Around the Station and Shirley Island video

In a previous blog entry I had posted some pictures from a recent hike over to Shirley Island, and the penguin colony. Below is a short video from this trip, and over the rest of the summer season, hopefully I will get out there a few more times, and be able to post some more video of the changes as they lay eggs, and the penguin chicks hatch...... enjoy!

Some have asked for some more pictures of the station itself, and the living quarters.... well below is a video that takes you on a walk along the main road (pretty much the only road) through Casey station.... some of the video is in fast forward as I work my way up the road, between different areas of the station. I took this video a couple of weeks ago, so with the increasing temps, and a couple of days of wind, all the sea ice has now broken up, and moved out of the bay.

Over the coming weeks, I will also endeavour to post some more video of other areas/buildings around the station.

For the past week or so, we have had a AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute) Basler aircraft working from Casey station. This is a German Polar Institute, and on the aircraft is crew with German scientist's, and a Canadian aircrew (from Ken Borek Air) who also operate the Twin Otter aircraft, and another Basler which is soon to arrive here at Casey.

The aircraft itself has just had a complete rebuild, costing in excess of 8 million dollars, and when it arrived at Casey it only had about 100 hours flight time since rebuild... not bad for plane originally built in the 1930's and 40's.

Basler 'POLAR 6', photo Stuart Rutherford

POLAR 6, photo Stuart Rutherford

Everything is starting to get busier around station, as the Aurora Australis resupply ship is scheduled to leave Hobart on December 2nd, and arrive here about 10 days later. Most of those who have been here for the previous winter will leave on the ship, and most of the next wintering crew will arrive...... so too will some fresh fruit, eggs, vegetables and salad.

some more random pictures from the the last couple of weeks....

Last weekend a group of us took a trip over to the old Wilkes station. We spent the afternoon exploring the old station.... which is basically just the tops of the old buildings, as they have been cover/consumed by accumulating ice/snow, but more on that and hopefully some video of the trip in the next  blog entry.

Below are a couple of links recently published in the news, including one on a huge iceberg that may prevent the upcoming centenary celebrations at Mawson's Hut in Commonwealth Bay.

future directions of Antarctica, the treaty and the AAD
Iceberg restricting access to Commonwealth Bay

Community Duties

There may be about 70 here at Casey station now, but all are employed in specific roles that keep the station maintained and running, or more specifically completing science projects. There is no-one specific to complete the everyday (housekeeping) duties around the station..... so everyone on station will get 'rostered' to different roles from time to time. These roles might include cleaning and vacuuming the common or lounge areas, or collecting rubbish from the various areas in the red shed, or 'Slushy', which is working in the kitchen for the day, and this might involve peeling potatoes or carrots, food preparation and cooking, cleaning down the kitchen and mess room areas...... but more than likely washing what seems like thousands of pots and pans.

Hard at it....'Slushy' Duties

I know that I have now been here for a few weeks.... but I have been putting together a few short video clips. This first one covers the flights down here on the Airbus from Hobart, and also the Hercules flight from McMurdo to Casey.... I am working on few others for the following blog entries, and these will include the trip out to the penguins on Shirley Island, and a bit of a look around the station.

The past week or so has seen very little change in the weather conditions. We have not seen much in the way of wind, with most days being fine, and temps between about -8c and -2c. This has meant that outside of work hours, many people have still been able to get off station, with group setting off on a cross country ski to the old Wilkes station and back (a trip of about 15 klms).

I may not have set off on the trip to Wilkes, but have been trying a bit of Cross Country Skiing. Having only got on snow skis' for the first time about 2 years ago, I would not call myself more than a 'novice' skier..... in fact my 9 year old daughter could probably give me a few lessons. None the less I was out there giving it a go (besides, how can you pass up to chance to say you have been cross country skiing in Antarctica!).

I must say though, this is a place of Ice, and given that, there is not too much soft powdery snow, but LOTS of HARD ice. This means that for an amateur like me, it's like ice skating, but with skis' on, and although I only fell once or twice..... it's a pretty hard fall.

In the last week the Twin Otter aircraft have flown over to Mario Zucchelli station (Italian), to complete some work there. But in the mean time a Basler aircraft has arrived, the Basler is based on a DC3.

With amount of daylight increasing, last weeks full moon is likely to be the last that I see until I arrive back in Australia in Mid February next year, so I made the effort to get up at 0430 am to see it. With the reduced light/zoom, the quality of the picture is not great, but below is the full moon over the icebergs from Casey station.

Full moon over the icebergs

Below are just a few other random pictures from the past week or so.

View over old Wilkes station to the Icebergs

Broken sea ice in Newcomb Bay

The 2nd of December marks 100 years since Mawson's voyage left Hobart bound for Antarctica. Below I added a few links to various articles that have been recently published in newspapers.

Sydney Morning Herald article on members of Mawsons' expedition party
Border Mail article on members of Mawsons' expedition party
Kitting out of expeditioners

Shirley Island and Tot-Cal

Well the past couple of days has seen the wind start to increase up to about 40-50 knots (75-90KPH), with some blowing snow and the odd light snow fall. This has meant that the aircraft have been unable to fly, and as a result we have been working what would be considered a 'normal' working day, and finishing up usually by dinner time. This has also meant that after dinner (and with sunlight well into the night), groups have been able to head out for a hike, or do some cross country skiing. Most groups have hiked over to Shirley Island.... taking advantage of the fact that the Sea Ice to Shirley Island is still intact.

Hiking out to Shirley Island

Working our way down to the Sea Ice

The Sea Ice out to Shirley Island is in a narrow stretch of water between the Island and the mainland, which means that it remains in place, and solid for some time after the rest of the Sea Ice has gone!

On Shirley Island there is a large colony of Adelie Penguins, also it is not uncommon to see Skua birds, Weddell Seals, and Leopard Seals.

Adelie Penguins

View from Shirley Island

Adelie Penguins

I mentioned in the previous blog entry, of some of the science work that is happening. In particular the work around the Law Dome area, The following is some information by Reed Burgette, from the University of Tasmania, explaining the Tot-Cal project and its relationship with the CyroSat 2 mission.

 

The second season of the Tot-Cal project is off to a good start, with our first far-field GPS site installed on the Vanderford Glacier with the Twin Otter aircraft only a week after we arrived at Casey.   This season our team consists of FTO Mick Stapleton and Jack Beardsley and I from University of Tasmania.  The initial component of our project involves installing a network of six stations with GPS and meteorological sensors around Law Dome and the Totten and Vanderford Glaciers. 

The Tot-Cal project contributes to the calibration and validation of the European Space Agency's Cryosat 2 satellite. The CryoSat-2 mission is designed to monitor changes in ice volume around the Earth. Casey is well positioned for this project, as the Totten Glacier (200 km southeast of the station) has one of the most rapid rates of ice loss in east Antarctica, as observed by previous satellites. We will use the data collected from the GPS sites we install, coupled with planned ground and aeriel surveying to ensure CryoSat's measurements of the east Antarctic ice sheet are as accurate as possible. Additionally, our project will contribute to better characterizing the rate of ice movement of the glaciers around the Casey area.

Jack Beardsley and Reed Burgette in the process of connecting the equipment for the GPS site on the Vanderford Glacier.  Photo: Dave Woplin

With the GPS site completed, we prepare to fly back to Casey in the Twin Otter.  The solar-powered equipment will be retrieved at the end of the summer season.  Photo: Jack Beardsley

2011 marks the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, led in 1911 by Sir Douglas Mawson.

To coincide with the centenary celebrations, the Australian Antarctic Division is running a competition for school students in years 5 - 9, to write what they think Antarctica will be like in 2111. The competition runs between 14 - 25 November 2011. And the winning entries will be sealed in a time capsule at Commonwealth Bay, Antarctica until the bicentenary in 2111. Follow the Link.

Settling into the Casey life

Well the first week back at Casey Station has been a bit busy. With all the new arrivals trying to get set for the weeks ahead. For many of those who have not been here before, and those who have not been south for some years, heading out on field training. This training began back in Kingston, Tasmania, but is completed after arriving in Antarctica. It involves various aspects of survival and travel in Antarctica, including, travel on sea ice, navigation, vehicle travel, ice slope self arrest training.... along with many other things. You will also spend a couple of nights sleeping out on the ice, one night will be spent sleeping in 'bivvy' bag, and another out in 'polar pyramid' tents.... it can be a long and cold night, especially if the wind is blowing a bit, but what an amazing experience. As I had completed the training the last time I was here a Casey, I did not have to complete it again for this season. But below I have included some photos of my training from 2 seasons ago.

Preparing for some Ice Slope training

Self arrest training

Bedding down for the night

Checking sea ice dept for safe travel

In the past week we have had the 2 Twin Otter aircraft arrive from the South Pole Station, via Dome C (Concordia), and since arriving they have conducted some flights to Bunger Hills, and the Law Dome area, which will form part of the science works to be undertaken this season. This Link has a small article from Australian Geographic, which talks of some of the work undertaken at the Law Dome site, and the findings from Ice Cores taken from the area, and links to drought in the Western Australia region.

One of the Twin Otter aircraft has since made a flight over to Davis station, this flight is to coincide with the arrival of the resupply ship Aurora Australis, which is about to arrive at Davis for the annual resupply of personnel, food, equipment and fuel. The Twin Otter will be used to ferry some personnel from Davis station, over to Mawson station

The second Hercules flight also arrived from McMurdo, which was carrying a further 26 personnel for Casey station. And the number of people now at Casey is up around the 70 mark.

As we are getting further into the summer season, the length of daylight is also extending. At this point (early/mid November) Sunset is listed as about 1am, and sunrise at about 6am, and by early December there will only be about 2 hours between sunset and sunrise. Although the sun actually sets, as the timeframe gets shorter, it does not get much past twilight, and by Mid December, the sun will not set again until early January.

This sunset or twilight period produces some amazing changing colours across the icebergs, turning them from bright whites, to bright shades of blue and pink. The photo below was taken at Midnight from the front of Casey station.

With long long periods of sunlight, it provides great opportunities for travel. Often after dinner, groups will head out to do some cross country skiing, or take a hike over to Shirley Island (across the sea ice). Shirley Island has the nearest Adelie Penguin colony to Casey station...... I went for a hike over to the island a few nights ago, but will save some of the pictures for the next entry........