Day 24 At Sea - Life's Bounty

Monday 30 January

Another day at sea making our way to Campbell Island. It is not nearly as rough as it was with the storm on the way down but there is still a significant 3m+ swell that is causing a fair amount of seasickness. I am pleased to say that my tablets are keeping that mostly under control for me.

We need to give our Antarctic Jackets back today – which seems a bit premature as it is still 0C outside – but we are heading back into the zone where we will require our waterproof jackets more than our polar jackets.

Bryan is first up today with a talk on “Melting Ice in a Warming World – the impact of Climate Change in Antarctica”. He shows the evidence for a change in the usual patterns of warming and cooling, and links them to human activity. He particularly shows the changes in Antarctica (East Antarctica is cooling but West Antarctica is warming – with an overall increase). It is of course an interconnected effect but he looks at land ice, glaciers, ice shelves, sea ice etc in turn and their relative impacts. Ice shelves are particularly important because they hold the land ice in place. A lot of change is happening in the Amundsen Sea because there is no ice shelf stopping the outflow of the glaciers. If the Antarctic Land ice should melt there would be a 60m increase in sea level!

Steve gives us a run down of the Evolution of Antarctic Research Stations, including from his experience of staying at a wide range of different stations over the years he has been doing his research. There are many things to consider including the logistics of how to get them there, power and maintain them, food and drink, waste disposal; climate control and ensuring longevity in the Antarctic environment whilst keeping them safe, comfortable and liveable by the occupants. Many of the stations have highly evolved designs now including having them raised on poles to prevent snow accumulation and the ability to raise them up as they sink into the ice over time. Waste management is a major consideration now since work by Greenpeace in the late 1980s drew attention to the appalling behaviour by many.

After lunch we have an amazing presentation by the WildPhoto Group featuring several slide shows and a selection of 100 photos taken by members over the time we have been away. Ole also talks to us about underwater photography and much of the gear he has made himself as it is not available commercially. He shows us some absolutely stunning underwater and combination above/under water photos that he has taken. WildPhoto has Norwegian origins (Ole) and is now primarily based in Svalbard (Frede). They would normally charter a whole ship for their group so that they could concentrate on wildlife photography rather than being distracted by huts!

We have to complete Biosecurity Screening in preparation for arrival at Campbell Island because it is a completely new ecosystem that we want to protect.

This evening we have the activity of WHO DID IT? Each of the 16 Expedition Crew have written a statement of something that they have done. This was as diverse as ‘I appeared in the Monty Python movie Yellowbeard’, I accidentally dropped an alligator in my zodiac’, ‘I had a private lunch with Kylie Minogue during the Nobel Peace prize event’ through to ‘I have been treed by a grizzly bear’, ‘ piloted a helicopter, and ‘have made more than 4000 free fall parachute jumps’. We are able to ask the crew questions during the day but they can stretch the truth with their answers. It was a total guess as it was hard to match up any of them. The highest score for correct guesses was 4/16! and there were a lot of surprising answers. A highly entertaining event.

The final Episode of ‘The Last Place on Earth’ screens after dinner.