First Day on Land!
7 January 2002

The Laurence M. Gould arrived at Palmer Station yesterday at 9 am, or 0900. We had a busy day. First, we all had a meeting before anyone could leave the ship. Bob Farrell, the Palmer Station Manager, came on board to welcome us. He also told us all the things we needed to think about in order to be safe while at Palmer Station. Finally, he told us about the Antarctic Conservation Act. This act protects all the native birds, mammals, and plant of Antarctica. We must stay at least 10 feet away from any animals. We must stay further away if the animal appears to be bothered by our presence.

Then we were allowed to come on shore. It was funny to see that a Gentoo penguin was right at the dock, as if he or she was welcoming us to Palmer. (So, we waited until this welcoming party moved away). For those of us who are staying here at Palmer, we had several more classes:

• 1300: General Orientation to Palmer Station, with information about housing, food service, water usage, medical, communications, and safety issues.
  
  
• 1415: Tour of the kitchen, dining room, food storage areas.
  
  
• 1430: Tour of the science laboratories
  
  
• 1600: Boating I Safety Class--more about this later
  
  
• 1800: Welcome party, where we also said goodbye to the people who are leaving on the ship tomorrow.

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