Wednesday 21 November 2012

P-P-P-Penguins!

Adeli penguins out for a wander

"Look at me! Take a photo of me!"

"Enough posing, let's get going"

Adeli penguin colony at Cape Royds

Sitting on their eggs

A couple of penguins making their way back across the ice and tide cracks

Emperor penguins down on the ice

"I'm gonna fly..."
"No you're not..."
"Watch me!"

Waddling out to see

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Antarctica part 2...

Andrill the Haglund was our transport for a day out and about

Cape Royds. Adeli penguin colony in the distance with Shackleton's hut from 1907 in the foreground.
More penguin and hut pics to come... 

Thousands of miles from the tropics in a world of ice and enjoying a banana for lunch.

A fat lazy seal is briefly curious about our presence but soon returns to basking in the sun.

All wrapped up. Interesting rock formation in the background and the lines in the ice show where it broke up last year but didn't actually melt away and so has frozen back together. In about 2 weeks it will no longer be possible to travel on the ice to Cap Royds and Cape Evans.
Walking up to the Adeli penguin colony

One of the science camps on the ice taking ice samples and studying bacteria.
Entering a very "cool" ice cave...

Amazing crystals hang in icicles all around

Really difficult to photograph well but here a little light filters through

Looking a little startled!! There was even an ice slide from one cavern to the next!
Getting back was a little tricky and involved launching yourself head first back up the slide...
More to follow another day...

Monday 19 November 2012

Work trip to Antarctica! (part 1)


Inside the C17 air force plane

C17 landed on the ice runway
The capital sign, soon to be removed due to politics.

Out the front of Scott Base

Ice sculpture in the pressure ridges on the sea ice.

Mt Erebus from the pressure ridges in the sea ice
Frozen waves
Daylight at 1am on the sea ice!
I was there for work...
View of Scott Base (the NZ base) from one of the three wind turbines. There were around 60 people on base whilst I was there.
McMurdo (the US base) which can have up to 2000 people in summer. When it's windy the three turbines produce enough power for 50% of both bases combined.
Giant ice cliffs of the Erebus Glacier Tongue where it meets the sea ice. Some summers the sea ice at the base breaks out and waves lap at the ice cliffs.
Fascinating formations in the fresh water ice which contains large bubbles of air. I took a chunk back to the bar and put it in my gin and tonic to hear it crackle!
More to come in part 2...

Sunday 11 November 2012

Getting layered up for Antartica

Helen left for the Antarctica  this morning. Here is the clothing layers she was issued for her week and half working on the wind turbines down there.