Living and working in Antarctica Part 4 Wildlife

Many people come to Antarctica in the hope of seeing wildlife.  The vast majority of Antarctica has no wildlife.  McMurdo has some, but it is not exactly teeming.  There is a grand total of five species of terrestrial animal that one has a chance of seeing and none of them  are really terrestrial since they all depend on the ocean.  After the sea ice melts then it is possible that various types of sea life will be spotted, but that only comes near the very end of the season when most people are either too busy unloading the cargo ships or have already gone home.  

My job allowed me to see quite a bit of wildlife since I work on the sea ice which is where most of the animals spend their time.  

By far the most common wild life seen by anyone on station is the skua.  Skua are a large seabird that looks a lot like a big grey seagull.  They are both hunters and scavengers and very intelligent.  It is not uncommon to see one swoop down from the roof of the cafeteria and knock a tray of food out of the hands of an unsuspecting resident heading back to their dorm.  They are smart enough to know the difference between a tray of chicken and a tray of veggies, and the owner of the tray of chicken should beware.  Even though McMurdo provides easy scavenging, their primary food source is fish.  They come to McMurdo to breed and like most birds they breed in an area with few predators and plentiful food.  Their only predators in the Ross Sea region is themselves and they have been know to eat their own eggs and even their own young.  Due to the ocean being frozen their main source of food(fish) is not available.  They instead feed on the placenta of pupping weddell seals and eggs and young of adelie penguins.  The largest nesting sites are located directly adjacent to the largest penguin rookeries.

The grinch steals lobster.

A very lucky skua takes off with an unlucky residents Christmas lobster.  

An angry skua with McMurdo in the background.   It is difficult to hike some trails during nesting season without a skua making its presence known.  

While most of the McMurdo population looks at these birds as a nuisance, I came to enjoy them.  This bird nests farther south than any other bird.  They spend the Austral winter off the coasts of North America making their annual migration up there with one of the longest of any birds.  They are rarely seen in North Amercia because they are primarily a sea bird.  

Skua mom and chick.

A skua showing its territorial display.  

A skua chick.  

A dead skua chick and its mother.  This mother sat on the dead chick and a frozen egg for over two weeks.

A close up of the egg and the chick.  A tiny beak is visible poking out of the frozen egg.  

It is important to note that my photos of these birds were shot from a long way off and the photos of the birds attacking me were shot when working directly with science groups, or when walking on open trails near McMurdo Station.  As soon as the birds showed aggressive behavior I left the area immediately.  The photos of the nestling were shot with a telephoto lens and at no point did the parent bird react to my presence.   In other words:  No birds were harmed in the making of these photos.

The emperor penguin is the most iconic of the antarctic species.  Luckily for most McMurdo residents they are fairly common.  Groups of them wander around the sea ice close to station.  They are curious birds and therefore anyone working on the sea ice within sight of an emperor is likely to be visited.  On their feet they are clumsy and awkward but they do seem to be able to travel reasonably quickly.

In the water they are an amazing animal that swims incredibly fast and can dive to depths that are difficult to imagine.  One was recorded at over 500 meters under water.  They spend large amounts of time out of the water.  There is no food out of the water so they do not eat for very long periods.  This includes almost the entire winter for the male birds.

A pair of emperors who visited while doing sea ice work.  

This bird spend several weeks near the airfield on its own.  

Emperors come to visit.  

If the emperor penguin is the statesman of the antarctic the adelie penguin is the jester.  Adelies are smaller than the emperor and seem to walk around the ice with no rhyme nor reason to their travel.   Like the emperors they are curious and will come and investigate anyone working on the ice.  

Adelie penguins traveling from Cape Royds to the open ocean.  

A group of adelie penguins at Cape Royds.  

A group of adelies investigates our activities while measuring a crack near Cape Evans.  

Several Adelie penguins were seen near McMurdo Station later in the season.  This was shot at Hut Point.  

Adelies investigate a Weddell seal on the sea ice.  

Weddell Seals
There are many Weddell seals all around the sea ice surrounding McMurdo Station.   The seals can be found at cracks in the ice, where they work to keep holes open by chewing on the ice.    Many of the seal holes have blood around them from the males who guard their holes from other males.  It is not uncommon to see bloodied male seals outside the holes covered in snow having not appeared to move for many hours.  These seals are exhausted from fighting for their holes.   As soon as they are rested they return to the water to continue to guard the hole.  From this blog post it might be easy to get the idea that we are walking next to the seals every day but this is not the case.  My job did not bring me close to the seals that often, mostly because we are encouraged to stay away so we do not disturb them. Most of the time the seals are just a dark spot on the ice in the distance, occasionally my job brought me close enough to shoot some nice photos.  

A male seal with a large wound on its side.

A seal pokes its head through the ice. 

Using its teeth to make the hole larger.  

A young seal trying to return to the water.   We were tasked with blocking its way due to explosives being used underwater close by.  We stood guard by this hole for a couple of hours until the explosives were used and then let the seal go about its business.  

Mom and pup

A very large seal in flat light.  

The final animal that one might see on Ross Island is the snow petrel.  It is a beautiful white bird that I never managed to get any where close to.  I saw them once and the photo was not good, but here it is.  

Snow petrels above Castle Rock.  

Once again it is important to note that all of the photos I have here were shot while working directly with science groups, or while doing my job.  The Antarctic treaty states that people may not change the normal behavior of animals in any way unless there is a scientific purpose.   

A Season Working and Living In Antarctica - Part 3

This is part 3 in a series of working and living in McMurdo.  See part one here and part 2 here.

Science

Emperor Penguins are just one of the many things being researched around McMurdo Station.  

There are several reasons for the United States to have permanent stations in Antarctica.  The first and most commonly mentioned is that they are a station for science to take place.  This is true, and yes lots of science does take place at these stations.  There are other reasons for the United States to have such a large presence in Antarctica also.  One is that the United States and every other nation who has a presence wants to have a presence.  It should be looked at as a bird in the hand scenario.  To be building stations in Antarctica is to stake a claim of part of the continent if the Antarctic treaty were to ever collapse.  Having the biggest presence on the continent, the United States sees itself as a defacto enforcer of the Antarctic treaty.  The Antarctic Treaty says that a countries presence on the continent must have a scientific purpose, so the United States throws a lot of money at science in order to keep its presence in Antarctica, or the United States has a large presence in Antarctica because the believe that scientific research on the southern most continent is very important.  As far as I am concerned the reasons don't matter.  What matters is the United States and the National Science Foundation is a leading the way in funding some amazing scientific projects and living and working along side the people doing this research is one of the best things about being in McMurdo.  I could not possibly do most of these projects justice by trying to describe them on this blog, but what I have done is posted some links to information about some of the groups I know about some of whom I worked with, some whom I talked with and some whom I never met at all.  This is a very brief list.  There were many more projects last season.

Sampling deep inside a steam cave on Mt. Erebus, Antarctica.  

Thermal imaging is used to find the hottest areas of soil.  

WISSARD Project:
Wissard is a project that is drilling 800 meters through the Antarctic ice to investigate and sample water and sediments underneath.
http://www.wissard.org

Long Duration Balloon:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/news/antarctic2012.html

B-009 - Weddell Seal Science
http://weddellsealscience.com

Exploring the bottom of Antarctica food chain
http://earthref.org/ERESE/projects/GOLF439/2012/

Penguin Research:
http://www.penguinscience.com/

Weather
Antarctica is cold, but you probably already knew that.  What surprised me was just how cold it can be.    After doing seven climbing trips to the Denali area I did not think the cold would be that much of an issue. It is.  It can be an issue for everyone and everything we do.  It is so much colder than anywhere else I have ever been that I was a little surprised by it.  I arrived in McMurdo on October 1st.  October is a pretty cold month, but it starts to warm up quite fast as the 24 hour day light gets closer.  December can actually be quite warm and I found myself walking around McMurdo in a t-shirt on numerous occasions.  Keep in mind by warm I mean close to freezing.  Due to the dry air and the solar radiation a temperature close to 0 degrees C can feel quite warm if the wind is not blowing.
There is a daily weather forecast at McMurdo which is about as accurate as one might think(not really).
Unlike the US, Antarctica does not have that many weather monitoring stations so figuring out what is happening with weather a day or two out can be difficult.  If stationed at a field camp it is possible to call into McMurdo to get the forecast for your camp but the inevitable answer from the weather folks comes in the form of the question "well, what is it like there now?"
There are three categories of weather in and around McMurdo:

Condition 1

Windspeed over 55 knots (60 miles per hour)

Visibility less than 100 feet (30 meters)

Wind chill below −100 °F (−73 °C)

Description: Dangerous conditions; outside travel is not permitted.

Condition 2

Windspeed of 48 to 55 knots (55 to 63 miles per hour)

Visibility 1/4 of a mile to 100 feet (402 to 30 meters)

Wind chill of −75 °F (−60 °C) to −100 °F (−73 °C)

Description: Unpleasant conditions; outside travel is permitted but not recommended.

Condition 3

Windspeed below 48 knots (55 miles per hour)

Visibility greater than 1/4 of a mile (402 meters)

Wind chill above −75 °F (−60 °C)

Description: Pleasant conditions; all outside travel is permitted.

At no time in my five months on station did I experience a condition 1 at McMurdo.  I did experience weather that would fit into that category while on Mt. Erebus however.

Antarctica is dry.  Very dry.  Most people think because there is a lot of snow and ice that it must snow a lot.  It does not.  Most of antarctica is considered a desert.  Most of the snow McMurdo Station gets is from ocean moisture.  The air is very dry and sleeping with a humidifier in dorm rooms is very common.

Antarctica is pretty windy.  It is notorious for its winds, however winds in McMurdo are often not too bad.  McMurdo does not get the catabatic winds that many other places do.  Winds are fairly common out on the ice shelf where we teach our happy camper courses.  Wind makes it feel colder, and makes it more likely you will get frostbite.

I was lucky enough to be out at the Scott Base pressure ridges when a storm was rolling in.  Major storms usually come from the south.

A storm rolls across the ross sea toward McMurdo Station.  

Fata Morgana stretches the base of the Royal Society Mountains.  

Ice Cave

The Erebus glacier tongue is the end of the Erebus glacier that comes off Mt. Erebus.  The glacier tongue floats on the ocean and extends a couple of kilometers from land.  Due to the constant glacial movement of the tongue pushing out to sea, the sea ice around it contains several cracks that are often challenging to deal with.  This makes it a perfect place to teach the field sections of sea ice courses.  It was during one of these courses that we noticed a small hole in the wall of the glacier.  The next day while conducting some sea ice monitoring we dug out the hole to find an incredible cave.  This cave and others like it, are formed when crevasses in the glacier become covered by snow bridges.  The surface melt water then percolates through the roof creating icicles.  These caves are often used as a recreational outing for the people in McMurdo Station, but this year a lack of suitable vehicles to transport people, in addition to other things meant that very few people would be allowed to see this amazing natural wonder.  

Entering the ice cave for the first time.  

Some features are beyond explanation.  I would love to know the dynamics behind the formation of this icicle.  

Looking up at the roof.  

This photo was featured on National Geographic Travelers Photos 365.  

Exiting the cave.  

Me enjoying the inside.  

A Season Living and Working In Antarctica - Part 2

This is part 2 in my series of what it was like to spend five months living and working in Antarctica.  Click Here to read part 1.   In Part 1 I described the work I did while on the continent.  Here I will outline what day to day life in McMurdo Station  is like.

Life at McMurdo is much like life on a small college campus but rather than a whole bunch of kids who just left home for the first time, it is a whole bunch of adults who just left home for the first time since graduating college.  Everyone works 9 hour days, 6 days a week.  The station operates 24hours so many people are working night shifts.  There is a large cafeteria capable of serving over 1200 people food that has been buried in storage containers under the Kiwis rugby field in the MuMurdo Ice Shelf for the past several years.  There is a gym, a weight room and a building I never entered that is purported to have treadmills and other exercise equipment that I refuse to use(Observation hill hike is much more mentally stimulating for me).  In addition the roads on the sea ice and ice shelf are continuously groomed so that we can drive wheeled vehicles on them.  These make for a very convenient place for people to skate ski, and probably make for the most expensive skate ski trails in the world.  Two bars are conveniently located within 20 or so yards of the exercise building I never entered.  This is another reason I never entered as I am sure any attempt to step on a tread mill would have had me bored within ten minutes and playing foosball at the bar with a beer in my hand soon after.       I will stick to quick hikes up the closest hill.  A coffee shop is staffed by volunteers and has internet plugins (there is no wireless available for the support staff on station).  There is also a church which as far as I can tell is only used for yoga.  I stuck my head in once but much like every other church in my life it was only to see if it was pretty inside(its not).  A library which is staffed by volunteers is open most nights of the week and video rental is available at the store.  The store contains all manor of poorly designed gifts with either "McMurdo Station" or "Antarctica" printed on them.  There is also a hefty amount of penguin gifts of course.  Also available are some basic toiletries, but most people only use the store to buy beer or wine.  Other entertainment available includes a craft room and a recreational gear checkout.  There is a small hiking trail system on station and a slightly larger loop trail of about 8 miles that goes to Castle Rock and then down and across the McMurdo Ice Shelf back to Station.  Since this loop trail is located on glaciated terrain it must be periodically checked for crevasses and wandering off trail could and has in the past led to fatal accidents.  Checking for crevasses is done with a ground penetrating radar which is another one of the tools FSTP has to use.
Weekends consist of Saturday night and Sunday.  Saturday night is a great time to socialize with the other folks on station.  Sunday is a time to recover from the week and the things people do to themselves saturday night.  There is an incredible amount of talented musicians at McMurdo and luckily for those of us who enjoy music they often play at one of the bars on Saturday nights.  There are several fun events throughout the season.  These are mostly music based and usually take place on typical holidays.  Like most places of employment there is an awkward Christmas party that consists of standing around having forced conversations with people you would not normally feel comfortable drinking around.  The party takes place in the heavy machinery repair shop which is cleaned up and decorated with a few random christmas decorations.  On Christmas day, MAAG (McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery) consists of art projects and stage performances of all types from the support staff on station.  This really was a fun night and I was really amazed by some of the talents of the people around station.  Ice Stock is an all day live music festival and chili cook off that is the highlight of the local skua populations year.  It is also one of the more fun events that takes place all season.  It is held on New years eve and music continues until sometime after the new year has been brought in.  I brought in the new years on my own atop Observation Hill where I was positioned perfectly to hear the Kiwi base bring in the new year on time 3 minutes before the US.  Scott Base is the Kiwi Station located 2 miles from McMurdo.  They have a well stocked bar and lots of very friendly people.  Once a week the Kiwi bar is open for "American Night".  American night is an opportunity for Americans to see other americans in a different bar, since most of the kiwis hide in there dorm rooms due to the mass of Americans crowding their bar.  The Kiwis also have a ski hill complete with a rope tow.  This is not available for Americans to use unless invited.
My non work time was mostly taken up by playing board games at the coffee shop, fooseball at the bar and wandering around the station with a camera.  Many nights were spent reading or recovering from being outside all day in cold temps.

McMurdo Station.  Dorms are in the lower right of the photo, machinery shops in the lower left.  The big blue building is the cafeteria and to the right and behind that are the bars, a NASA building and some communications buildings, with the Helicopter hanger behind that.  In the top left are many fuel storage tanks and the road to Scott Base.  

The Chalet where station management are located.  Observation hill is located behind.   

Antarctic polar bear at MAAG.  I knew there were polar bears in Antarctica.   Now if only I would have seen an eskimo.  

MAAG art project and some antics.  

The Kiwi Ski hill on a powder day(5cm of new).  

Skua enjoying the music at Icestock while occasionally dive bombing unsuspecting concert goers with food in their hands.

Bringing in the new year atop Observation Hill.  Out of view to the left is a memorial cross to Robert Scott and his men who perished on their return from the south pole several hundred miles behind me.  

Pressure Ridges
There is a recreation department in McMurdo.  Their full time job is to attempt to keep the general public from going insane because they cant just leave base whenever they choose (mostly for their own safety).  Recreational outings this year were very limited due to sea ice conditions not allowing some of the larger vehicles to travel across some large cracks.  In normal years the outings could include trips to Cape Royds(Shackletons hut and penguin colony), Cape Evans (Scotts Terra Nova Hut), or a visit to ice caves that form in the Erebus Glacier Tongue.  This year none of that was possible.  There are however pressure ridges that form each year near just outside Scott Base.  These ridges are formed by the movement of the McMurdo Ice Shelf crushing the sea ice into the land causing it to crack and deform.  Tours of the ridges are performed by volunteer staff who take groups out on a previously flagged trail through the ridges.

Scott Base pressure ridges.  

Scott Base pressure ridges.  

Ice thrust into the air in the Scott Base pressure ridges.  

Melt pool with Mount Erebus in the background.  

Ice in the pressure ridges.

Another recreational outing is the room with a view.  Participants take a snow mobile across the ice shelf and up a hill to the base of Mt. Erebus.  From this spot there are amazing views across McMurdo Sound to the glaciers that block the views of the dry valleys.

Mount Erebus from the Room With A View.   

Returning to McMurdo.  Mt. Discovery in the distance.  

One question many people have asked is how is the food.  My best answer to that question is that the baked goods are amazing.  Bakery items are made fresh each day by some very talented bakers.  Fresh fruit and vegetables are flown in on daily flights early in the season while the C-17 is still flying back and fourth from New Zealand.  After that flight stops however everything except the baked items is from the freezer.  Yes there are actually freezers in the Antarctic.  Meals are fairly varied and can be pretty hit or miss.  Early in the season the head of the kitchen (who was soon fired) decided that anyone who did not eat red meat was pretty much an after though.  He also gave the staff no flexibility to be creative which made for some incredibly bad non meat options and left me eating bread and butter, really good bread, and butter.  Later in the season, with a new head chef at the helm, and the kitchen staff free to come up with their own ideas, dinners got better.  Over all given the fact we are in Antarctica they do a pretty good job.  As you might imagine complaints about food is always a staff favorite.  Lunches were always good due to a very creative person who was very good at her job making the sandwiches.  If only there had been sandwiches for every meal.

If you ask the people who go back year after year why they do it, the most common answer seems to be that they like the people down there.  McMurdo is an amazing community of talented and adventurous people all of whom have a story worth sharing.  It is possibly the most over educated community in the world.  Amoung the support staff everyone seems to have some sort of college degree that they no longer use and even if they don't have one they are so well traveled that you can talk to them about almost anything.  Of course there is also the scientists who are the reason that we are all there in the first place.  The large number of scientists also makes cafeteria conversations enjoyable and interesting.  Where else in the world can you sit at a table with one of the most respected scientists in their field, a mountain guide, an equipment mechanic, a carpenter, a cook and janitor for example.  Assumptions about anyones background at McMurdo are a huge mistake, because just about anyone could have a Phd in physics or any other subject.  People are there for the experience or the ability to have the summers off to travel or any number of other reasons that assumptions would get wrong.

Jen modeling her favorite part of the meal.  

Ned in his typical Antarctic outdoor wear.