The 2011 Weddell seal research field team is now heading to the Ice! 

Research field team members were issued their Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) clothing by the U.S. Antarctic Program, New Zealand at the Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) yesterday in beautiful Christchurch, New Zealand. This was in preparation for their flight to McMurdo Station today. 

This morning, Weddell seal team member Jesse DeVoe reports a "rainy day in Christchurch today as the crew awaits our 10am departure to the ice! Spirits are high! Hopefully the severe blizzards in McMurdo have cleared for our arrival!" 

A check of the McMurdo Station web cam shows the skies clearing for landing by the U.S. Air Force operated C-17 military transport on the Pegasus Ice Runway outside McMurdo.

You can keep up with the team via our Facebook and Twitter posts!

Below is a great satellite imaging flyover of the McMurdo Sound area where we're heading.  This satellite flyover also exlpores the Dry Valleys and glaciers beyond McMurdo Sound.

This beautiful satellite imaging flyover was created by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio; LIMA Data provided by: Patricia Vornberger (SAIC); LIMA data produced by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and NASA.

– Mary Lynn Price