My goodness, I have not seen this much ice in my whole life. The diffuse light blurrs the horizon, and without sunglasses I would indeed go blind.
While Polarstern is working her way through the ice toward Neumayer Station, the Dutch scientists are flying daily transects off the ship to survey the ice. Besides the pilot, two members of the Dutch team are sitting in the helicopter, and each day they are taking along a guest investigator to count and survey animals. I was lucky to be the first to fly because by chance my name ended up on top of the list of helicopter guests.
During the two-hour flight waypoints were marked, and then animals are counted in relation to hight and speed of the helicopter. There are groups of Adelie penguins on the ice now and then, and once in a while there is an Emperor penguin. To see a whale seems to be the great exception these days, but we do see several crabeater seals taking some time out on one of the countless ice floes.
In any case, such a flight is a special experience for any “guest”. The Dutch team shows experience and well-trained eyes, and I am involved with all my senses. When approaching the small dot turning out to be Polarstern I have the feeling that we just took off a minute ago. The closer the helicopter gets, the more impressive the ship looks. The pilot lands the helicopter with quiet routine so that I clamber out back on deck all full of excitement.
Saskia Brix, Senckenberg
Photos: S. Brix, Senckenbeg, and A. Brandt, University of Hamburg