Rothera

Yesterday morning we arrived at Rothera Station on Adelaide Island. Most of the scientists on the Gould got off of the ship so that ~30 British scientists from the island could go aboard and do a half day of science around the island. While they were busy at sea, the rest of us were split into groups and taken on various activities by our British hosts. Some people went skiing and snowboarding, others did a strenuous hike followed by crevassing, and the rest took a nature walk around Rothera Point to see the bay and its wildlife. The weather was phenomenal: very sunny, blue skies and in the 30s °F. After our activities, the ship returned and we ate dinner together followed by music from 3 different bands that the British have formed for the summer season.

 Jack Conroy on the nature walk

 

Watching a plane land on the airstrip; planes are used to do aerial surveys (e.g., for whales) and also transport researchers to more remote field camps
  

An Adelie penguin jumps out of the water to look at us

 

A Weddell seal swimming around in the bay

 

A pile of sleeping elephant seals; they like to sun themselves on the rocky shore for warmth
 

A 180° view from the point. Directly across the water you can see the Antarctic Peninsula!

 

Jess Fitzsimmons and Filipa Carvalho (both Rutgers U.) inside a crevasse. The crevasse (a deep crack in a glacier) appears blue due to the light shining through the ice and snow from above (photo courtesy of Jess Fitzsimmons)