Fabulous Antarctic Videos

OK, so I know I haven't posted any Antarctic action lately (that' s because I'm currently based in Cambridge, UK and as far I'm concerned, if there's no snow, it's not worth writing about) but Kirk Watson, one of the team down at Rothera, has been making some
WONDERFUL VIDEOS OF ANTARCTIC WINTER LIFE

As for me, I'm off back down south in just a few weeks time so watch this space for more photos, stories and snowy science from the start of November...

Travels

A few photos from my recent travels up the Antarctic Peninsula to Tierra del Fuego and into Patagonia...stories to follow...

Out and About

Last Sunday afternoon, as the sun broke through the clouds at last, I clambered up Stork Ridge and looked down at the glacier below.

Monday night at Rothera's very own ski resort...

Wildlife

And even wilder scenery...

From the window of the plane when I was lucky enough to venture further afield:

Happy Christmas and a very Merry New Year!

A 'Dingle Day' at last!

When the sun finally comes along and lights up this place after days spent under a giant white blanket of cloud and snow, it feels like the curtain has been lifted on a world inconceivable only hours ago. Days like today are beyond description in English but in Antarctican we call them 'dingle days'. When the snow sparkles and each face of a mountain is glowing in a different shade. The sea shimmers and, around the base of icebergs, takes on an incredible turquoise colour that could never be mixed. When everywhere you look, you find yourself staring transfixed and unable to take it in. When the thin strands of high ice cloud appear as if they are trying to frame the view. When nothing quite looks real. When the scene in front of you is so breathtakingly beautiful that you can't think beyond the present moment.

I set off from the base, below, to marvel at the raw beauty that surrounds it...

A lonely penguin dwarfed by the icebergs that act as a safe haven for it to escape the lurking leopard seal.

A seal sunning itself on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

After a day out enjoying the stunning weather, including carving some turns on my board at the local ski resort - Vals, I prepared for a night spent weather watching. The recent bad weather has left us with a back logs of field parties to fly out so today 24 hour operations were called for. I'm duty met tonight and it suits me just fine as I can enjoy a few more shades of magic as the light slowly shifts and the clouds start to roll in. Soon the splendour will be hidden behind a veil once again so I'm happy to catch every moment.

I'll try and write a bit more about my job here soon.

Underground, Overground...

Welcome to the one or two extra followers my blog seems to have aquired of late, hope you enjoy a glimpse of this slightly otherworldy corner of the earth.

After all those photos of the mindblowingly beautiful crevass just up the hill from Rothera, here's a photo of me slithering my way through said ice cavern:

Below you see me making the most of a sunny interval amidst what seemed like a neverending storm. The high winds that day were creating some excellent flying saucer like 'lenticular' clouds over the ridge behind the base. I skied out for a spot of wildlife watching around Rothera Point and bumped into (almost literally) a few cuddly Weddell seals and some Adelie penguins, waddling their way through life in what appears to be a charmingly oblivious fashion.

I'm currently featured on a women in science blog, have a look if you want to find out how I ended up here.

Easy Come, Easy Go

My first voyage to Antarctica involved 10 weeks on board a ship, crossing the equator then on southwards via various little known islands and eventually bashing through ice nall the way to the ice cliffs of mainland Antarctica. This time, I left the UK on Wednesday afternoon and touched down on the Antarctic Peninsula in time for lunch on Friday.

The photo above shows the Dash 7, the British Antarctic Survey's 'passenger jet' that brings people in and out of Rothera Research Station from late October to early March. It lands on wheels on a runway kept clear of snow and can even make it further south to land on blue ice runways. This morning the Dash 7 left Rothera bound for Punta Arenas in southern Chile. Amongst it's 14 or so passengers and crew was Matt Balmer, who's just finished 2 and a half years working as an electronics engineers down here without once leaving. When the plane returns tomorrow morning, it will bring the Dutch crown Prince and Princess, on a weekend trip south as part of their world tour monitoring the effects of global climate change.