Feb. 6, 2015
The photo was taken on Jan. 31 in the Ross Sea, near Antarctica. U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area / Petty Officer 1st Class George Degener
The USCGC Polar Star and its crew of 140 are currently on a four-month mission to Antarctica as part of the annual operation to resupply McMurdo Station, the National Science Foundation’s Arctic research center.
U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area / Petty Officer 1st Class George Degener
The Polar Star is responsible for
creating a channel through icy McMurdo Sound so that supply ships can
reach the research station and deliver a year’s worth of food, fuel, and
everything else its residents need to survive the freezing winter
months.
In order to reach the station, the Polar Star has to break through 12 miles of ice, which can be as thick as 10 feet in some places.The curious penguins of McMurdo Sound have been making friends with Coast Guard icebreakers and their crews ever since the service’s first mission to Antarctica in 1955–1956.
U.S. Coast Guard
U.S. Coast Guard
According to the Coast Guard’s official website, when the USCGC Eastwind
first arrived at McMurdo Sound in January 1956, the local colony of
emperor penguins had no fear of their new neighbors, and, according to a
member of the ship’s crew, some even made friends with the humans:
“This one penguin kept hanging out with various Eastwind crewmembers while they were ashore. They originally painted a bow tie around his neck and button on his chest in grease (the penguin happily complied). The penguin then wiped the bow tie away by turning his head (hence the smudge in the picture). They then painted USCG on its stomach. He apparently loved it, and held a higher place in the penguin flock because of it.”
See you next year!
U.S. Coast Guard / PA2 KEVIN J. NEFF / March 15, 2007
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