Even with the predictable cycles of animal and plant life here, the magic of Macca is transitory and brings new meaning to the saying “blink, and you’ll miss it”. The changeable weather against a backdrop of timeless geology is distracting in all the good ways.
Once initiated, the “oooh aaah” response is contagious. Crowds gather to watch albatross soaring in evening light, or shriek with excitement over a flowering plant. Suddenly the group stops to analyse a mysterious puff of feathers by the track, crystals glistening inside rocks, or a striking cloud formation. Kelp tying itself into knots, weird fungi, and cabbage leaves that bloom with mathematical precision. Occasionally, a giant petrel engages their thruster-flaps* while a rainbow forms above thundering swell. These curious spectacles last only a few seconds, but are analysed for days on end.
I guess that’s the exciting thing about field phenomena: sometimes we can capture it, sometimes we can’t because it all happens so quickly. Here’s evidence that a random magical thing happened - maybe we blinked, but we certainly didn’t miss it.
Jessie, Senior Field Training Officer
*technical term for feet that flap around mid-air, presumably for steering while flying, or preparing for landing.
