Last friday I got to tour the pressure ridges near Scott Base with a small group. Our leader was Ann Bancroft, a member of the American Women's Antarctic Expedition to the south pole back in 1992, who now works as the site manager for the long duration balloon project.

Also, yesturday was the last time SCINI went in the water this season, we hosted an open house for the McMurdo community down at the jetty with both SCINI and VideoRay in the water...


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The pressure ridges were a special treat as us Americans are usually prohibited from this more dangerous, constantly changing area. The pressure of the thick Ross Ice shelf (out of sight from the shore) pushes this thinner sea ice up against the rocky base of Observation Hill in front of Scott Base; the crevases and peaks sometimes rise so fast you can see the landscape moving from the New Zealander's base.

Here are some final clips of SCINI and video ray driving together, which gives a much better idea of how the two vehicles interact and their scale compared to the objects they investigate.

Here are 2 clips of VideoRay from SCINI's perspective, first with scaling lasers powered up (you can see the algea bloom is getting thicker this time of season as the laser's path lights up particles) and later lighting up a rock scene with nice warm bright external lights. You can really see the difference in video quality, though of course the VideoRay's more polished lighting and dome close the gap a lot:

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VideoRay Lasers(download, smaller).

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VideoRay Bright(download, smaller).

And here's SCINI manuevering around some benthic life, then shooting off into the unknown, never to be seen again...

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SCINI investigating (download).

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And away! (download).