This week at Macquarie Island
15 October 2010
Two persistent themes running through everyday life at Macquarie Island are the wildlife (it’s a bit like living in a zoo!) and the wind. Both aspects feature in this week’s news. The wind is ever-present. And when it gets well above gale force, gusting to more than 60 knots at the station and more on hilltops down the island, damage can result.
15 October 2010
8 October 2010
We have been bothered recently by the bull elephant seals in their seasonally testosterone-fuelled condition.
8 October 2010
1 October 2010
The beaches are being monitored weekly (and soon daily) to count the number of breeding cows present, as part of long-term research into the population trends of this spectacular animal. A few of the cows have a very space age look to them, sporting electronic recording devices which are part of an ongoing oceanographic research project.
1 October 2010
24 September 2010
Greetings from a chilly (and maybe rather smelly?) Macquarie Island. For the whole week our water supply from Gadget Gully has been frozen, and we have been rationing our water use. This happens at some time or other every winter and we have been lucky to have mostly avoided it so far this year, although it seems a little unfair to suffer now just as spring is unfolding outside!
24 September 2010
17 September 2010
The new main power house continues towards completion, the Sandy Bay boardwalk is designed, the northern giant petrel census is completed and animals return to the Island for spring.
17 September 2010
10 September 2010
The weather, a constant talking point here, once again ran the full gamut: rain, sunshine, wind, fog, snow and frost, with the water supply pipes mercifully freezing up for only a few hours. Back in force are the skuas, in good time to enjoy the bonanza of food that appears during spring.
10 September 2010
3 September 2010
For once the fickle Macca weather smiled on us we took advantage of it. For a few days we had light winds and even some sunshine. Several people returned from down-island trips, taken for both work reasons and recreation. The last leg of the return journey was obstructed on one day by our playful visiting young Hooker’s sea-lion.
3 September 2010
27 August 2010
Several expeditioners spent some time at Lusitania Bay before the area is closed to recreational travel to minimise disturbance to breeding birds. The main attraction was the king penguin colony, with its thousands of brown chicks and attendant, smartly plumaged adults. Even though numbers are not yet at their seasonal maximum, the colony was still an awesome sight (and smell!).
27 August 2010
20 August 2010
Work has now resumed in earnest following the rush of the recent voyage, and the rest, recovery and tidying away that followed. All the newcomers have already completed their field training, and work programs are in full swing.
20 August 2010
13 August 2010
Although the postponement of the pest eradication project because of the windiest winter ever recorded was a disappointment to us all, there was a great deal to celebrate and of which to be proud. With the arrival and departure of Aurora Australis we were saying goodbye to twenty-two good friends.
13 August 2010
