On Saturdays I often sleep in and read the newspaper. However today is a normal working day at sea, thankfully more relaxed than the intense sampling during the previous 48 hours. There is an opportunity for consolidation — to stack samples, review data sheets and computer records, compile photos and their metdata and generally just catch up. The underway data continues and the Continuous Plankton Recorder is sampling the zooplankton as we go.
The weather overnight was stormy and the Polarstern altered course from south to south-west to avoid the worst swells. Under these conditions, sleep is patchy. The seas subsided during the day, making it easier to move around the ship. At 3 pm I need fresh air and go out on deck. Form our position at nearly 53 degrees south, two icebergs are visible on the southern horizon. Antarctic prions and storm petrels swoop across the waves.
Before dinner, a group gathers to prepare Christmas celebrations. We have various musical instruments and some people have remembered sheet music. The makeshift choir is practising a nautical version of “The twelve days of Christmas”. Our group of 53 scientists has some remarkable talent! Tomorrow’s menu promises some specialities for the second Sunday in Advent. These observances bring a sense of belonging to families and friends, despite the distance that separates us.
Each evening we gather to plan the coming events and listen to a lecture by one of the scientists. Tonight we make preliminary arrangements for refuelling the German Antarctic base at Neumayer, which we should reach in the next week, depending on ice conditions. Eight scientists who have overwintered at the base will visit Polarstern. I try to imagine what this would feel like, after a year in a small group in such a remote and inhospitable location. Our lecturer tonight is a Dutch scientist and he explains how the seabird observations of his team fit into the larger context of top predators and their food in the seasonal sea-ice zone. They have invented a special net to sample under the ice – a productive habitat that could be impacted by climate change. These guys stay on deck for three hour shifts to observe birds and mammals, in strong winds and freezing conditions – without a murmur of complaint! The statistical method allows them to quantify the sightings and make population estimates.
V. Wadley, Australian Antarctic Division and Census of Antarctic Marine Life
Photos: A. Meijboom, IMARES and Torben Riehl, University of Hamburg