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Summer reading under the sea

2010-12-18T21:56:00.009+11:00

Polar Eyes has been recommended alongside some classic books in the WA Premiers Summer Reading Challenge in the Under the Sea category.

The reef by David Caddy
Shark bait by Justin D’Ath
The water babies by Charles Kingsley
Shipwreck at madman’s corner by Mike Lefroy
Chelonia green, champion of turtles by Christobel Mattingley
Polar eyes: a journey to Antarctica by Tanya Patrick!
Pinquo by Colin Thiele
20 000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne
Blueback by Tim Winton
Swiss family Robinson by Jonathan Wyss

Check out the other categories here.

Runner up!

2010-08-20T15:15:00.003+10:00

Polar Eyes: A Journey to Antarctica received was runner up (Honour Book) in this years CBCA Children's book of the Year Awards.

This lovely little sticker has led to the first edition becoming out. Second edition available soon here.

Polar Eyes shortlisted for CBCA Book of the Year!

2010-03-30T20:06:00.007+11:00

Polar Eyes has been shortlisted Polar Eyes has been shortlisted for The Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Eve Pownall Award for Information Books) 2010!

More about the CBCA awards and the other books on the shortlist here. The Book of the Year and Honour books are announced 20 August.

Polar Eyes the book is here

2009-03-19T21:50:00.029+11:00

Buy your copy here.

Stay tuned!

2007-01-25T14:30:00.003+11:00

Where do penguins go to dance? What is it like in Antarctica? How do animals and humans survive down south? I’m home now, but make sure you stay tuned to the Polar Eyes website. It will be updated throughout 2007/2008 – International Polar Year.

Farewell Antarctica

2007-01-06T17:04:00.019+11:00

Yesterday, it took all day to load the cargo backon board and get ready for sea. Finally, with a blast on the horn at 8:30 pm we were off. In a sudden snow shower, the remaining Casey expeditioners waved goodbye on a hilltop as a orange flare was let off at the station, signalling our departure.

Now (warm inside my bunk on the Aurora) my face still burns as I think about my time in Antarctica. In the early hours of my last morning on Antarctic soil, I walked outside into the bright light and gazed down at the harbour beyond the sparkling white ground that lay under a technicolour sky of yellow, blue and mauve. I remember thinking what a fantasy land this is. The Aurora, anchored in the harbour and waiting to take me home, was also part of this view. It was a reminder that like most humans, I would not be here for long. This is not a place where you live.

At 5.00 am this morning, I jumped out of my bunk to peer from my cabin window. Some people said that we could be in the ice for the next couple of days. Others were confident that we would hit the open ocean by morning… and we did. Apart from occasional icebergs, there was no ice to be seen. Edward Wilson, one of the explorers on Robert Falcon Scott’s Antarctic expedition in 1911, described the movement of swell in pack ice as constant and gentle — ‘like breathing in sleep’. I could not agree more. I will really miss this.

Up, up and away - my last day at Casey

2007-01-05T11:10:00.006+11:00

Twice a day, every day of the year, weather balloons are released simultaneously from
almost 900 locations worldwide — including Antarctica. This year, Justin Wood from the Bureau of Meteorology will be releasing the weather balloons at Casey Station. These are no ordinary balloons. They are huge (they weigh 50 times more than a party balloon), travel to heights of up to 25 km above ground, and are filled with highly explosive hydrogen gas! So, to help Justin launch one, I wore a coat made from flameretardant cotton, boots designed to stop static electricity from building up in the dry air, cotton gloves, and goggles to protect my eyes.

After the changeover ceremony we departed the station by barge for the trip to the ship, where the galley staff provided a late dinner. I was most grateful. For two weeks I had experienced quite mild weather by Antarctic standards. As if to prove a point, yesterday afternoon the wind rose, and underdressed, I became quite cold. In fact, I was so cold that I had to wear my down jacket for the next 2 hours inside the ship where it is a comfortable 19 degrees. I had felt what it is like to drop your core temperature by degree or so, on the coldest continent on Earth, and I had learnt a lesson. Always be prepared in Antarctica, even if you are just waiting for a barge for an hour.

Interview: Justin Wood - Floating forecaster

2007-01-05T10:57:00.004+11:00

At Casey, the weather balloons are released at 7:15 am and 7:15 pm, which corresponds with the same time that everyone else in the world releases theirs. The weather balloon contains a GPS unit that tells us where the balloon is, and a radio transmitter that sends the information back to the receiver on the roof of our observations building. As the balloons go up through the atmosphere, they transmit information — including temperature, pressure, wind speed and wind direction — to the ground station every two seconds until they explode! Computer forecast models that rely on weather balloon data are used by forecasters worldwide, from the Bureau of Meteorology to your local TV weather presenter! Without this information, accurate forecasts beyond a few hours would be almost impossible. Since we’ve been at Casey, we’ve had really good weather for releasing balloons — light winds and nothing too serious going on. In winter, blizzard conditions will occur fairly often, which means we’ll be releasing balloons into 120 km/h winds and falling snow!

A different life on ice

2007-01-04T13:41:00.014+11:00

Back in the boat, as we slowed down to navigate our way through the ice again, I ran my hand through the icy water. We were following a channel between two islands en route to an inlet where
Marie was planning snorkel with her underwater camera. There would be no snorkelling there today though – a leopard seal was lounging about nearby.

Early Antarctic explorers describe harrowing encounters with leopard seals. However,although some attacks have been documented, most of the stories may just be folklore. That being said, my Australian Antarctic Division Field Manual does warn me not to loiter near the edge of the sea ice near penguin rookeries… especially if I’m wearing a dinner jacket!

Leopard seals may look clumsy and ungraceful on land, but in the water they are excellent swimmers and formidable hunters. They use their powerful jaws and long teeth to prey on a variety of species, including krill, squid, fish and sometimes even other seals.

By analysing leopard seals’ poo, scientists have worked out that Adelie penguins are their favourite food. So, it was hilarious to watch a group of Adelies taunt this leopard seal on land!

Adélie penguins were everywhere - swimming alongside us, leaping gracefully like dolphins in arches from the water and diving off the ice floes as we approached.

Vonna, Marie and I take a break inside the melon hut on Peterson's Island.

Antarctic elephants

2007-01-04T11:10:00.008+11:00

A juvenile male elephant seal.

Browning Peninsula

Today, we explored the inlets and islands around the Browning Peninsula — about a one-hour trip in a small boat from Casey Station. Our first stop was an island where some juvenile southern elephant seals had been spotted earlier in the week. We nosed the boat into an ice crack next to some rocks, and I had to jump out onto a piece of sea ice that probably won’t be there next week!

Southern elephant seals are the largest seals and one of the largest mammals on Earth — after some whale species and elephants. One adult male can weigh more than four tonnes… that’s about 80 of you! These heavyweights of the seal family can barely move on land, but once they are in the water, they are swift and powerful swimmers. The ones I saw looked pretty big to me, but they were just babies — about a year old. I had heard that elephant seals can scare off rivals by producing a deafening roar from their throat — made louder by their trunk-like nose, which acts like a sound box. But there was none of that today. All we could hear, and smell, was lots of farting and burping!

Ice core time machine

2007-01-03T20:49:00.002+11:00

Like the summer Antarctic sun, polar researchers are up at all hours. It was 5:00 am when I interviewed Jimmy Twin before he set off in search of 100 000 year-old glacial ice.

To people like Jimmy, Antarctica must be like a giant, freezing time machine.

Day 2 Wilkes Station: Project igloo

2007-01-02T22:11:00.008+11:00

The term igloo, or iglu, is derived from the Eskimo word 'igdlu' meaning ‘house’.

How often do you get the chance to build an igloo in Antarctica?

After really enjoying my night out in a bivvy bag at Watt’s hut, I was keen to try out another form of shelter. The indigenous people of the Arctic once lived in igloos made of snow, and I was eager to experience both the process of building and staying in one for myself. Marie thought the process of building an igloo would make a great SCOPE episode. I thought it would be fun to have an igloo activity in the May/JuneScientriffic so I set up my camera and tripod to record our progress.

An experienced Inuit can build a snow igloo in between one and two hours. Ours took five hours, with some interruptions...

Whitney Point

2007-01-01T21:55:00.009+11:00

Last night I headed back to the Aurora for a pirate-themed New Year's Eve party. Limited resources encouraged some interesting interpretations of the theme, ranging from a parrot constructed out of a laundry detergent container to limited edition spray painted pirate t-shirts that some of the crew were sporting.

After welcoming 2007 between cries of ‘Arrrrr’ and 'Cheers' I was up early and on the first barge back to Casey. The day was to about to become a busy one, with station refuelling scheduled to begin today. I was heading out of town to visit a large penguin colony at Whitney Point.

We could hear them before we could see them. When we arrived, after trekking around the coastline from Casey to Whitney Point — the site of a large Adelie penguin rookery — I was a bit overwhelmed. I was surrounded by hundreds, maybe thousands of penguins, many of them with newborn chicks delicately tucked underneath their bellies. All Antarctic animals are protected under the Antarctic Treaty and Environment Protection Act, so we needed special permits to visit this rookery. I had been warned not to approach them too closely (5 m for non-breeding penguins and 30 m for breeding pairs), but it quickly became apparent that a few of these Adelies hadn’t read the latest Australian Antarctic Division Field Manual! Some (I suspect they were juveniles) ran fearlessly towards me, almost as if they were carrying out an inspection. Others were quite dismissive of my presence, and a few — perhaps the uncles andaunties of the newborns — adopted a protective stance around the chicks.

You can spot an Adelie by its black and white ‘dinner jacket’. About 2.5 million pairs of Adelie penguins are thought to live in Antarctica — and they haven’t all been counted yet! Adelie penguins don’t march 90 km inland like their ‘movie star’ emperor penguin relatives.

But, that doesn’t mean they have it easy when it comes to breeding. Instead of heading inland to lay their eggs, Adelies build their nests on land close to the seashore, using pebbles that they collect from the rocky slopes around them.

When I visited this rookery they were keeping a close eye on the circling skuas above that prey on the eggs and young of Adelie penguins over the summer. Skuas can often be found lurking on the edges of penguin colonies, on the look-out for a potential meal. They are superbly adapted to catching fish, but also prey upon bird eggs and chicks. These beautiful birds are strong flyers, and they will fiercely defend their nesting area from all comers, including humans!

Our accommodation tonight is luxurious… by Antarctic standards! The ‘Wilkes Hilton’ hut is about 1 km from Wilkes Station, which was established by the United States in 1957. But, because they built it in an area heavily affected by snow, it got buried every winter! In 1959, the Americans handed ‘operational command’ of the station to Australia and walked out, leaving everything as it was. Today, most of it remains.

Cup of tea time.

PS. Apsley Cherry-Garrard on penguins

2007-01-01T21:17:00.002+11:00

They are extraordinarily like children, these little people of the Antarctic world, either like children, or like old men, full of their own importance and late for dinner, in their black tail-coats and white shirt-fronts—and rather portly withal.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Casey Station

2006-12-31T15:44:00.003+11:00

After spending some more time on the open ocean, it was exciting to have the continent just outside my porthole again. Even though I had been to Davis Station only five days earlier, it was still striking to travel for days across a wilderness of ocean and ice, and then see people emerging from buildings on the horizon. By 8:00 am, the station leader and a small team were onboard to brief us. The first of the new expeditioners were sent ashore to prepare for thecargo operations ahead. This time, my trip to land was in a small boat called a Pagodroma.

Casey is located on the coast of Wilkes Land, in a wildlife rich area of low rocky islands and peninsulas. During summer — when the station’s population more than doubles — the temperature occasionally rises above freezing. In winter, when the sea freezes over, it’s a different story for the 20 or so winterers, who regularly experience temperatures into the minus twenties and thirties! Not even the most powerful ships can reach them until the sea ice begins to break up again in the spring. Just like the emperor penguins on the ice in the dark — a little group in a very cold place — the station’s winterers are cut off from the rest of the world.

Meal times in Antarctica bring people together. Thanks to hydroponics, you can even expect fresh greens.

“Because there are no insects around, we have to pollinate the cucumber flowers with a small paintbrush. It’s enjoyable work and it’s great to see everyone pile the fresh greens onto their plates at lunchtime.” Jim Behrens

Big day out

2006-12-28T21:17:00.000+11:00

We have been ‘driving’ parallel to the continent. Even though the temperatures are just above freezing, it feels like summer, and most of us have stripped down to one layer of clothing. The fog has cleared, and I can’t believe I am bathing in sunshine and blue sky on the bright red deck of the Aurora, with Antarctica as my background! As if to celebrate the occasion, snow petrels circled above as Adeliepenguins dived off their floating ice lounge rooms, out of the Aurora’s path and into the dark waters of the bay. Later, I saw my first emperor penguin standing alone on an ice floe. What a shock the huge, humming, bright-red steel mass of the Aurora must be to these creatures.

Goodbye Davis

2006-12-27T07:45:00.002+11:00

This morning, I was woken up by the familiar crunching sounds as we nudged our way through the pack ice off Davis Station. After five days on the continent, I’m back on the Aurora and heading towards Casey Station. Amid last-minute packing and interviews, an at-times teary ceremony was held for the outgoing winterers, and thestation was formally handed over to the ‘new crew’. I tried to imagine what it would be like to leave a place that you have called home for the past year, knowing that you’ll probably never see it again.

This afternoon, a group of Arctic terns swept over the bow and away into the fog that now blankets
the ship. Icebergs, storeys high, suddenly came in and out of view,and penguin tracks on the ice floes
added to the mysterious feeling.

Casey is situated in an area of the low rocky Windmill Islands and peninsulas. With more than more than 50 islands in the group, the Windmill Islands are home to tens of thousands of birds, including Adelie penguins, giant petrels, skuas and snow petrels. I can’t wait!

I am travelling on Voyage 2. You can find information about other Australian Antarctic voyages for the current season here.

Interview: Jim Behrens - The loose tooth

2006-12-26T23:35:00.001+11:00

Back at Davis station, I met Jim Behrens. Jim says his job as a scientist has made his life an adventure.
He works for the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in California, and is trying to discover how Antarctica will respond to a warmer world.

I love all the weird and wonderful things I get to do, whether it’s spending a few days hanging out with a group of elephant seals, flying in a helicopter parallel to a giant crevasse, or pooping in a bucket
on an Antarctic ice shelf! (There’s no plumbing on ice shelves — you sit on a metal bucket outside,
exposed to the elements, with the wind whipping around you. It’s very scenic, but you do end up with an extremely cold bum!) I’m studying the ‘loose tooth’, an area on the edge of the Amery Ice Shelf
where a large iceberg is calving off.

The ‘loose tooth’ (seen here from space) is an area at the northern edge of the Amery ice shelf where
a large iceberg is calving off.

At the start of the summer, we set up GPS receivers and a type of sensor called a seismometer at the rift (the crack where the ice is breaking away). Seismometers detect vibrations — they are most often used to measure the ground motion that occurs during earthquakes. Here, they ‘listen’ to the ‘icequakes’ that occur near the rift tip as it cracks its way forward. At the end of the summer, we retrieve the seismometers and use computer programs to process the data we’ve
collected.

We want to learn about the rate at which iceberg calving occurs, and how it’s affected by the temperature and motion of the ocean and atmosphere. Then, we’ll understand more about how the Earth’s changing climate will affect the Antarctic icecap in the future.

A busy Christmas in Antarctica

2006-12-25T15:53:00.000+11:00

White wilderness

2006-12-24T10:20:00.005+11:00

Last night, we flew along the coast from Davis Station to visit a Weddell seal colony. The time of day (about 9:00 pm), the pristine atmosphere, and the loops our pilot made across the shimmering ice landscape beneath us made for a spectacular flight.

This was my first glimpse of massive tabular icebergs grounded along the coastline. They shimmered like clouds on the clear turquoise blue of the Southern Ocean, and crystal blue lakes formed circular patterns on the ice plateau, like jewels set in a giant meringue.

When we arrived, about 30 Weddell seals were lying around on the seal. I felt fortunate to stare into the eyes of a wild animal — in this case, a very sleepy Weddell seal in its natural habitat.

While we gazed in wonder, filmed and photographed, the Weddell’s occasionally arched their fins, scratched their bellies and yawned a lot! We weren’t sleepy yet, but at about 11.30 our pilot, Ricardo was back in the helicopter to take us on to Watt’s hut for the night.

Interview: Judy Horsburgh - Seal sounds

2006-12-24T00:03:00.001+11:00

Don’t be fooled by the drool. Weddell seals are excellent communicators.

One of the things that has made me smile the most in Antarctica is the noise that Weddell seal pups make when they are communicating with their mothers. Seals use sound to help them find their way around, hunt and communicate. Their sense of sight and smell is reduced underwater, so seals (and other marine mammals) use sonar, and their whiskers act as a kind of radar receiver!

A bright bivy

2006-12-23T21:20:00.005+11:00

Last night, I slept outside Watts Lake Hut in the Vestfold Hills. This photo of the hut was taken from inside my bivvy bag at 1:00 am! In December, the Antarctic sky is filled with daylight 24 hours a day. The Sun moves across the sky, just above the horizon, but never sets.

The seaward half of the Vestfold Hills, where the hut is located, does not get any of the powerful katabatic winds that come down off the Antarctic plateau, so I was super-toasty inside my bivvy bag. The night was perfectly still, and away from the station and its generators I experienced the silence of Antarctica for the first time.

This morning, I joined scientist Antek Skotnicki on one of his moss collecting trips. Before we set off, we drilled a hole into the surface of a frozen lake to make sure that it was safe to travel on. You can also get an idea of the condition of the ice by looking at it: thin ice is most often dark or grey.
Antek says the beauty of molecular science is that you only need to take tiny samples. I understand why this is important when Antek tells me that Antarctic moss grows at a rate of only 1 mm per year. A single careless footprint in the moss could remain there for many years, so I tread carefully!

Antek’s wife, Mary, a molecular biologist, will compare moss DNA from the samples Antek collects in
Antarctica to moss from South America and Tasmania. This may help her work out where the moss came from and perhaps when. Scientists believe that plants living in extreme environments like Antarctica may also provide an indication of how plants elsewhere may respond to climate change.

Carrying our 20 kg survival packs, we meandered through the hills, crunched across frozen lakes and slid down icy slopes in search of moss. It was fantastic work!

Finding my 'land legs'

2006-12-23T12:54:00.003+11:00

I felt a bit strange when I woke up this morning after my first night on land after 12 days of rocking and rolling on the Southern Ocean. I guess I have to find my ‘land legs’ again.

'Hurry up and wait'. That‘s the saying down here when you are getting ready to go somewhere and especially so when you are traveling by helicopter.

There’s lots of science research happening around Davis. Today, we flew out to Ace Lake in the Vestfold Hills to interview a team of scientists who are living and working there for the next week. Ricardo, our pilot, said that we should attach ice chains to our boots, because we will be landing in the middle of the frozen lake. I have a mild fear of ice, so that was enough to get my attention!

It was an amazing sight to seeto see Rick and his team from the University of NSW and University of Tasmania hard at work in their ‘lab’ — the frozen surface of a lake!

Interview: Rick Cavicchioli - Life in the freezer

2006-12-23T00:37:00.001+11:00

The extremophiles we’re studying love life extremely cold. They live at the bottom of Ace Lake, where there is no oxygen and the average temperature is 1°C. In Deep Lake, they live at temperatures as low as –20ºC in water that is 10 times saltier than the ocean. To study them in Ace Lake, we have to drill a small hole 1.7 m deep through the lake’s icy crust to reach them. Then, using a machine that works a bit like a pool filter, we collect the microorganisms on a membrane as the water flows through.
Even though they’re really small, cold-adapted extremophiles are vital to the health of our whole planet. Most of the Earth’s biosphere, such as the deep ocean and alpine and polar habitats, is cold (less than 5°C).

Someone actually said: “If the last whale swallowed the last panda, it would be a disaster, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world; however, if we destroyed some of the key microorganisms, it could completely prevent the normal cycles of life occurring.” If we can understand the microorganisms here and how they function, what kind of processes they drive and how they affect the atmosphere and the cycling of nutrients, then we’ll have a much better picture of many of the other cold environments on Earth.

But, working out what they do is not just a scientific question. Extremophiles could also be put to good use. Understanding more about their genetic make-up could help in the development of a variety of new technologies. Imagine being able to wash clothes or dishes without using hot water or only tiny amounts of detergent. Because these Antarctic microorganisms are already adapted to the cold, we can use them to develop useful products such as enzymes — like those in cleaning products. These enzymes do not pollute theenvironment, and can therefore replace the more harmful chemicals that are in many detergents.

Touchdown Antarctica

2006-12-20T15:43:00.004+11:00

My first step on Antarctica was not quite what I had expected. The landscape around Davis Station looks a bit like the Moon: not much ice, and lots of rock.

In Antarctica, helicopters are like taxis. During summer, the ice melts and is too weak to travel on, so a short flight is the safest way to get to the mainland. By 9:30 am, everyone was hard at work. The ship was bustling with activity as we readied for the fly off.

Could you spend a year away from your family and friends? At the station, we were greeted by the men and women who had been living there for the past year. It was great to meet them and hear about
some of their experiences. But, I suspect that for them, the highlight of our arrival was the delivery of mail and Christmas presents from back home. Imagine the shock of spending 10 months over winter with just 20 people, then all of a sudden having 100 new faces to deal with!

While I’m in Antarctica I will be spending time with the other Antarctic fellows - Wes Dening, Marie Davies from Totally Wild and Vonna, our field guide from the Australian Government Antarctic Division.

Wes was totally excited to be off the boat.

Interview: Frederique Olivier - Finding which nest is best

2006-12-19T21:49:00.002+11:00

I wanted to know why snow petrels nest in certain places and not in others. So, I spent six months scrambling down hills around Casey Station looking for snow petrel nests. I recorded their exact
location using a Global Positioning System (GPS) and collected information about the environment around the nest. It turns out that snow petrels choose very peculiar places to nest. You might think being surrounded by snow would make you feel cold, but it is the exact opposite for snow petrels. Sometimes, these birds use snow as an insulation material — in the same way that mountaineers dig snow caves to protect themselves for the night. They actually try to keep a little bit of snow inside
their nest cavities to build walls around them, because it protects them from the wind and maintains some heat in the nest.

Because Antarctica is so big, no one can visit every single rocky area along the coast to count snow petrels in the field. So, I used computer modelling software to work out where the birds might be nesting elsewhere. Then I had to test my predictions. After two years, I got the chance to go to Antarctica again and see if my computer work was reflecting what actually happens. I found that the computer analysis could predict where the snow petrels were nesting at Mawson. I was very happy, because my models worked!

It’s likely that my models can be applied to other unsurveyed areas of East Antarctica and to other species. By understanding the relationships between species and their environment, we can better predict the impact of climate change on these habitats.

Pure white snow petrels

2006-12-19T21:19:00.002+11:00

Snow petrels, the subject of Frederique Olivier's three-year-long study, live amongst the pack ice during Antarctica's harsh winter. Image: Frederique Olivier

The ocean is much calmer now that we are in the sheltered waters of the pack ice. I almost miss the rough and tumble of the open water. I’m sure some of the seasickness victims would disagree with me!
Today, I talked with Dr Frederique Olivier while the Aurora was crunching its way through pack
ice. The site of our interview — 60° south, snow petrel territory — is fitting. Fred’s main research interest is studying the nesting sites of these pure white birds that look like pieces of ice come to life.

Icebreaking

2006-12-18T20:57:00.004+11:00

Ice is all around us now. No words or photographs can describe the feeling of being surrounded by ice as far as the eye can see. The ocean appears darker now against the whiteness of the pack ice, and
at times there is more ice than ocean. The ice forms every winter when the surface waters freeze and spread out from Antarctica. In summer, it breaks up into big, flat pieces called ‘floes’ that look a bit like a giant white jigsaw puzzle. Our first stop is not far away: Australia’s Davis Station (68°35’S, 77°58’E), almost 5000 km from Hobart.

CR_unch! Although the Aurora is an icebreaker, it can still be quite tricky to travel through the ice. The fastest way through is by following the water leads or cracks between the ice floes. Sometimes, we have no choice but to slow down and break through the ice. When we hit a big piece, the ship bangs and shudders as the bow pushes up on top of the ice. The weight of the ship then cracks the ice and we move through. When this happens, the place to be is right at the front of the ship, where you can
see the cracking and hear and feel the crunching!

Monsters of the deep

2006-12-17T20:32:00.002+11:00

We passed through 60 degrees south of the equator yesterday — official Antarctic waters according to maritime law.

Only one iceberg on my shift last night, but today, icebergs are everywhere.

Some of them are several kilometres long, in all shapes and sizes. A few look like floating castles; others look like bits of paper that have been screwed up and thrown at the horizon.

The biggest bergs are called tabular icebergs. They are flat on top with cliffs of about 30m high. Tabular bergs are big chunks of ice that have broken off floating glaciers around the coast of Antarctica. When glaciers (great rivers of moving ice) are pushed forwards they sometimes flow out towards the ocean, creating ice shelves which are attached to the land but float upon the ocean. Eventually, the movement of the glacier and the thrashing of the ocean cause pieces of the floating ice sheet to break off and become icebergs.

I like the ones with beautiful curves. These icebergs have rolled upside down and the curved bits, which used to be underwater, have been shaped and worn smooth by the sea.

The ocean is much calmer now but I miss the sound of the ship heaving through the Southern Ocean. In rough seas the ship sounds a bit like whale sonar and the noise evolves when the waves get really big.

Weeerrrrrrhhhhhhhhheee…the whale has turned into a monster of the deep!

I'm sure some of the sea sickness victims would disagree with my liking for the rough and tumble of the open ocean. Many of them are emerging from their cabins now, looking worn out and still a little green around the gills, to see what all the excitement is about.

Speaking of monsters, our crossing of the 60°south latitude earned us a visit from a cheeky and very green King Neptune last night. All newcomers to this far south must bow before the King and Queen. One of his followers looked suspiciously like Vonna Keller, our field guide in Antarctica, masked and covered in green food dye. I didn't dare to question her identity. I already had plenty of vegemite in my ears...

The twilight zone

2006-12-16T17:44:00.001+11:00

This morning, I woke up to flickers of white flying past my porthole, a ship dusted with snow and more icebergs on the horizon. There’s always something happening on the ship, so I was out of bed early again after another late night. It hardly gets dark at all now. A good night’s sleep is a struggle, and so is leaving behind the stunning view of twilight and ice on the Southern Ocean.

Another iceberg was spotted overnight, this time about 8 km away and much bigger than the last one. We are recording the size and location of icebergs every three hours now. The information we record will be passed on to scientists at the University of Tasmania. It’s a great excuse to hang out on the bridge — my favourite place on the Aurora. My first shift is at 3:00 am this morning. I had better get to bed!

Iceberg!

2006-12-14T09:53:00.002+11:00

After travelling 1306 km, our first iceberg was spotted a bit before 9:00 am today — causing a rush of people and cameras to the decks. I’ve been thinking about why we were all so excited, and I think it’s because drifting icebergs are like messengers from another world. After so many days at sea, with no land in sight, an iceberg is a sure sign that things are about to change.

You may be wondering why some of my posts are delayed by a day or two. While I'm on the Aurora I can only send irregular emails, as all correspondence is sent via an expensive satellite link to the rest of the world.

Riders on the wind

2006-12-13T21:55:00.005+11:00

Last night we were welcomed to the furious fifties (south of latitude 50°S) with some pretty rough weather. The Aurora continues onwards — at only nine knots today, due to the rough seas— creating impressive white plumes of spray over the bow as she takes the tops off passing waves. The days are getting longer; it’s getting dark at about 10:30 pm now. The dropping temperatures add to the feeling that we are heading in the right direction. The wind and waves have not deterred the albatross, however, who seem to accompany us constantly.

Field training begins

2006-12-12T21:44:00.000+11:00

Field training started today for the winterers. ‘Round trippers’, like me, start their training tomorrow. So tonight, my Australian Government Antarctic Division (AGAD) field manual is my bedtime reading. In Antarctica this little book, and the AGAD first aid manual, must always be carried with you. Whatever dangerous situation you’re in, it can help you out, provided it’s in your pocket and you have time to read it! It has loads of life saving information, from how to build a snow cave (if you are caught out in bad weather) to how to use your ice axe as a brake system (if you are falling down an icy slope).

Today I also went to a talk by Tim Jarvis. In 1999, Tim became a Joint World Record holder for the fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole (47 days) and the longest unsupported Antarctica journey in history (1580km) with fellow adventurer, Peter Treseder. Tim is journeying south this year to lead an expedition that is retracing Douglas Mawson’s tragic Australian Antarctic expedition of 1911-14.

Mawson was the only member of this three man expedition to survive. Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis fell to his death down a crevasse, together with the sledge carrying most of their supplies. 506km from their base, Mawson and Dr Xavier Mertz started their journey back, killing their dogs for food. Tragically, Mertz died with 160km to go. It was not discovered until years later that he had been poisoned by Vitamin A from the dogs livers.

Bump, jump and sway

2006-12-12T12:52:00.005+11:00

Last night was like trying to sleep on a theme park ride. Up and down, across and around. Bump, jump and sway. Everything and everyone was moving. The massive waves crashing against my cabin’s porthole look like the inside of a washing machine. This morning’s breakfast was poorly attended, with lots of people lying low in their cabins. I’m feeling good and I’m infinitely grateful. We’re 51° 57’ 00” S and 125° 13’ 00” E and 2215 nautical miles from Davis Station, Antarctica.

Maybe it would be easier to fly to Antarctica?

Finding my sea legs

2006-12-10T13:57:00.003+11:00

Yesterday I spent nearly the whole day in bed with seasickness. No vomiting, but very sleepy and not hungry at all. Before I left, my dad, an experienced sailor,
told me I should keep my eyes on the horizon and not be afraid. He was right! It’s day two, and I’m beginning to enjoy hanging out on the bridge of the Aurora, watching the bow rise and fall over the swell. So far, I haven’t been seasick, and I could not be more excited.

I’m still getting used to life on the ocean though. I have to be careful on my chair because if I tuck my legs underneath me like I’m used to doing, I can fall backwards when the boat moves with the swell.

Unfortunately the biggest news to date is my cabin – called ‘the swamp’ by those lucky enough not to be living in it. One of the pipes in our bathroom is cracked and water has leaked underneath the carpet in our bedroom. In case you didn’t know, wet carpet smells pretty bad and it’s even worse when you are not feeling so well. Hopefully it’s being fixed as I write this post.

I just spotted an albatross through a porthole soaring above the waves.

Time for a cup of tea and some fresh air.

Into the Southern Ocean

2006-12-10T13:51:00.005+11:00

On Friday at 6.00pm the Aurora Australis finally sailed into the sunset, down the Derwent River and around the southern edge of Tasmania into the vast Southern Ocean. No more land, just ocean for as far as you can see.

Some people tested the limits of their mobile receptions, making last minute phone calls to friends and family, others played hacky sack on the helipad at the back of the boat until Tasmania disappeared...

Lots of interesting people are on board — scientists, helicopter pilots, filmmakers, carpenters, plumbers, a doctor and even a polar explorer. Mealtimes are your best chance to meet up with people. I think I’ll start my interviews in a couple of days, once everyone has got their sea legs. Some people are already in bed with seasickness!

Before we sailed, everyone from Voyage 2 attended a briefing from the Australian Antarctic Division’s medical officer Peter Gormly. He told us what can happen, and what has happened, to people in Antarctica. It was a gruesome lecture with pictures of injured bodies and horrible accidents. I think his aim was to shock us into respect and reasonable fear and he definitely succeeded – living up to the nickname of ‘Doctor Death’!

He left us by saying there are three things that you must not forget in Antarctica. “It’s cold, it’s dangerous and please be kind to one another.”

24 hours to go

2006-12-08T00:42:00.004+11:00

Glacier glasses and snow goggles - check. Insulated freezer suit and balaclava - check, check. You need a lot of warm clothes and special equipment to survive in Antarctica. Last week I picked up my extra special Antarctic gear from the Australian Antarctic Division in Hobart. Of course I had to test it out! So I headed to the top of Mt Wellington for some cool breezes and a good view to the south.

After being delayed for about a week due to cracks in the ship's fuel tank, the Aurora Australis will finally set sail for Antarctica down the Derwent River tomorrow.

Nearly there

2006-12-04T08:19:00.002+11:00

Its 11.35pm and 3 sleeps before I leave the dry Canberra summer behind me to board the Aurora Australis bound for Antarctica. I fell in love with Antarctica about 3 years ago through a friend that visited there. Now my dream is laid out before me all over my lounge room floor – packing for a trip to Antarctica is no mean feat!

But I sense that I’m not alone. Perhaps everyone from Voyage 2, even the experienced Antarctic expeditioners, are crossing off lists and trying to shrink down their bags to fit within the 30kg weight limit with a mix of excitement and apprehension right now, just like me.

It’s to be expected - after all, we are journeying to the end of the Earth! Will the ship again be trapped in ice, as its last voyage was? Does a cyclone await us in the furious fifties? Will I see a wandering albatross gliding above the Southern Ocean?

I can’t wait to find out. Over the next week I will be kitted out in the latest Antarctic fashion, undergo survival training and meet my fellow expeditioners who I will get to know well over the next 2 months.