#AntarcticLog is a series of comics by Karen Romano Young. You can find the originals here.

Why did the Nathaniel B. Palmer cross the Drake Passage? 

To get to the other side… Antarctica, that is — and to carry the International Thwaites Glacier Collaborative (ITGC) scientists to their research sites in the Amundsen Sea. 

The ITGC is a multiyear, multination project designed to monitor what’s happening with the world’s most vulnerable glacier.

Three years ago, I was aboard the JOIDES Resolution with Julia Wellner of the University of Houston. She was a chief scientist on two ships at once — the JR, drilling for sediment cores at sea, and the NBP, working close to shore.  This comic explains: 

After a long quarantine and an arduous journey, Julia is back in the Amundsen Sea. #AntarcticLog will be checking in with her and the ITGC team for the next two months. What they learn about the Thwaites Glacier (follow it at @glacierthwaites) will help them tell a story of the past, present, and future, with an impact on the whole world. 

–Karen Romano Young is a writer, artist, deep-sea diver, and polar explorer. Follow her on Twitter & Instagram.