Observation Tube
I went with Keith, Brian, and Justin to the McMurdo Sound observation tube today. Set up by the USAP a few hundred feet offshore, the observation tube is shaped like a large thermometer, with a roughly 25 foot descent through a pipe into a small bulb with windows. The pipe runs down through the sea ice, and the bulb windows provide a view into the water all around. The view is spectacular, but we all throught the sounds of the underwater environment were the highlight of the excursion. The high-pitched sounds of distant seals can be heard faintly in the tube.
Reporting by Peter Kimball