The Polar Night has begun…
What do you mean, the Polar Night has begun? We just got here! It feels like our summer guests only left a few weeks ago. And now it’s already time for the Polar Night? That means our time here will soon be half over!
But you’d never know it by looking at our to-do list. Many of us are still working on the inventory. We’ll have to place our orders soon, so that everything can be loaded onto the next resupply ship, which will come around New Year’s, in time. And there’s plenty of other work to be done. Soon, the sea ice will no longer be off limits, which means our meteorologists will be able to start surveying it. Our geophysicists are taking the opportunity to set up a number of seismometer stations on the sea ice and ice shelf. And don’t even bother asking our engineers what they’re up to! Due to the heavy snowfall over the past few days, snow has to constantly be cleared from the station’s lea side. Our vehicle pool needs routine checks and maintenance, and there are several more items on the to-do list. So, in that sense, “half-time” is nowhere in sight!
And our private to-do list doesn’t look much better: There’s so much we want to do! At least we finally managed to play hide and seek. Another highlight was our Maiwanderung (traditional German hike on the 1st of May). Since we couldn’t find anything resembling a tree to use for a maypole, we decided to go on a Maiwanderung instead. The sun was already very low, which made for lovely twilight conditions. While underway, a flock of birds accompanied us for a bit; what a sight!
Plus, there are various movies and party games on our wish list. And the sports on offer are great, too. We have acrobatics, circuit training, dance workouts and much more. Whenever someone has a great idea for what we can do after hours, we write it down on the whiteboard and then follow up on it. Just a little while ago, we had a murder mystery dinner that was awesome! We’ll see what comes next!
So, in a word: our time here isn’t (yet?) dragging along; it’s veritably flying by. And then on 20.05.2023 we said goodbye to the sun. We had mulled wine and waffles on the station’s roof so that we could catch one last glimpse of it. And even though we’ll miss the sun, its absence does have its upsides: We now sometimes see the polar lights at breakfast. Of course, it only works when there’s low cloud cover and high solar activity. But we’ve already gotten lucky several times! :-)
Another piece of good news: The penguins are back! When the sea ice breaks up in summer (for us, that’s in January), the penguins leave for the ocean for a long spell, where they spend most of their time looking for food. Now that new sea ice is forming again, more and more penguins are returning, gathering in a colony. They look well-fed and their courtship calls can now be heard loud and clear. Soon the first eggs will be laid and will need to be incubated. And of course, we can hardly wait to see the chicks hatch and the adorable little fluffballs once again start waddling across the ice.
As always, outdoor activities of any kind – like forays to visit the penguins – are totally dependent on the weather. We’ve had a few powerful storms, with windspeeds of up to 65 knots. The lowest temperature during our overwintering so far was -39°. We’ll see how cold and windy the rest of our time will be!
In any case, you’ll hear from us again soon!
Your ÜWIs
