Antarctica, Halley and penguins

So finally I make it to Antarctica! We mooored up on Thursday night, at Creek 4, a cove 15 km from Halley base. A tent was set up for me up on the ice cliffs to run an experiment from and since then I have been walking the mile round trip from ship to ice camp every three hours to sample air and emissions from the snow. I have thoroughly enjoyed walking across the ice shelf, seeing the occasional penguin and marvelling at the skies, the cliffs in the background and the differences in weather, which are quite pronounced at the coast. Yesterday morning thick black clouds hung over the ocean to the north and clear blue skies over the continent to the south. Having been on the ship for over 4 weeks it’s nice to get some exercise outdoors too!

We returned from our visit to Halley yesterday to find a group of emporor penguins watching the ships activities. I sat at the end of the mooring lines to take a photograph and they decided to leave, walking down the line towards me. I was soon surrounded by penguins who were close enough to touch, what an amazing experience.

Photograph courtesy Kjersti Daae

Photograph courtesy Kjersti Daae

We’ve picked up about 30 people from Halley, some have just worked the summer season, whereas for others this will be their first time off the icy continent for 16 months. It’s nice to have some new faces on board and last night we played games and drank punch until the early hours of the morning. Getting up a few hours later to pack up my equipment at the tent and carry everything back to the ship in strong icy winds and blowing snow was possibly the least enjoyable way I could have imagined spending my Sunday morning, but it cleared the hangover at least. This afternoon I’m having a little time off, my new roommate Kjersti is teaching me how to knit and speak Norweigen.

Earlier in the week I was taken out in the fast rescue boat to collect pieces of ice and make cores on promisng looking ice floes. The captain himself was in the driving seat on one occasion, I think he enjoyed tearing around in a small boat for a change, and I had a go at driving, it’s quite difficult as the boat takes a while to respond – you end up steering too much and before you know it you’re going in totally the wrong direction. I had also had a go at steering the ship which was great fun, for such a huge vessell she’s suprisingly responsive, meandering round ice floes was a little nerve wracking, the captain took over when we got to thicker ice! 

Photograph courtesy Patrick Robinson

Breathtaking....

This evening there's a full moon on one side of the ship and the sun is glancing the horizon on the other. The sky is a pastel watercolour of lilacs and blues and the waves in the wake of the ship move slowly as the surface of the ocean is covered in a layer of greasy black ice. The purples, pinks and blues make the ocean irridescent, reflecting the seldom seen moon, and creating a blue glow from the white ice. The effect is very unreal, but even a skilled artist or graphic designer could not create a scene so alive with colour and surreal. My camera and I can only hope to convey some of the beauty of the scene, I'm so lucky to be here. As I dashed outside just now to photograph two penguins on a nearby floe, one raised a wing, as if pointing out to the other the reflection of the moon :)

Spectacular scenery, wildlife and - finally! - functioning equipment

This morning I was considering alternative careers, I haven't been able to write for a few days as things have been going badly and I've been so disheartened with working so hard and not getting anywhere, but then all of sudden a seal was spotted so the ship was stopped and I was able to get out onto the ice and make some cores. The cores went well, a few passing emperor penguins stopped to see what the fuss was about and life suddenly doesn't seem so bad....and then following a pep talk by Claire at UEA, success with the instrument this afternoon, everything's now running well, hurrah! 

Brain making a core whilst the penguins have a look at the ship

The Weddell seals aren't too difficult to tag, Patrick can get pretty close before they can be bothered to move, when they do they look so unelegant with their big slimy bodies humping acros the ice. But up close they're quite beautiful, their eyes are enormous and they look so bewildered by the approaching scientists!

The ship parked up by a big ice floe. We are lifted out of the ship and on to the ice in a basket, which is pretty cool :)

Now we've crossed the Antarctic Circle it's constantly light, and the colours across the ice at night when the sun is low in the sky are beautiful

The ice cliffs of Antarctica at night, I can't do it justice with my camera, despite being outside taking photos until my frozen finger was unable to take any more  

You can just about make out the rainbow (or is that an icebow when it's ice crystals in the air causing the light to diffract?) which looked like it was coming out of the iceberg

I have a very strange perception of time, as I have no need to know what day of the week it is. It feels simultaneously like I've been on this ship for months, and that time is flying by and I'll soon not have enough time left to do the experiments I want to. Spirits  are still high amongst the science team as most things progress well, and the crew are as friendly and helpful as ever (as long as I remember to shut the watertight doors!)