This week at Mawson we have ships, storms, an ellie seal and auroras.

Ship’s here!

Finally after over two weeks at sea the new Mawson wintering team for 2017 has arrived!

The ship came into Kista Strait on Saturday and as the weather cleared and the wind dropped the station team headed out to meet and greet and look at what the ship had brought us.

Then it was back on station for inductions and training for the new crowd before beginning the huge job of unloading the cargo, refuelling the tanks and handing over all that we have learned about this amazing place.

The Aurora Australis in the harbour at Mawson in calm waters.
A view of Mawson station on a sunny afternoon
ThemRV Aurora Australis is a burnt orange colour in the afternoon glow
A view of the Aurora Australis in Horseshoe harbour at Mawson from West Arm
The Aurora Australis in the harbour in the cool evening light at Mawson this week

Ello

Jason took a picture of this young male elephant seal while out walking around the shoreline close to Mawson station recently. Hopefully this one will come ashore for the next three weeks to moult.

This is the first time we have seen an elephant seal here this summer. Apparently they used to be common along the Mawson coast — let’s hope this is the beginning of a comeback.

A young male elephant seal ashore at Mawson for a rest
Another view of the young elephant seal hauled out at Mawson this week

The storm before the calm

Well, not exactly calm but back to the usual katabatic wind increasing overnight and dying off through the morning to lovely sunny, calm afternoons.

The ship was actually ready to come in last Tuesday but instead the winds picked up and we had our first blizzard of the summer. Visibility dropped and the wind speed picked up which meant we didn’t leave the Red Shed unless we had to.

Eventually the wind died down and the clouds cleared as the ship slowly came towards station to begin handover and resupply.

A view from the Red Shed entrance showing blowing snow during a blizzard recently at Mawson
Two expeditioners heading down to the main power house at Mawson during a blizzard
Station personnel waiting on the shore at Mawson for the IRBs to take them out to the ship for breifings before resupply starts
Approaching the ship in an inflatable boat in Kista Strait near Mawson
A view from Mawson looking to the east — the wind is still blowing snow but the sun is shining through and the skies have cleared
A view of Mawson out to the east showing the view before the storm

Two auroras!

First we had the ship — the RSV Aurora Australis come to visit. Then a few nights later on the 13th February we had our first view of another aurora australis – the southern lights.

The skies above Mawson are once more dark enough to see this magical play of light as charged particles from the sun stream along the Earth’s magnetic field at the poles.

A faint glimmer of an aurora in the sky with the full moon
The aurora australis is clearly visible in the night sky above Mawosn as the moon moves around
on