Thursday 9 November 2006
New Halley VI Website
I've just finished putting together a new website for the Halley VI Project as part of my new job with them. The idea is that we will all post news articles to the front page to keep everyone informed about how the planning and construction is going. I expect I'll be posting more to that site than this one from now on so if you want the latest news from Antarctica when I return in January then you should bookmark the new site.
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Sunday 8 October 2006
The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Halley has a great selection of old 8mm cine film reels, with the best of the bunch being a 50 minute colour documentary of the 1955-58 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. It usually gets a few showings a year and the quality is starting to fade, so during my first winter Mark Maltby recorded it to a digital format by projecting the reel onto the darkroom wall then recording it with his digital video camera. The results were surprisingly good so I made sure I took a copy back home with me.
Next weekend I'm going to a Halley Reunion marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the base (in fact it was built at the same time as the Trans-Antarctic Expedition, not far from Shackleton Base). I know that some ex-Halley winterers read this site so it seemed appropriate to post it here to mark the occasion.
As well as including some familiar landmarks (such as the Theron Mountains and the Shackleton Range, many of the vehicles, clothing and equipment is not that different from what we use today. Certainly the jobs (like shoveling snow) have changed very little and of course Antarctica itself looks the same now as it always has.
I must admit that I'm not sure who (if anyone) owns the copyright to this film, but I thought it was such amazing footage it would be a real shame if it only got watched by a handful of people. If anyone knows who owns the copyright then let me know and I'll seek permission and credit them appropriately.
Part 1: The Journey South
Part 2: Preparations
Part 3: Wintering Routine
Part 4: The Journey Begins
Part 5: Completing the Journey
Each video is about 10 minutes long. If you have any problems viewing the embedded videos you can try viewing them directly on YouTube by following these links: 1 2 3 4 5
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Wednesday 2 August 2006
Heading Back to Halley
Well I should have known that I couldn't stay away forever!
Since I got back to the UK I've spent a couple of months working for BAS in Cambridge, setting up some computers which are being sent to Halley next summer. While I was there I found about a job for the Halley VI Project Team, which involves coordinating the move of the science experiments from the old base to Halley VI, the new base which is being built over the next few years to replace the current station.
I applied, and yesterday I found out that I got the job! That means that I'll be heading back to Halley for the next four Antarctic summers, and working in Cambridge the rest of the time.
As for this website, I'm not sure yet that I'm going to return to posting all year round (I just can't see that the day-to-day office life will be that interesting), but I do think I'll be continuing it in some shape or form over the coming months.
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Friday 14 April 2006
Is that it?
I've been putting off writing an entry for a while now about what it's like to be back in the UK. After being in such a strange place for the last two and a half years I think I was expecting some interesting revelations to arise when I came back. I thought there would probably be some kind of 'adjustment period' during which everything would be just a little bit odd.
The reality of it is, the only strange thing is how nothing is that strange. Shortly after arriving home, I felt just like I'd never left. I got in a car for the first time, and found that I could drive just fine. After two years with nothing but skidoos, driving at 70mph in a car was a change sure, but I still remembered what it was like and acted accordingly. I just slipped straight back into everything.
On the other hand it has been truely great to be able to catch up with everyone now that I'm back. My life for the last couple of weeks seems like one long reunion! The plans that I've been making over the last few months are finally starting to happen and I'm really enjoying myself.
In many ways very little has changed since I left. Many of my friends have started to get married, buy houses and have children, but of course that would have happened anyway. It's just more noticable when you see it all in one go. What else has happened? Chip and pin, later pub licencing hours and mobile phones with cameras. That about sums it up.
So, with my rehabiliation complete I'm going to draw this diary to a close. Before I sign off though I think I should point you in the direction of a few fellow bloggers who are still living the good life down in the frozen south. I know I'll be dropping by regularly to see what's happening at Halley or to sneak a peak at the view from the webcam.
76 Degrees South One better than this site, perhaps? By Frances, a Halley meteorologist.
Dave Down South Dave the Halley Comms Manager.
Julius' Travels in the South from the Halley AIS engineer.
Solid Sea and Southern Skies From Alex, my replacement as the Halley Data Manager.
Life in Antarctica by Anto, the Halley Vehicle Mechanic.
Halley Diaries The 'official' Halley web diaries, written monthly by the wintering team.
Random Writings from Michael, the Comms Manager at Rothera Research Station.
Antarctic Monkey Another Rothera winterer.
For more related websites see the links page.
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Monday 10 April 2006
Back to the UK
I've been back home for two weeks now, but before I get to that I should write about my last few days in the Falklands and the journey home. Before leaving I visited the Stanley museum, which contained an unusual mixture of naval history, wildlife, the Falklands war and the history of Antarctic exploration. One of the more interesting things for me was an old BAS hut that had been recovered from the peninsula and reconstructed in the museum grounds. It contained all kinds of supplies that were used back in those days, some of which (such as the Primus stoves and Tilly lamps) we still make use of now.
The inside of a BAS Hut at the museum.
The day before I left I went on a flight around some of the smaller islands in the Falkland group. The Falklands government run a few small Islander planes to hop between the remote islands for the benefit of the locals. Tourists can pay to complete the full circuit as a way of seeing some of the more remote locations. We flew from Stanley airport, then stopped at Mount Pleasant airport before heading across to the West Falklands. We landed on small grass runways on Pebble Island and Carcass Island before returning to Stanley.
A view of Stanley from the air.
A remote farm in the West Falklands.
The next day we left Stanley early for the RAF base at Mount Pleasant. We flew home on an unmarked military 747, to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, with a single stop to refuel on Ascension Islands in the South Atlantic. The flight was very much like any commercial flight, and fortunately was less than half full which meant we had plenty of room to spread out. Arriving in Ascension Islands was strange. We went from a grey day in the Falklands to a warm humid night on this small island. We were shepherded into a small enclosure for a couple of hours while the plane refueled then we were on our way. I arrived Sunday morning, to find my family waiting for me at the airport.
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Thursday 23 March 2006
Rehabilitation
After a winter at Halley, the Falkland Islands acts as a gentle reintroduction back into civilization. Since we arrived my list of "firsts for two years" has continued to grow - I've seen all manner of strange objects such as cars, trees and children, eaten in a restaurant, brought stuff in shops (with real money!) and even had a bath. We are all staying in Stanley, the Falklands capital, which is a small enough town that you regularly bump into people who work for BAS. We tend to fill up all the hotels when we are in town so initially I was put in a nice house on the outskirts of the town that is owned by one of the hotels.
Stanley Church and Whalebone arch. The arch is made from the jawbones of two blue whales.
On Monday we took advantage of the excellent sporting facilities in Stanley and played a couple of hours of squash followed by a game of indoor 4-a-side football. All was going well until right near the end when I fell awkwardly and managed to sprain my ankle quite badly (not used to solid ground, I guess). It swelled up like an egg so a visit to the hospital was in order for a quick checkup and some tablets. I took Tuesday pretty easy to give it a chance to heal and arranged to move into a room in a more central hotel to save me from having to walk 2 miles into town every day for meals.
Is it supposed to be that colour? My ankle, yesterday.
By Wednesday my ankle had come up in a lovely purple bruise but it was feeling much better. I still couldn't walk long distances but at least I could put some weight on it. A few of us decided to rent a Land Rover to explorer some more of the East Island outside Stanley. We spent the best part of the day driving, with stops at Darwin, Goose Green, an Argentine cemetery, San Carlos, Mount Pleasant, and Port Louis.
Graves at the Argentine Cemetery near Goose Green.
View from the top of one of the hills during our drive.
Near Mount Pleasant we saw the RAF Tornadoes doing circuits and on the way back from Port Louis we stopped at the wreck of a crashed helicopter left over from the Falklands Conflict in 1984. The scenery was not spectacular like South Georgia but still beautiful in a rugged, barren way.
An RAF Tornado passing overhead during routine exercises.
Wreckage of a helicopter shot down during the Falklands War.
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Saturday 18 March 2006
Mare Harbour
We arrived at Mare Harbour in the Falklands this morning, a military port where the RRS Ernest Shackleton docks for refuelling and crew changes. I haven't had a chance to get ashore yet, but that will change tomorrow when we are taken by bus to our hotel in Stanley. It's a week before my flight home so I should have plenty of time for a look round the island.
The harbour patrol ship meets us as we arrive at Mare Harbour.
It's unlikely that I'll have internet access for the next week, so my next post could well be from the UK!
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Tuesday 14 March 2006
Iceberg Graveyard
We arrived at Signy early on Sunday morning, after picking our way through a field of icebergs in the vicinity of Coronation Island. Because the water is shallow near the islands passing icebergs regularly get grounded, resulting in a large number of spectacular bergs forming a kind of graveyard around the islands.
A variety of grounded icebergs around Coronation Island. Collisions and the weather sculpt them into all kinds of different shapes.
The glorious weather from South Georgia and Bird Island appeared to be behind us, with the islands shrouded in thick grey fog for most of our stay. Signy is a summer only base, so the reason for our visit was to close it for the winter and pick up the remaining passengers. By the time we arrived most of the preparations had already been made, so it only took half a day to turn off the generators, collect the outgoing cargo and waste and lock everything down until next spring. With the focus on getting the job done, there wasn't enough time for recreational excursions so I didn't manage to get any photos of the base this time around.
With all the work done and still some time in hand the captain decided to sail around Coronation Island to an old BAS hut at Cape Geddes on Laurie Island. The hut has been abandoned since 1947, but is scheduled for removal next year as part of a larger operation to clean up BAS's abandoned sites. The plan was to recce the site and find a safe place to moor up the Shackleton's small landing craft.
As we sailed towards it the sun briefly came out and I was able to take some decent pictures.
A huge iceberg, several times higher than the ship.
A rounded berg with blue ice features running through it. The small black dots are penguins that somehow managed to scale the smooth, steep sides.
An odd shaped bergy bit floating past the ship. Bergy bits are small remnants of icebergs that have broken off larger bergs during collisions.
Unfortunately the thick fog had returned by the time we arrived, making it impossible to navigate through the icebergs to the coast. After hanging around overnight hoping for an improvement that never materialised the visit was postponed until next year. The ship is now sailing north, heading towards our final destination - the Falkland Islands.
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Saturday 11 March 2006
More photos
With all the work finished at Bird Island we are back on the open ocean. Our last destination before the Falklands is Signy Island, right on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Map showing the route of the RRS Ernest Shackleton. From Sailwx.info
There are some extra photos from South Georgia and Bird Island now up in the Gallery section.
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Wednesday 8 March 2006
Next stop: Bird Island
It's been such a busy couple of days I haven't had a chance to post so I've got a double-bumper entry today covering our second day at King Edward Point and our first day at Bird Island.
Penguin River and Mount Duse (South Georgia)
After such a good day on Monday I was keen to see as much as I could on our second (and last) day at South Georgia. After overnight rain it was another lovely sunny day so I got up early and headed along the coast to a place called Penguin River. It's a site where glacier melt water from the mountains meets the sea and seems to be a popular spot with the local King Penguin population. I headed around the bay, past Grytviken and the whaling cemetery that is the site of Ernest Shackleton's grave. Anywhere near the sea at South Georgia is always teeming with life and here was no exception, there were all kinds of seals and birds to be seen along the way.
One of the most interesting were the giant elephant seals that were basking in the sun. They are huge immobile lumps of blubber weighing several tons, which rarely do anything more strenuous than scratch themselves in between burping and farting loudly.
A male elephant seal and his harem of females. Click the picture to watch a video of their charming manners (6.7MB AVI file). The peak in the background is Mount Duse, which I climbed later in the day.
As well as the elephant seals there were plenty of young fur seals, many of which were fighting with each other (or me if they could get a chance!). Here's a video (6.0MB AVI file).
I got back from Penguin River in time for lunch on the ship, and decided to join Ian and Craig on an afternoon hike up Mount Duse. The walk was inspired by this picture, which was taken from the top by Frank Hurley on Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expedition (they stopped at South Georgia on their way South). After an exciting assent the view from the top didn't disappoint, although there is a lot less snow now than there was in Hurley's picture (probably due to the time of year).
Better late than never: Ian on top of Mount Duse, 91 years after Hurley's photo was taken.
Once we were back at sea level I was given a quick tour of the base by one of the fisheries scientists. Compared to Halley their base is the height of luxury, with much more space allowed for all facilities. There base is not only newer, but built on rock, which makes it a lot easier to build a decent sized building for a reasonable price. The tour included the science labs and sample tanks, which held various sea creatures that had been caught in the bay. Many of the tanks contained various types of deep water crabs, which are being kept for a study of their life cycle and breeding habits.
We were also told about their studies into the Patagonian Toothfish populations, which are used to determine sustainable fishing quotas in these waters. In order to work out the age distribution in a particular area, they collect the fish's ear bones from the fishermen who make the catches. They then seal them in resin before cutting them into thin slices and looking at them under a microscope. The cross sections contain rings which can be counted to get their age - just like rings on a tree!
Bird Island
We left King Edward Point in the early evening, and cruised out of the bay and along the coast overnight. Our destination was Bird Island, a small lump of rock just off the west coast of South Georgia. Bird Island is aptly named, as it hosts one of the largest concentrations of wildlife anywhere in the world - apparently there is one bird or seal for every 1.5 square metres of land! Because of its importance as a breeding ground for birds like the albatross is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which means that generally it is off limits to visitors. In order to study the albatross, seal and penguin populations BAS runs a base with a small wintering team to do the fieldwork. We needed to visit to resupply the base which gave us a rare chance to walk around this incredible island.
If I had to describe Bird Island in one word I would choose 'prehistoric'. From the moment you arrive it feels like you've stepped into the land that time forgot. Steep peaks rise above the mist, while huge birds circle on the air currents like Pterodactyls. Closer to sea level the ground is marshy and covered with an uneven lumps of tussock grass. Amongst these hillocks live thousands of fur seals, which are constantly growling and whining at anything that passes too near to their turf. On the beach (the prime breeding grounds) it is nature at it's rawest, with animal carcasses littering the muddy streams, their skeletons picked clean by the scavenging sea birds.
Me at the top of La Roche, looking down on the western side of Bird Island.
Last time I visited Bird Island it was in the middle of the breeding season, and the beach was packed with angry bull males. We literally had to fight our way up the jetty with a broom handle to reach the base. Thankfully by now the large males have all gone out to sea leaving the more sedate (and smaller!) females to wean their pups. Another big change in the last two years is that the old base has been demolished and replaced with a new, larger building.
As soon as we arrived at the jetty we set about getting the work done, which meant moving cargo into the base and getting their waste back to the ship. We also had to move 80 drums of aviation fuel from the storage area to near to the generator shed, to power the base for the coming winter.
Moving fuel drums at Bird Island.
Once the work was out the way we were given a tour of the island by some of the scientists. Isaac the albatross scientist took a couple of us up La Roche, the highest point on the island at 356 metres (1,168 feet). I did some of my training with Isaac before we headed South so he has been at Bird Island for as long as I was at Halley. Although Bird Island winters are considerably shorter than the Halley ones, they are done with just three other people for company on an island that is just 5km long - quite a different experience!
Isaac is not only familiar with the island but he's a lot more used to hills than us ice-shelf dwellers. He left us literally gasping for air as he shot up the side of the slope, three peaks in three days was starting to tell! Although it was hard work the view from the top was just stunning, with the rest of Bird Island and South Georgia stretching out below us. The weather once again cleared at just the right time and we sat for a while and watched patchy mist roll in from the sea and across the slopes below us. We even saw a whale spouting a few times in the channel that separates the island from South Georgia.
A panoramic view from the top of La Roche, this time looking east towards South Georgia.
While we were walking around Isaac was telling us about some of the work he does to understand the life cycle and behaviour of the albatross. As well as counting, weighing and tagging birds and chicks he attaches light meters to certain birds which are collected the following year and used to track their migration. From the data he has shown that the birds travel incredible distances in search of food - in some cases they will fly twice round the world in a single year!
Tracking map showing the migration path of a female Grey-headed albatross (Image courtesy of BAS).
After a while we headed down the hill (just as fast!) and returned to the base for a well earned cup of tea. Just when I thought my legs were going to get a rest another ferry-load of people arrived from the ship for a tour, and Isaac and Sarah asked us if we wanted to tag along to another part of the island. Although I was a bit knackered I didn't want to miss the chance, who knows if I'll ever pass this way again.
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