A few weeks ago we actually had rollers on the beach big enough to please a surfer. However, it is now still, flat and white; the only movement were elephant seals on shore, the rise and fall of the tide.
Within a day or two, grease ice we had watched the Xue Long sail through coalesced to form pancake ice which in turn amalgamated to blanket the sea in front of station. That is apart from the tidal zone where elephant seals take a break from their moult on shore to bathe in a slushy spa.
This change from open water to frozen expanse happened quickly and, if calm weather continues, may well be the start to sea ice developing, which we will use as access to the Vestfold Hills and ice plateau later in the winter.