled satellite passes. The ASA Communication Field Engineer and member of T-544 (Jim Hamlin and Burt Baker) completed their visit for the SODAS installation and departed Palmer Station on 09 February aboard the R/V POLAR DUKE. T-313 UV MONITORING EXPERIMENT. C. Booth, Biospherical Instruments, Inc. No personnel were on station The system has been operated by the science technician. Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and transmitted to BSI. Preliminary irradiance data and inferred ozone abundances were produced in support of Science. The 0100, 0200, 0300, 0600, 0700, and 0800 UT data scans were removed from the schedule in response to decreasing sun elevations. 28192918.51B PLM1776.FEB