Information
Comments
Operational Summary:
8 x barge loads of general cargo discharged;
Approx. 50 pallets of concrete discharged;
Outer island seabird rookery monitoring and counting supported from vessel watercraft crews;
11 summer expeditioners returning to Australia brought aboard the vessel;
Aurora Australis crew and round-trip expeditioners shore visits undertaken.
Today the Aurora Australis again returned to Mawson station, this time in fair wind conditions, to commence watercraft cargo operations from around 1000 Mawson local time (1600 Hobart time / AEST). With the good progress made by the ship's and watercraft crews in preceding days in the discharge of essential cargo for the station, today was largely dedicated to transfer of tens of pallet loads of concrete to support future Mawson infrastructure activities. Due to the weight of these pallet loads, each was lifted individually using the ship's large main crane, being placed carefully onto the deck of the barge alongside the vessel. The barge crews then manoeuvred the pallets into place to ensure the trim of the barge (the way in which the barge sits in the water) was correct, and would permit the barge to travel at the most efficient speed to the wharf.
While the winds were initially favourable for the smaller IRBs to conduct ship to shore runs, they spiked again late morning, meaning only the barge could confidently come and go between ship and shore. Once lunch arrived however, the winds had abated, and two IRBs crewed by round trip watercraft operators joined three station personnel, including one of the scientists retrieved from nearby Bechervaise Island earlier in the week, on a sea bird monitoring exercise amongst the smaller island groups to the North of Mawson station. This exercise took roughly five hours, with the teams checking on many bird colonies which have been regularly monitored (including by direct observation and by static cameras situated on the islands) over several years.
Several of the Aurora's crew and a number of expeditioners also proceeded ashore for their first experience of Antarctic Station life, greeted on arrival by Ms Esther Rodewald - Mawson winter Station Leader, for a safety brief and induction. They spent several hours at station, inspecting the various structures, taking photos and joining the station-based personnel for a meal.
While all of these activities were underway, the voyage watercraft team had arranged a special birthday gift for one of the operators, Ms Helen Achurch. Helen is an experienced watercraft operator, and one of the Australian Antarctic Division's long-serving scientists, having participated in many expeditions to Antarctica over the year, including in roles related to the study of Southern Ocean and Antarctic wildlife, as a watercraft operator and within the Division's voyage management teams. Helen is a former ranger with the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife service, and has spent several seasons at Macquarie Island in her capacity as a ranger, and is always willing to share her experience and expertise with new expeditioners and junior scientists. The watercraft team therefore wished to do something special for her birthday, and arranged for one of the weather balloons to be launched today to be signed by expeditioners and crew. After the balloon was presented and she'd finished her own shift on the jet barge, Helen and another watercraft colleague headed up to the bridge above the deck with the officers responsible for the atmospheric and meteorological studies and the inflated and released the balloon with a radio sonde attached (a small scientific device which measures temperature, pressure, humidity and altitude and constantly feeds this data back to the vessel). Such balloons are released simultaneously all over the globe to assist with weather monitoring, prediction and climate modelling.
Helen's balloon will have travelled far into the upper atmosphere, so from all aboard, and from somewhere in the stratosphere Happy Birthday Helen!
As the working day drew to a close, several more summering expeditioners from Mawson station joined the vessel for the return trip to Australia, ferried out to the Aurora Australia in small groups aboard the IRBs.
The next two days have further strong winds and blizzard conditions forecast, so until those conditions improve, the Aurora has returned to the dense sea ice pack. Looking through the vessel's portholes, the thick fields of jumbled white ice floes extend to the horizon, which is already darkening as the low pressure system approaches Mawson. While the weather over the next 48 hours is looking gloomy, there are still plenty of things to be seen as we make our way through the pack ice in fading sunlight. For one - Barry the Southern Giant Petrel - has also returned, swinging casually by to say g'day. If you're a Southern Giant Petrel, it's unlikely that the higher winds brought by these summer Antarctic storm would cause much concern,in fact we think Barry's probably looking forward to it!
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.