Auster Rookery, emperor penguins, and seal pups.

Early evening light on an iceberg near Macey Island, Antarctica.

It seems impossible to believe that my first visit to view the emperor penguins at Auster Rookery was over four months ago. That was the very beginning of June, and I had been in Antarctica for just over three months. Now with less than four and half months left I wonder where the time has gone, and I know my remaining days here will be over before I know it.

The pristine atmosphere allows for incredible light.

Our summer crew of eleven new expeditioners arrive in roughly one months time. It will be strange to see new faces. Having lived in such isolation for so long, I quite often wonder how the dynamics of our little community will be effected by the newcomers. We will discover soon enough, but I'm sure it will add even more fun to station life.

However, the fact that the sea ice will close for travel sometime around the end of November has spurred the station into action and has seen a number of trips recently undertaken, so as to spend as much time at Auster as possible. As I have said before, we may not get the opportunity to come this way again, and every trip could be your last.

This penguin CAN fly.... An Emperor exiting a hole in the sea ice.

I have visited five times now. More than some of us on station, but less than others. I hope to see them at least twice more. I have witnessed the varying stages of growth. From eggs carried on the fathers feet, to newly hatched chicks clinging to life by desperately hiding from the bitterly cold environment under their parents body, standing on the tops of their feet.

Little balls of fluff.

Now, the chicks are about half way to moulting (which occurs about January), and are little balls of fluff that tear around the place in search of their parents when they are feeling hungry, which seems like always. Gradually they are growing towards independence.

My last trip out we took advantage of the longer daylight and left at 2pm on Saturday afternoon for Macey Hut. Leaving in the afternoon gave us more time at the rookery on our first day, and allowed for a relaxing start on Sunday. This time three of us travelled on quad bikes, with another two travelling in a Hagg. A side benefit of this is that we were able to dump most of our gear in the Hagg and travel light on the quads. Quad travel on the sea ice is awesome, especially the glassy smooth blue ice. I couldn't stop myself from playing like a newly licensed teenager in his mothers car....... I call it reliving my youth. Some of my old mates that read this will remember what I'm talking about. Naturally it's all to do with safety, learning how to control a quad bike in a slide..... Yeah, I don't buy it either.

Tucker time.

So anyway, having been so many times now the novelty of the penguins has worn off a bit, and we have all started exploring the surrounding areas, finding tide cracks where the birds and seals enter and exit the water, and getting a little closer to bergs than we probably should do...... It's safe at the moment, with the cold things are still very frozen so not that likely to break up. It has given me many opportunities to photograph things other than penguins and their chicks. Recently we managed to get some great shots of penguins cavorting in a swimming hole which has been created from a tide crack.

Emperor Soup.

Another variation on the earlier visits now is the side trips to Islands along the route to view the Weddel seal pups. We saw the first two on the return leg of the last trip, so in future trips we expect to see a lot more. You can imagine how cute these little new-borns are. Their doe eyes draw smiles from everyone.

No matter how good a trip was, it is still always good to get home to station. Describing what you have seen to those that stayed behind while you were out playing I find cements the experience in my mind a bit more firmly. There's also the thrill of reviewing and sharing photo's with the others who accompanied you on the trip. Lastly the opportunity to share the experience though photo's on Facebook is always something I look forward to. Sharing the things I have seen with friends and hearing delight from them is one of the rewards of technology I really enjoy.


Barely a day old.

See what I mean about the eyes? (Photo Credit: Kate Kloza)

 

On that note I shall finish. I have just written my name up on the board for another trip this weekend. We leave Friday afternoon. Who's keen to come with me?