This week at Macquarie Island: 21 November 2014

This summer season, we are expecting nine tourist ship visits to Macquarie Island with around 1000 visitors coming ashore. The tourists are here to experience our wildlife and appreciate the World Heritage listed island that we have the privilege of living and working on. The first ship to arrive this season was the Spirit of Enderby which also goes by the name Professor Khromov. The ship had sailed from Bluff in New Zealand and had already visited the New Zealand subantarctic islands en route, but Macquarie Island was the ultimate goal of the voyage.

The visitors were not let down, as the island put on a great day of weather the first day and the visit to Sandy Bay was a huge success. Everyone was thrilled to come ashore and see the elephant seals, thousands of king penguins and royal penguins and one leopard seal which was visiting the beach that day.There were many bird enthusiasts in this group and interest was also focused on the cape petrels, giant petrels, red poll finches and albatross that were in flight overhead and the rockhopper penguins that were seen earlier in the day from the ship.

A group of expeditioners, under the guidance of the two TASPAWS rangers, helped with the guiding over the two-day visit. The guests had the pleasure of being shown around by the carpenter, the doctor, the deputy station leader (BOM), the plumber and the diesel mechanic. This lent an authenticity to the visit and the tourists loved interacting with members of station and learning about station life. The volunteer guides from station were able to stay onboard overnight to experience the hospitality of the Russian crew and the fresh fruit which was so welcome after nine months on the island. The bananas were especially popular and the chef made banana splits for dessert to everyone’s delight.

The second day was a visit to see Lusitania Bay from the water with a zodiac ride to photograph the 250,000 king penguins and the snow on the hills. After the cruise there was a visit to the station and a chance for the guide to explain the projects that are happening on the island and see the weather balloon launched. The tourists enjoyed Benny’s scones and a cup of tea, and had a chance to purchase, write and post their postcards with the facilities we set up in the mess. The visitors also had a chance to buy a souvenir and raise some money for the Tasmanian Guide Dog Association. The new artifact display was showcased by TASPAWs too which brought the island history to life.

Bird enthusiasts were enthralled by the gentoo penguin chicks that are about five weeks of age now and moving from their nests. They also enjoyed a zodiac ride-by to see the rockhopper penguins from the water and they may have spotted three or four man-sized penguins of unknown species on their way back to the ship. The visit was a huge success and we look forward to the next group in a couple of weeks.

Dr Meg McKeown

One new face at Macca is Evan Hardege and two past winterers Krzysztof Krzton and Paul (Cyril) Munro. Their task is to upgrade the last of the Bureau’s hydrogen gas generators which are used at all Antarctic stations to produce the gas to fill weather balloons which send an instrument package (called a radiosonde) skywards twice daily. Once per week, a larger balloon is used to carry an ozone-sonde. Radiosondes report temperature, humidity and wind data, while ozone-sondes provide information to help us understand the state of the ozone hole.

The upgrade is necessary as the existing generator is near the end of its service life and spare parts are becoming difficult to obtain. Also, the current electrolyser uses potassium hydroxide solution as an electrolyte — a caustic chemical that can be potentially hazardous during handling.

The new electrolyser (Hogen 20) uses a proton exchange membrane system, similar to fuel cell technology, only working in the reverse to produce hydrogen gas from water. This system has been installed at Mawson, Davis and Casey stations and has proved to be very safe and reliable.

The existing hydrogen store is currently located inside the electrolyser room. This means that a large proportion of the building is considered a hazardous area. The new gas store, employing stainless steel pressure vessels, will be built outdoors.

So far, work is going to schedule and the guys should be done in three to four weeks time, before returning home via New Zealand on the Spirit of Enderby.

Evan Hardege

A visit to Sandy Bay last weekend was a chance to see the king penguin colony. This is a relatively small colony by Macquarie Island standards with somewhere around 5000 birds. There are 250,000 birds at Lusitania Bay.

The first king penguins in the Sandy Bay location were noted in 1975 when there were only six pairs. King penguins only breed twice in three years so there are chicks of varying ages in the crèche.

On the weekend we met some fledging penguins. It takes 14–16 months from hatching to fledging. Now it is almost summer, food is plentiful and conditions are more favourable for the young king penguins to survive as new independent young adults,  so fledging is in full swing. We saw fur coats, shawls, footy shorts and a little bit of fluff as they transformed themselves literally while we watched.

Dr Meg McKeown