The 3D lab

Dressed like a scientist

Posted on November 26, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

I finally bought something I already needed for a very long time: I got myself some nice, warm, cosy, wind-protecting clothing. All this time I had been working in the field without the appropriate jacket. Try to imagine! How was I ever going to become a field ecologist without a real jacket!? It’s a shame, it really is. The comfort of the scientist makes or breaks the research.

But from now on, I am perfectly prepared for all possible circumstances in the field. A whole day of rain? No problem! Winds that even throw your whole backpack from the mountain? I don’t care at all! Even the snowy conditions on the Chilean mountains won’t scare me anymore, I just crawl safe and warm back into my jacket with adjusted fleece sweater.

Posted in Belgium | Tagged Adventure, Fieldwork, Scientific equipment | 3 Comments

Pictures from Chile

Posted on November 23, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

I’m currently safely back in Belgium and found some time to look at my favorite views from my visit to Chile. I’ll add some of them to this post and upload more interesting pictures to the photo gallery ‘Punta Arenas’ on my homepage.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Punta Arenas, Subantarctic | 6 Comments

Wind chill

Posted on November 19, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

Imagine a nice day in the middle of spring: sky is blue and the sun is gaining power every day. You can feel its warmth on your cheeks as you turn your head towards it. The good live…

But all of a sudden a strong wind starts to blow. before you know it all warmth is blown away from you. The sun is still as warm and the temperature is exactly the same but before you can feel the comfort, the warmth is already gone. Even the heating generated by your own body gets lost; you can no longer maintain the warm layer of air around your skin.

The temperature remained but the strong wind gives you the impression that the day is much colder than it is in reality. That feeling is called the wind chill factor, a significant dropping in the experienced temperature on a day with strong winds. It is everyday reality in Punta Arenas, city of whirling winds. This makes field work a lot harder, because the wind chill makes you experience temperatures way below freezing point even when the actual temperature is around 5 °C.

This wind chill is in addition to the pure force of the wind that even shapes trees permanently. Being an important reason why a place on the same latitude as the Netherlands gets conditions that resemble the harsh situation in the north of Sweden. That is, of course, one of the main reasons why we chose this place for our experiment.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Fieldwork, Punta Arenas, Subantarctic | 3 Comments

The other side of the peninsula

Posted on November 15, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

On our devoted search for field sites, we decided to cross the peninsula and approach the mountains from the other side. We would not be too far away from our other sides, but it would be a long drive on gravel roads to get around them.

Luckily, we had the beauty of the Patagonian nature to save us from a boring trip. I could never imagine that a country could have so many birds of prey packed so close together. Every hundred meters, another one flew up from a pole or showed its marvelous acrobatic tricks in the air. In between, large amounts of majestic geese, beautifully coloured ducks and on the horizon even two pink dots that seemed to be flamingos. The further we got, the better the view…

The other side - geese

As soon as we crossed the inland, a splendid view on the bay unfolded before our eyes. In the far north, we could see the snowy peaks of Isla Riesco, the southernmost part of the Chilean Andes. The waves, guided by strong southern winds, crashed on the shore and giant black petrels floated above the shoreline. The cows, horses and sheep that were regularly startled by our passing car warned us that this was no true wild nature, but we won’t easily find any better in Europe.

The very moment we thought to be as far away from civilization as possible, the happy face of another candidate for the upcoming elections smiled at us from the trunk of a dead tree, right before a typical Chilean farmer approached us on his horse, eager to help us on our hunt for accessible mountains. At least the Chilean landscape makes you forget itif the fieldwork brings you bad luck.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Adventure, Animals, Birds, Isla Riesco, Patagonia, Subantarctic | 1 Comment

Apologies to a city – the dogs

Posted on November 15, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

I have been unnecessarily rude against the city of Punta Arenas (see my previous post ‘… and the ugly’, but I’m making up for it). If the dogs would know I’d been so rude, they would look at me with their sad devoted eyes and make me feel really sorry about it. They have the right to look sad, because they put in a lot of trouble to make you feel at home. Every time they see a tourist, they immediately jump into action and hold you company for the rest of your walk. They don’t need anything in return, they don’t ask any questions, they just give you the comfort of a friend and guide on your walk through the city. The dogs2

I know, I know, they’re only street-dogs and the only thing they want is something to eat, which they hope to get from you, but still I like it when they put in the effort of walking with me on the dike. Unfortunately, I had no food to pay for their unasked company. That is why I decided to give them a blog post to honor their indefatigable work.

Posted in Chile | Tagged Abroad, Animals, Punta Arenas, Subantarctic | 3 Comments

Apologies to a city – the dike

Posted on November 13, 2013 by lembrechtsjonas

The dike2

I have been unnecessarily rude to the city of Punta Arenas (see my previous post ‘… and the ugly’). I did not realize that all I needed was a warm and sunny day and a leisure walk along the beach to experience the hidden beauty of this city. That’s why I decided to write a couple of posts about this rough diamond of the south.

I used a free afternoon on a day with low(er) wind speed and a bright blue sky to stroll over the dike. People were happy, young couples were enjoying the view (on each other) and the Estrecho de Magallanes (Strait of Magellan) showed an undiscribable blue color.

Although there isn’t a real beach, the dike is nice and open, with blue outlines of the mountains of Tierra del Fuego on the horizon. The city is proud of the connection with the sea. As you can see from all kinds of modern statues of ships that brighten up the dike. The dike1 - statue When the weather is nice, the dike of Punta Arenas is definitely a nice place to be. Enjoy the view on the quarreling cormorants and wonder about the story behind the strange concrete structures, as long as the wind does not chase you away to a better place. The dike4 - cormorants These are my sincere apologies to a city that just needed a bit of time and the correct weather conditions to show her hidden beauty. The dike3