ww w. p o l a r. o rg / a n t s u n The October 29, 2000

PublishedA duringn the australt a summerr atctic McMurdo Station, Antarctica,Su for the Unitedn States Antarctic Program

QUOTE OF THE WEEK Curtains for the Playhouse “I t ’ s socially un a c c e p t a b l e . ” - Photographer and filmmaker Norbert Wu, on unpartitioned toilets in dorm 203B, where he and his crew stayed for a month. I N S I D E Getting the bronze in Antarctica page 2 20,000 miles over the sea page 4 Tattoo who? page 6

Workers watch as gusts of wind flatten the remains of Building 64, also called the Playhouse. They had Wu’ s underwater been tearing down the 1950s-era Quonset hut (see story on page 6) when a powerful storm hit McMurdo Station. Bad weather and whiteout conditions grounded flights for three days straight, as wo r l d winds reached nearly 60 miles per hour. Photo by Josh Landis. page 10

no t By Jeff Inglis Waste wa n t e d Sun staff cMurdo Station is the largest human settlement The first two are primary sources for a baseline on the continent of Antarctica. More than indicator of how much pollution the sewage is intro- M1,000 people will call it home this summer. ducing into the slow-moving ocean off McMurdo It ’ s an around-the-clock operation that generates St a t i o n . sewage 24 hours a day. That waste is piped into the Seal feces help show the degree to which human ocean less than 200 feet from the shoreline. bacteria have become part of the ecosystem, possibly Two researchers are studying the impact the causing disease in the seal population. sewage outflow has on the McMurdo Sound ecosys- The drinking water studies are the first to test for tem and on the quality of drinking water at the station. viruses in McMurdo’s fresh water supply. The sta- John Lisle and Jim Smith are examining samples ti o n ’ s water is regularly tested for bacteria and other of ocean-floor sediment, the seawater, Weddell seal contaminants, including lead. feces and McMurdo’s drinking water for evidence of human bacteria and viruses. see Waste on page 5 2 • The Antarctic Sun October 29, 2000 News In B R I E F

Antarctic flyers including former lead contractor station buildings and support equipment, win national recognition Antarctic Support Associates, Lucia said. highlighted this year with a new power The 109th Airlift Wing, New York Ai r Lucia was careful to point out that the plant and a above-snow structure which National Guard, was awarded one of five success of the Air National Guard in will house personnel in the coming win- Air Force Chief of Staff Team Excellence Antarctic flying should cast no shadow ter season. awards in September. The award recog- on the Navy’s VXE-6 unit, which flew nizes team performance in a large - s c a l e , for the Antarctic program for over 50 NSF gets record in t e r -agency project, according to Chief ye a r s . budget boost Master Sgt. Charlie Lucia. President Clinton has approved a The project for which the Air National South Pole Station opens multi-agency spending bill that gives the Guard unit won the award was its success- Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station’s National Science Foundation its large s t ful transition from the Navy to the Air Force winter season ended Monday, with the budget increase ever. The Senate passed of command of Operation Deep Freeze. arrival of two LC-130H Hercules at the the fiscal year 2001 agreement earlier this “The challenge for us was to have the station closest to Earth’s axis. mo n t h . mission completely transferred to us from The planes dropped off 78 people to It sets aside $4.424 billion for the NSF, the U.S. Navy in a three-year period,” start the Pole’s summer season, and $526 million more than the previous bud- Lucia said. “The goal was to reduce the brought back four of the winter-o v e r ge t . cost of the mission to the NSF.” cr e w , according to air services representa- “The funding recommended in this The award is a national award, given tive Jennica Burk. bill will benefit the nation by enabling to the top teams out of all government As of Saturday, the station’s popula- new discoveries and innovations across agencies and departments, as well as tion was 162, after a winter with the pop- the frontiers of science and engineering,” civilian contractors, who deal with the Ai r ulation of about 50 people. said Rita Colwell, NSF Director. Fo r c e . According to planning documents, the “This increase also puts us on the path “I t ’ s only the second time that an Ai r station will be home to more than 200 towards doubling the NSF budget in five National Guard unit has received the people for most of the summer season, years,” she added. It’s a goal endorsed by award,” Lucia said. with construction crews occupying a more than 40 lawmakers. The 109th’s project required coordina- la r ge share of the sleeping space on the The Polar Programs component of the tion of the air wing with NSF, the Coast st a t i o n . spending agreement – which includes the Guard, NASAand other federal agencies The crews will continue work on a U.S. Antarctic Program – amounts to as well as multiple civilian contractors, multi-year project to build a new set of $275.6 million.

It took an act of Congress ICE ME D A L S GO TO TH O U S A N D S By Josh Landis Sun staff

Antarctic Program are scheduled to have The NSF processes the awards for all theirs delivered to their home addresses civilians, passing them to the U.S. sometime this austral summer. Antarctic Program contractor – currently Unlike most medals, it is awarded to Raytheon Polar Services – or a science non-military people and members of the ev e n t ’ s principal investigator for distribu- he challenge of living and Armed Forces alike. The regulations tion. The military manages its own distri- working in Antarctica varies simply require that a person spend 30 bu t i o n . from job to job, but in the eyes days or more south of 60 degrees south The medal is struck in bronze and T of Congress, it's all worthy of latitude on a government-affiliated mis- shows a man dressed in a parka, bracketed re c o g n i t i o n . sion. The time can be on a station or a by the words “Antarctica” and “Service.” The Antarctica Service Medal was ship – a month straight or cumulative. The figure’s clothing is modeled after the created by Congress in 1960 for “each “W orking down there is a challenge, uniform worn by Adm. George Dufek, person who serves, or has served, as a and this is a way of recognizing that,” who was the operational leader of the member of a United States expedition said Nadene Kennedy, National Science Deep Freeze expeditions of 1955-57. to An t a r c t i c a . ” Foundation polar coordination specialist. On the reverse side are the words, It can take up to a year from the end Only one medal is awarded per per- “Courage, Sacrifice, Devotion.” The rib- of a season for a participant to receive son, regardless of how many times they bon has its own significance. The black the medal, although future processing head south. Those who spend a winter in and dark blue outer bands comprise five- times will likely be shorter. Civilian Antarctica receive additional bars to pin twelfths of its width, symbolizing five workers for the 1999-2000 U.S. above the award. months of Antarctic darkness. ■ October 29, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 3

South Pole sites • www.s o u t h p o l e s t a t i o n . c o m Bill Spindler’s site about history of the South Pole, current news and future plans.

• www.s p o l e . g o v The official web site of Am u n d s e n - Scott South Pole Station, which is housed on a server at the Pole and is only available during its window of satellite connectivity.

• oae_99.tripod.com Juan Reyes spent last summer at Pole and has created this web The cat in the Cat site about his experience. Dave Carpenter spent Saturday dressed as “Tigger” for Halloween. Here he drives a forklift moving cargo around McMurdo Station. Photo by Jeff Inglis.

Corrections the week in weather In last week’s Science Roundup, the Sun stat- ed the International Trans-Antarctic Scientific around A n t a r c t i c a Expedition (ITASE) would be traversing parts of East Antarctica. ITASE will be based at Byrd Surface Camp and journey in Wes t McMurdo Station Palmer Station (S a t u r d a y ) South Pole Station An t a r c t i c a . High: 21F/-6C High: 35F/2C High: -40F/-40C Low: -27F/-33C Low: 28F/-2C Low: -74F/-59C The article on the American Polar Society Windchill: -81F/-63C Wind: 5 mph/8 kph Avg. temp: -58F/-50C incorrectly named two men as being in the Wind: 58 mph/93 kph Wind: 21 mph/34 kph first party to winter at the South Pole. Dick Bowers and Charlie Bevilacqua were part of the crew that began building the first station there in1956. around the world Saturday’s numbers

Bangalore, India Kingston, Jamaica High: 87F/31C High: 90F/32C The Antarctic Sun, part of the United States Low: 62F/17C Low: 76F/24C Antarctic Program, is funded by the National Helsinki, Finland Truth or Consequences, N.M. Science Foundation. High: 46F/8C High: 60F/16C Opinions and conclusions Low: 41F/5C Low: 38F/3C Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Yakutsk, Russia expressed in the Sun are not High: 74F/23C High: 8F/-13C necessarily those of the Foundation. Low: 67F/19C Low: -10F/-23C Us e : Reproduction and distribution are encouraged with acknowledgment of source and author. Pu b l i s h e r : Valerie Carroll, Communications manager, Raytheon Polar Se r v i c e s Senior Editor: Josh Landis The Antarctic Fire Editors: Beth Minneci Department is holding Je f f Inglis CPR Contributions are welcome. Contact the American Heart Association Sun at An t S u n @ p o l a r .org. In McMurdo, visit CPR certification courses 7 to 9 p.m. our office in Building 155 or dial 2407. Mondays at the firehouse. Free. Web address: ww w. p o l a r. o r g / a n t s u n 4 • The Antarctic Sun October 29, 2000 he a v e n l y ho o k u p

An t a r c t i c a ’ s link with the outside world gets an attitude (and longitude) adjustment

By Josh Landis Sun staff orbiter info s McMurdo Station settled in for another night of • INTELSAT 702 was launched into orbit sleep on Monday, a delicate and complex maneu- June 17, 1994. Aver was taking place high above the Pacific • It orbits 22,366 miles (36,000 kilometers) Ocean. The satellite that connects the station with the above the Equator. rest of the world was being repositioned in its orbit. It • It moves 6,900 mph (11,105 kph), but was a four- d a y appears stationary relative to Earth’s rotation. process that would be • It generates 3.3 kw of electricity from solar watched by people “Any time you’re nudging power. from Antarctica to • INTELSAT built the first global satellite Ames, California, a satellite there’s a risk of communication system in 1969. from Japan to Juneau, losing control.” • It carried pictures of the Apollo lunar landing Alaska. INTELSAT, that year. the corporation that controls the satellite, - Jim Johnson, was moving the “bird” head of information aside to make room technology, for a new one. McMurdo Station The INTELSAT cians watched the repositioning very carefully. The first 702 satellite soars half of the process was a controlled burn. Small rockets through space more on the satellite fired to change its course. The second than 22,000 miles above the Equator. It’s moving at a part involved stopping the craft’s movement. blazing speed, but because it keeps perfect time with the “Any time you’re nudging a satellite there’s a risk of Ea r t h ’ s rotation, it appears to be standing still. And it’s losing control,” said Johnson. “You could over-burn and not alone. Astring of geostationary satellites hovers per- go too far. There are a number of things you have to be manently over roughly zero degrees latitude, channeling concerned about.” information all over the world. From this spot on the globe, 702 is “visible” just three But the one that matters most to U.S. An t a r c t i c degrees above the horizon. Even a slight movement Program is 702. north could put it out of view, and McMurdo would fall “I t ’ s critical,” said Information Technology head Jim si l e n t . Johnson. “We would feel a major impact without it.” Johnson and senior communication technician Bruce Blackburn waited patiently as INTELSAT shifted 702’s All the phone calls we make, every e-mail we send, location one degree to the west. each television program we watch through the armed “I was sleeping lightly, half-expecting my pager to go forces network and every web page we browse goes of f,” Blackburn said. through 702. There are science events with full-time data A recent mishap that affected South Pole Station had uplinks. NASA engineers are continuously linked to the reminded everyone how much was at stake. One of the high-flying data carrier. four satellites Pole relies upon began tumbling in space. Without it, we would all but lose our voice to the out- NA S A was able to gain control of it before it wobbled side world. There is a backdoor through another satellite out of its orbit. that links up to Christchurch, but the connection stops th e r e . see Link on page 7 It ’ s understandable, then, that the information techni- October 29, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 5

Waste from page 1 The three major indicators the pair are Drinking water quality looking at are fecal coliform bacteria, a The sewage plume extends beyond the common indicator of water quality used in intake for McMurdo’s water supply, but this judging safety of beaches and shellfish, has not been a problem in the past. clostridium perfringens, a bacterium asso- “The drinking water quality’s always ciated with human sewage, and human been fine,” Smith said. But they are testing enterovirus, which is found in human the water in a new way. fe c e s . “This is the first time that viruses have been looked at,” Lisle said. Seal exposure Both are clear, though, about the out- Lisle and Smith will compare the genet- fa l l ’ s role in transmitting contagious dis- ic material in bacteria in sewage and in ease on the station. similar bacteria in seal feces to see if the “ You can’t get the Crud from the human bacteria are exchanging genetic se w e r ,” Smith said. information with bacteria in seals. The sea urchin St e r echinus neumayeri ca m o u f l a g e s The samples of drinking water will be “Nobody knows if seals normally have itself with debris from the ocean floor. In the center sent to the University of Arizona for analy- clostridia,” Lisle said. He said they are also of this photo, one tries to hide under a panty liner near McMurdo Station’s sewer outfall. Photo by sis of viral presence; the results will not be trying to find some seals that would not available until the scientists return home. have been exposed to human waste, to give Rob Robbins. them a baseline level of clostridium bacte- feet off the sea floor. Sewage treatment ria in seal feces. Since the new Crary aquarium was built “W ith the Antarctic Tre a t y , all the treaty They hope to learn whether human dis- five years ago, it flushes 250 gallons of signers are held to various standards for eases are being transmitted to the seals. cold seawater through the system each pollution and waste,” Smith said. Two teams of researchers studying minute, Robbins said. Some Antarctic bases do treat their Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound are It used to be that the pile would grow waste already, including an A u s t r a l i a n helping the pair by collecting samples of over the course of a season to the height of base, Smith said. New Zealand is planning seal feces. the pipe. Now, Robbins said, with the to build a sewage treatment plant at Scott increased flow from the aquarium in Crary, Base. McMurdo’s current macerator sys- Outfall sampling the waste has spread more thinly over a tem meets the treaty requirements. Science support diver Rob Robbins is la r ge area. “Doing sewage treatment down here is a collecting samples of water and the ocean “Now it’s this huge field of effluent. It’s real challenge,” Smith said. Other places, floor around the sewage outfall. mostly poop out there,” Robbins said. he said, use big lagoons or oxidation ponds. Previous work has shown clostridia in “Most of the pieces are about as big as your “Y ou can’t have that here. It’d just sediment layers containing fecal coliform, fi n g e r n a i l . ” freeze solid,” he said. and defined the physical extent of the pol- Robbins talked about the spiny sea Blasting began last week for McMurdo’s lution from the sewage outfall. urchins that like to try to camouflage them- new sewage treatment plant, which will be One of the problems was the concentra- selves with debris from the ocean floor. running in 2003, said NSF facilities manag- tion of waste in a location where the water No r m a l l y , they use other animals or bits of er Frank Brier. The sludge from the plant, do e s n ’ t do much to dilute it. coral or other normal sea-floor debris. Near Brier said, will be sent back to the U.S. for “There aren’t very high current speeds the outfall, though, Robbins said, “You see disposal. The water leaving the plant will be he r e , ’ ’Smith said. them with pretty interesting things.” treated to kill viruses and bacteria to pre- The end of the pipe, Robbins said, is “I like diving at the outfall,” Robbins vent further pollution of the ocean. 180 feet offshore in an area where the bot- said. “You see things you’d never see any- “What is discharged (from the plant) is tom is 60 feet deep. The pipe is raised four where else.” not drinkable but it’s clean,” Brier said. ■

Highw 1 y

The continent’s population is growing with each arriving flight. WIthin weeks most stations and “When people are “When there’ s more camps will be close to their summer peaks. competing for “S u n r i s e . ” people in the costume bug juice.” P.J. Charpentier closet than are in the What are signs of Ginger Al f e r o s wi n t e r -over computer guy galley at lunchtime.” ga l l e y Lynn Sprowles overpopulation in rec re a t i o n Antarctica? 6 • The Antarctic Sun October 29, 2000 Playhouse yields to communications building By Jeff Inglis It was used as a steel shop during the con- Sun staff struction of the Crary Lab, a warehouse for the station store, winter storage for heavy equip- Construction crews this week tore down the ment, and a home to the general field assistants McMurdo Station playhouse, also known as in the 1980s, McMurdo operations manager Building 64, with a little help from the wind in Bill Haals said. Th u r s d a y ’ s storm. He also remembers when the building was Built in 1958, it was one of the original sta- shortened by about 15 feet, resulting in an infor- tion buildings. It was the same age as the gym, mal name change for Building 64. the bowling alley/ceramics room and cargo “It was called ‘Building 63 and fifteen-six- building 73. The Mechanical Equipment teenths,’” Haals said. Charlie Blackmer, left, and Chris Ce n t e r , building 58, was also built that year. The playhouse was also used as a temporary Craver strip metal sheets from the The metal Quonset hut known as the roof of the old playhouse. Photo by Playhouse was used for many things during its life. see Playhouse on page 8 Je f f Inglis.

Match the tattoos to their owners. See next page for answers

Ro b i n Er i c Ci c e l y Da v i d Ka r l a

Ka t Pa u l i Ro b Jo s h A B D C

I E

F G H October 29, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 7 Link d- r - r - r - r - u u u u m r o l l . . . The following matches tattoos to owners, gives location of the tattoo, name of the tattoo parlor if available and a brief explanation for the tattoo.

C E I

Eric Sturm, 24. Right Robin Lovato, 41. Cicely Wingate, 25. arm. St. Louis. “It Upper left thigh. Got Back.. Moscow, was kind of a tattoo in Christchurch Idaho. Cicely had Mo t h e r ’s Day at Down Under been on crutches for pr esent. My mom Tattoos. “Roses. eight weeks after knee loves my tattoo.” I have a passion su rg e r y and needed for them.’’ a “release.” A map shows 702’s “footprint,” spanning from the Arctic to the Antarctic. McMurdo Station lies at the outer limit of the B A F satellite’s southern range. Image courtesy of INTELSAT. from page 4

But at McMurdo there were no emergency pages. Th e repositioning of 702 went as planned. The only glitch was a 15-minute interruption in Internet service, which Johnson said could have been caused by the move. The satellite is David McPike, 23. Karla Hardy , 33. Kat Locke, 28. Lower just one point in the Back. Denver. Bolder Lower back. The back. Atlanta. “I knew transfer of informa- The power needed Ink. He got the idea Emporium in Denver. I wanted it. I waited tion to and from to support the link is “f r om fantasy novels This is Karla’s third th r ee years for it. The Mc M u r d o . I used to read. I eagle tattoo. “It’s time was right.” On this end, it all surprisingly little, wanted something kind of addictive. gets funneled into a about the same amount kind of surrea l . ’ ’ I love eagles.” microwave dish used by an behind the Berg Field Center. From electric space heater. H D there the data’s transferred a little over 20 miles south to Black Island. It then travels via a 36-foot (11-meter) dish up to the satel- lite. Solar cells, wind turbines and generators supply the G electricity needed to power the link. It’s surprisingly lit- tl e . Pauli Dietsche, 32. Upper Rob Yeomans, 29. Right Josh Morton, 19. “W e pull about 1,500 watts pretty well full time, back. Talkeetna, Al a s k a . arm. Christchurch . Chest. Painless Steel, which is about the amount of power used by an electric This “symbol for eternal It ’ s homemade. “My Missoula, Montana. space heater,” Blackburn said. life” is Pauli’s second tat - mate got the same one “I got the joker Regardless of where in the pipeline it is, all the data too and covers his first, a on his chest.” Neither because my name is must be bundled into a package that can be carried by a symbol for the Klingon tattoo is complete, how - Josh. ‘To josh’me a n s high-speed, digital connection. The U.S. A n t a r c t i c Em p i r e from Star Trek, a ev e r . Their needle brok e to joke. Plus I like the Program pays for a T-1 line that ends up in Brewster, mark he explains this way: be f o r e they could finish de s i g n . ” Washington. When the information arrives, it’s split into “I was young. tattooing each other. its various forms and shuttled on to the final destina- I was drunk.” Yeo m a n s ’ tattoo rea d s ti o n s . “H a r d” rather than “Die Hard.” It ’ s a long way from Antarctic communication of less than a decade ago, when there was no e-mail, no web surfing, and the only hope of a phone call from McMurdo involved a ham radio patch and all sentences ending with the word, “Over.” ■ 8 • The Antarctic Sun October 29, 2000

OUR ANTARCTIC WEEK Playhouse from page 6 Sunday Oct. 29 heavy shop in 1982-83 after fire destroyed the regular heavy shop. • Science lecture: “Dry Valleys LTER: “I t ’ s been used for a lot of different things,” said McMurdo con- Where are we after eight years?” W. Berry struction coordinator Woody Haywood. Lyons, 8 p.m., galley No w , however, the area will be used to build a communications ce n t e r , consolidating Internet, telephone and satellite operations. Monday Oct. 30 Those facilities are now • Movie Night – “Mystery Man,” 8 p.m., spread throughout town. galley “W e’re creating a new building that will be the hub “We’re creating a new Tuesday Oct. 31 of communications at • Lecture and discussion, “The Reality of McMurdo,” Haywood said. building that will be the hub Dreams,” with Jack Haller, 8 p.m., Coffee Construction on the new of communications at House building will begin during the wi n t e r . Until then, the workers Mc M u r d o . ” Wednesday Nov. 1 will clear the site and prepare • Science talk: Dry Valleys LTER. W. Berry it for new construction. - Woody Haywood, Lyons, 7:30 p.m., Crary conference area The workers, Haywood McMurdo construction said, haven’t found any mate- Thursday Oct. 26 rial of historical significance, coordinator • Acoustic night, 8 p.m.,Coffee House though he said they might Friday Oct. 27 when they tear up the floor later in the season. He said the • Swing dance lessons, 7:30 p.m., gym crew would help preserve anything they find. Saturday Oct. 28 “When we do find some of that old stuff we just throw it in the bars • Scott Base “P” party: come dressed as so people can look at it,” Haywood said. The workers are on the South Pole construction crew, working something starting with the letter “P,” 8 while they’re in town, before heading to the Pole. When they go, p.m., Scott Base Haywood said, McMurdo construction workers will complete the project. ■ October 29, 2000 The Antarctic Sun • 9

CA M P AR O U N D By Beth Minneci Co o l e s t Sun staff ith measures of dread and enthusiasm, each year 450 people, or about one-third of U.S. “This is not boot camp. Antarctic Program participants, undergo 30 hours We’re not here of outdoor survival training. W to make you miserable." In what’s commonly called Happy Camper School, field guides teach students skills such as building snow shelters, using radios and recognizing signs of hypothermia. Then they - Ted Dettmar, field safety leave campers to fend for themselves overnight, armed only instructor with cold weather clothing, sleeping bags, freeze-dried meals and tiny gas stoves. “This is not boot camp,’’lead instructor Ted Dettmar tells his students, in an effort to make them feel at ease. “We’re not here to make you miserable.” Still, it’s a harsh test. Temperatures routinely fall below zero Fahrenheit at the camp, located on the ice shelf about five miles from McMurdo Station. “It’s tough,’’ says camper Chuck Kurnik, who shivers uncontrollably while trying to light a stove for hot water. “The cold is relentless. Th a t ’ s the thing.’’ The course is required before a person can go to field camps. In addition to practice with survival kits, the experi- ence makes people aware of their mental capacity in a survival situation, Dettmar says. ■

Below: Brett VandenHeuvel and David Story rest on a snow bench Above: Instructor inside a quarry, the Ted Dettmar den left after snow demonstrates a blocks are dug out. Whisperlite gas Right: A camper stove, which is cuts a snow block stored in survival that will be used to kits. Right: Chuck build a wall for Kurnik melts snow wind protection. for drinking water.

Above: David Story saws slabs for his snow cave, or Quinzhee hut. Right: Icicles melt off Justin Re e s e ’ s beard as he crawls inside a canvas tent. Body heat from four campers and a stove are making the steam. 10 • The Antarctic Sun October 29, 2000 Pr o f i l e No r b e r t Wu Woos the world with pictures

By Beth Minneci Sun staff ne of the world’s most accom- plished underwater photogra- phers is about to show off what O goes on underneath An t a r c t i c ice, and what happens on top of it. People who packed the McMurdo Station galley Oct. 22 watched Norbert Photos provided by Norbert Wu Wu’ s work-in-progress, “Under An t a r c t i c Ic e , ’ ’due to air on PBS’s Na t u r e next fall. The footage included close-ups of penguins jetting through the dark ocean wa t e r , starfish wriggling on the ocean Meanwhile, in the next couple of floor and orcas spy-hopping through months, he’ll travel to fulfill a Pew breaks in the sea ice. Marine Conservation Fellowship. This is But what Ice locals will most relate to a three-year project in which Wu has are the above-the-ice scenes. Clad in the proposed to document the state of coral familiar red parkas with silver, rectangu- reefs and fisheries worldwide and pro- lar patches, McMurdo residents tell the duce a book that shows the most endan- camera why they’re here. gered areas of the planet. Wu shot local dialogue to capture what In November and December he’ll go he calls the “excitement and urgency” of to Sardinia, Patagonia, Thailand and summer at McMurdo. The clips will be an may return to the Arctic. integral part of the film. Wu says the peo- People who work with him say he is ple segments were difficult for him to do. an overachiever, an intense and particu- “W e’ve been calling it the glue that lar person. He is known for having high holds the story together,” Wu says of the standards for himself and others, and for McMurdo footage. “That’s real work for snubbing people who don’t. me because I’m used to just going out Diver Christian McDonald worked and seeing an underwater scene and doc- with Wu in Antarctica this month and in engineer for nine months in Silicon umenting that.” 19 9 9 . Valley before a school contact turned In an excerpt from one of his books, “I enjoy (working with him); some him onto a diving job with a research Wu claims to have an aversion to work. people don’t,” McDonald said. “He’s institute in Panama. But his credentials and reputation indi- very demanding and he demands a lot “I was all over it,” Wu said. cate otherwise. out of himself and his people. That can After that he took pictures in New On film he has captured marine life in be a challenge.’’ Zealand while working on Jacques a range of communities, from tropical The result is always rewarding, Co u s t e a u ’ s research vessel Ca l y p s o . A waters to the Artic and An t a r c t i c . McDonald said. trip to the Arctic followed. Since then he Wu’ s writing and photography have Wu, 39, grew up in Atlanta. He start- has dived in oceans around the world. appeared in magazines such as Na t i o n a l ed exploring the oceans in Florida when In Antarctica, Wu and his crew have Ge o g r a p h i c , Ou t s i d e , Au d u b o n and Om n i . he was a kid. His underwater photogra- been exploring spots around Ross Island. He ’ s the author of several books on phy career, however, started just 10 years Because the water around Antarctica is wildlife and photography, and only recent- ag o . isolated, marine life here is like nowhere ly started making films. As a child Wu wanted to become a el s e . The NSF awarded Wu three Ar t i s t s marine biologist. But later he turned to a And working from McMurdo Station, and Writers grants, in 1997, 1999 and more “pragmatic” choice of engineering. with its hot meals and warm beds, has this year. Last year he started the movie. At Stanford he earned bachelor’s and made capturing Antarctic life on film This month he recorded more footage, ma s t e r ’s degrees in that field. easier than working at a field camp. and in January, he is scheduled to return Along the way his passion for marine “Diving out of McMurdo is pretty to finish the film. studies grew. He worked as a computer co o l , ’ ’he said. ■