Spring in Antarctica …
Hello, everyone! …
The month of October began with quite stormy weather. Accordingly, I decided to move up our normal medical study by a week, so as to make the most of the bad weather. This time we had to take additional blood samples for NASA, and complete some more psychological questionnaires and computer tests on spatial perception. All together, I spent three and a half days taking the blood samples, pipetting, freezing samples of virtually all bodily fluids, and uploading all the data (EKG, ActiGraphs, computer tests).
After that, I wanted to continue with the big “sterilisation sweep” … every 6 months, all the surgical instruments are cleaned, oiled as needed, wrapped up and sterilised. At least, that’s the normal plan. Unfortunately, our steam steriliser needs quite a bit of water, and because of the bad weather, we couldn’t fill our snowmelt that regularly. Given the risk of running low on water, after the first day I had to put the sweep on hold. That’s another lesson you learn in Antarctica … the timing of tasks, and whether or not they’re a success, is something that Mother Nature decides, not your wishful thinking. In Antarctica, the elements determine what needs to be done when.
But then the sun came out and the storm faded. Using the snowmelt, we soon refilled our water reservoir, and I used the next three and a half days to continue and complete the sterilisation sweep. Spending all day inspecting instruments that need to be sterile, cleaning, oiling and wrapping them before putting them in the steriliser, plus all the paperwork … it adds up to a great deal of work that can be quite monotonous, and I’d like to take this opportunity to express my respect for the central sterilisation departments at hospitals – especially at large hospitals, they have to do a tremendous amount of organizational work. I also went back to OR Seven, to take a look about and try out the instruments. And just like 6 months ago, I was surprised to see the range of instruments we have here out in the ice.
While I was in the OR, concentrating on the steriliser, my colleagues attended to various tasks outdoors. They lifted some of the monitoring stations that had sunk into the snow and ice, checked on our seismological stations and took the monthly sea-ice readings. And all of these jobs involve plenty of digging in the snow …
On 12 October, the day had finally come: the icebreaker ‘Polarstern’ returned to her homeport, Bremerhaven, after completing the MOSAiC expedition, which was great news, even for us here at the other end of the world. Despite all the unforeseen challenges, the expedition was a complete success, and everyone made it back safe and sound. Polarstern, the ‘distinguished lady’, will now stay at the wharf for a bit of polishing up before she leaves Bremerhaven again on 20 December bound for Antarctica, and hopefully reaches us at the shelf-ice edge of Atka Bay on 18 January 2021. She’ll have the new overwintering team for 2021 on board, plus a host of technicians and researchers. Due to the coronavirus, air traffic is restricted in Antarctica, and most stations are supplied with staff and provisions by ship. As a result, the summer season will be much shorter, and our isolation phase will be two and a half months longer. Normally, by early November the first ‘summer guests’ would start arriving at Neumayer. Instead, most likely just one or two Basler planes, underway from South America to Novo, will stop here to refuel, which will be done according to strict hygiene regulations and avoiding any close contact between us and the pilots. Antarctica has to stay coronavirus-free … and that’s why the AWI created a detailed plan, complete with hygiene and quarantine policies. So now we’ll have to practice social distancing after 9 months of isolation …
By now the sun shines 18 hours a day, and roughly two and a half weeks from now the Polar Day will begin. The sunbeams are also warming things up a bit, and temperatures range from minus 10 to minus 20 degrees. Instead of freezing, our faces are getting sunburnt; we still haven’t gotten used to needing sun blocker again, and sometimes forget it. The spring has arrived, and I even found a budding flower on an iceberg … in polar white with a faint shimmer of ice blue.
On the sea ice, you can always expect to find ice formations that look like sculptures. And depending on the position of the sun and length of their shadows, they can vary in their form and colour. When you wear snow goggles, bare chunks of ice can glitter like diamonds in the sun, but when you take them off to take a photograph, it’s so bright that you can’t really see the glittering. Here you’ll find a few photos from the icebergs … I’m definitely an iceberg and sea-ice fan.
Image Gallery
The fish-shaped iceberg, the nose-shaped iceberg, the ice crystal, the Watzmann iceberg, the brooding hen iceberg, the ice-blue colossus (Photos: Klaus Guba).
I’m curious to see if you can find any other shapes in the icebergs …
At the request of our South African colleagues, we checked in on the SANAP Summer Station. It’s located ca. 5 km to the north of Neumayer III, near our winter camp, and serves as the emergency backup station for us overwinterers, in case Neumayer becomes uninhabitable for some reason. Part of the summer station is made of old containers that were salvaged when the old Neumayer II station was dismantled. While overwintering, we inspect the station on a regular basis, though we don’t normally take any photos. Here you’ll find a few pictures from the station … walking around inside with nothing but a torch for light, no heating and no people, is a bit ‘spooky’ and I have to think back to January, when the South Africans invited us over for a barbecue. Back then the station was full of life … though this summer, because of the coronavirus, it will probably remain empty: a ‘ghost station’ in the eternal ice …
Image Gallery
View from the west, on the platform, walking trough the sleeping quarters, main entrance with a little snowdrift inside, galley, mess hall, looking north, looking south and looking west (Photos: Klaus Guba).
But otherwise, the Antarctic is coming back to life. The emperor penguins are hard at work raising their young, while the skuas (large predatory seabirds) now once more glide above the colony, on the lookout for dead chicks. As temperatures rise, the penguin colony is breaking up into several mini-colonies, with plenty of individual animals moving back and forth between them. I get the feeling that, now that there’s nicer weather, the penguins are happy to escape the confines of being huddled together, and enjoy spreading out all along the bay. 3 km to the east of the penguins, Weddell seals can be seen dozing in the sun near some leads in the ice. Spring in Antarctica … it’s a unique time. Looking at the local fauna, I wonder if the animals here think the same thing when they see us bipeds walk by in our teddy-bear suits, carrying cameras and telephoto lenses … the penguins, at least, always come to greet us when they notice us. Below you’ll find a few pictures from the animal world, taken from a suitable distance, in some cases with a telephoto lens …
Hmm, what were the other highlights this month? On 22 October I got to be part of the Science Days Digital, and spent an hour talking on the phone with students and teachers about what it’s like to live and conduct research at Neumayer III; there was even a German school from Boston, USA. It was a lot of fun to join in, and the hour just flew by …
Until next time … stay healthy, best wishes to all our blog readers and especially to our families and loved ones back home.
