Ship Shape

Wednesday morning, I stepped out of my dormitory to go to the post office.  A front had blown through the day before and it was a cold, cold, misty morning.  I glanced over my shoulder and guess what I saw?

What do you see in the picture, kids?

A very special ship!  This kind of ship is called an Icebreaker!

What do you think an ice breaker ship does?  Do you see any clues in the picture?

This ship sailed all the way down from a country far, far north of here - on the very northern part of the world!  The country this ship came from is called Russia.  This ship has a name, too!  It's the Vladmir Ignatyuk. 

He's breaking up the ice in McMurdo Sound into lots of little pieces!  How do you think he does that?

He is the farthest-south boat in the entire world!  Why do you think he's breaking up the ice for us?

Can you see where the ice breaker went through?

The mountains are very pretty, aren't they?

The blocks of ice floating in the water are called icebergs.  Do you think icebergs float mostly on top of the water?  Or underneath?

THIS is why the icebreaker came to help us!  He made a special passage through the thick ice so this big, BIG ship can come in!  What kind of ship is this one called?  What do you think he may be carrying?

It is a very big ship, isn't it?  But his anchors aren't in the water!  How do you think he keeps from floating away?

That's right!  Very big ROPES!!  These ropes are place around very strong posts, called "bollards".

This ship is so big, it carries it's own smaller boats with it!

What do you think these smaller boats are for?

Can you find the ice breaker in this picture?