A zodiac boat departing the NATHANIEL B. PALMER to collect ice samples for biological studies.

Personnel basket putting people out on the ice for sample collection from the NATHANIEL B. PALMER.

Collecting ice cores to collect biological samples.

Net trawl for benthic (bottom-dwelling) biota.

Spoils of net trawl. Numerous holothurians (sea cucumbers) and other marine life on deck.

A new species of snail fish discovered by Joe Eastman.

Antarctic sushi party!

Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) rosette and water sample bottles being deployed from "Baltic Room" on the NATHANIEL B. PALMER.

Drawing a water sample from Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) rosette water sample bottles.

Scientist conducting phytoplankton taxonomy research.

Preparing an Interocean Current Meter in the Ross Sea for deployment from a fixed mooring.

Preparing a mid-water sediment trap for deployment in the Ross Sea. For collecting biological particles as they fall to the sea floor.

Preparing to deploy mooring floats for current and sediment studies from the NATHANIEL B. PALMER.

Ringing in the New Year with the drop of a mooring anchor at 00:00:00 on January 1, 1997.

Recovering a box core with a bottom sample for biological studies.

Science is hard work!

Antarctic beach party. Football, frisbee, and baseball below the Antarctic Circle.

Antarctic beach party and barbecue.

Grounded tabular iceberg at Cape Washington, Victoria Land.

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer image of Ross Ice Shelf.

Edge of the Ross Ice Shelf as seen by the NATHANIEL B. PALMER.

Edge of the Ross Ice Shelf as seen by the NATHANIEL B. PALMER.

The Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales - the point where Amundsen staged his successful assault on the South Pole. 78 30 S Latitude 164 20W Longitude.

The Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales - the point where Amundsen staged his successful assault on the South Pole. 78 30 S Latitude 164 20W Longitude.

The Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales - the point where Amundsen staged his successful assault on the South Pole. 78 30 S Latitude 164 20W Longitude.

Large tabular icebergs grounded in the Ross Sea.

NATHANIEL B. PALMER breaking sea ice in the Ross Sea.

Vince's Cross at Hut Point Peninsula, McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Named for George Vince, a member of the Scott Discovery Expedition, who drowned nearby.

Cross on Observation Hill erected as memorial to Robert Falcon Scott.

Scott's Hut with the NATHANIEL B. PALMER in the foreground and McMurdo Station in the background.

Stuffed emperor penguins on display in the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mount Erebus shrouded in clouds from McMurdo Sound.

The Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales - the point where Amundsen staged his successful assault on the South Pole. 78 30 S Latitude 164 20W Longitude.

Bust of Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd at McMurdo Station.

Shrine to _____ Williams who lost his life during Navy Antarctic operations in the 1950's when his tractor broke through the sea ice and he was drowned.

Small ice floes in open water as seen from the bridge of the NATHANIEL B. PALMER. Ice is melting at time of this picture.

The NATHANIEL B. PALMER set in ice.

The front of a melting glacier.

Large tabular ice bergs

Cape Adare, the northwest corner of the Ross Sea. 71 40 S Latitude 170 30 E Longitude.

Mount Melbourne - an active volcano. 74 21 S Latitude 164 42 E Longitude.

The Campbell Ice Tongue protruding into the Ross Sea.

A segment of the Transantarctic Mountains

The old entrance to Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England.

The old entrance to Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England.

The old entrance to Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England. The bust of Robert Falcon Scott is evident in this picture.

Mount Erebus in the distance from the top of Observation Hill.

A view of the Royal Society Range from Observation Hill. 78 10 S Latitude 162 40 E Longitude.

Preparing a meteorological balloon for launching at McMurdo Station.

Meteorological balloon with instrument package swinging below at McMurdo Station.