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The last 24 hours aboard the Aurora Australis has seen the vessel anchored around 1.5 km off Davis Station, transferring barge loads of fresh water (around 9,000L per trip) to the station wharf. The Aurora's crew and AAD watercraft operators have been working around the clock to see as much water sent ashore as possible before the weather conditions were due to change today.
Supporting scientific research activities in such a remote, stunning and untouched environment as Antarctica – also means we need to manage our operations around the many challenges that accompany such remoteness. Antarctica is the world's coldest and driest continent, and surprisingly also one of the highest. Whole mountain ranges are often swallowed by the enveloping icecaps, and even at the height of the Austral summer season, sea ice can persist in harbours or coastal regions which the year before might have been clear. Little wonder then, that foremost in the mind of any Antarctic shipping arrangement is the prevailing weather.
The Aurora's bridge team monitor wind speeds and related conditions (e.g. air temperature) throughout operations, feeding updates to the watercraft and shore crews. In contrast to yesterday evening's fine conditions, by around 0830 this morning wind speeds were steadily rising ahead of an approaching low pressure system, so the vessel's Master, Chief Mate and voyage management all determined that the barge operations would cease, and the barge was then lifted aboard. The forecast for the remainder of the day appeared similarly unfavourable for barge operations, so the vessel has now departed the Davis anchorage to head out to sea overnight – which also provides the an excellent opportunity for the ship to generate further fresh water stocks.
Both station and vessel teams were very happy with the how the water transfer operations went, and for some of the new watercraft team – our first stop at Davis station gave them an excellent introduction to being coxswain or crew in Antarctic conditions.
The vessel is now clear of the Davis coastline after a short transit amidst the iceberg fields, with plenty of Adelie penguins to be seen on ice floes in close proximity to the ship – some jumping off as we approached, some walking awkwardly away in their mini-tuxedos (off to find a shrimp cocktail?) – and others simply standing and staring in awe at the large orange iceberg passing them by....
Speaking of icebergs, it was remiss of the author not to have mentioned that only a day before we arrived at Davis station – the Aurora's galley crew produced a pavlova of epic & iceberg-esque proportions for Australia Day, replete with a sea of blueberries, strawberries and girt by fresh cream. Those reading this report who may not hail from Australia (including a certain special lady in Switzerland, a relation of one of our watercraft crew aboard), may not be familiar with the term 'girt'. It's an older English word meaning 'surrounded', just like the sea around the Australian mainland – or in our case, the Aurora Australis, surrounded by white-capped waves, icebergs and well-dressed penguins.
Cheers
Mark & Fred
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.