First Experiences At Rothera

 I have been at Rothera for just over a month now and I certainly feel as if this is my home. It is quite wonderful just how quickly a new place and lifestyle can become your new world!

 I'll start from my arrival. I vividly remember our final day on the JCR as our team stood on monkey island and Rothera station came into sight. We excitedly watched as the wharf came closer and closer and orange blobs emerged. The current wintering team had positioned themselves around our landing point and were waving us in. I felt a mixture of emotions; sorrow as an epic journey and life at sea was coming to an end but overwhelmingly excited to take my first steps on Antarctic 'soil' (anything below 66.33° S is officially considered to be true Antarctica). 

 Finally, we were arriving at our home for the next 15 months! 

Ryan, the Marine Assistant, and I leapt off the ship and excitedly bounded up the path to the main building: New Bransfield House. On the way, we passed the Bonner Laboratory - where our work will largely be based - and we had a quick peak into the aquarium! I got my first glance of Antarctic sea cucumbers, huge anemones and cushion stars. The species which I had read so much about were coming to life (more on this in subsequent blogs). After consuming a cinnamon swirl and our first cup of tea (I felt as if I had just walked into a luxury café!), we were given a comprehensive tour of all the buildings by the station's doctor. I was delighted to see a room dedicated to arts and crafts, blown away by the well equipped music room with an array of guitars hanging from the walls and even more impressed to see how well stocked the field stores are; offering four different types of skis and various snow chains to a sewing machine. Furthermore, the library is certainly an inspiring room to sit and read, while on the same corridor there is a cinema room and a lounge with fake plants. I could rapidly envisage the many ways in which I would occupy my time on base. It was fair to say that Rothera had by far exceeded my expectations!

Our first few days were filled with festivities starting with a quiz on Christmas Eve. I felt quite sorry for the small wintering team of 25 people that experienced overnight an influx of 40 BAS staff and 30 JCR crew - the bar was the busiest they had seen it for over 8 months! 

Thankfully, we had experienced and adapted to the gradual light change as we sailed further south each day during our time on the JCR. However, experiencing the effects of 24 hours of daylight in the early hours of the morning on Christmas Eve seemed bizarre- I did not want to go to bed! The next morning, we re-grouped with the original JCR team and exchanged secret Santa presents on the ship (the JCR remained docked on the wharf for 5 days during cargo relief operations). In the weeks leading up to our arrival, we had been busy attempting to make the most creative gifts whilst onboard the ship. Although resources were limited, I was astonished to see presents ranging from plaster cast orca sculptures, to photo frames and doormats woven with climbing rope, to impressive wood sculptures. My favourite was a present from the Captain, he had collated old texts from past Antarctic voyages, tea stained the paper and bound it together with a wooden cover- it was quite the gift!

Back on station, tables in the main dining area were laid with cloth, crackers and wine glasses. We passed bowls around the tables containing every single Christmas condiment including a wonderful hand made nut roast. I had heard that the food was good but I certainly did not expect it to be this good! Following our meal, digestion was facilitated by a friendly game of football- JCR crew against BAS staff.

                                     

Christmas day football game- photo credit: Alex Wallace

                                      

Christmas cake- note the penguin and the elephant seal decoration 

The music room

The days preceding Christmas consisted of cargo unloading and station familiarisation. The JCR left on New Year's Eve and re-started its journey around the peninsula visiting Heritage Sites (conducting maintenance checks and ensuring the bases that were not accessed this year due to Covid are in working order) before heading North again to the Falklands for refuelling. That same day, another ship BAS had chartered to transport BAS summer staff and 30 construction workers arrived at Rothera. I was part of the mooring team and assisted by pulling enormous ropes around cleats- I did not initially appreciate that this was a multi-person job, though I soon realised that 20 m of wet rope is extremely heavy! Within a week, I was already part of the mooring team, just as the current wintering team had been when we arrived on the JCR.

 

                                                                    

  The JCR's departure

The photographs below are of an orca (Antarctic ecotype B) hunting crabeater seals on an ice flow. This event happened a matter of days before our arrival on station but I heard it was a true spectacle to witness within meters of the shore. Most people on station managed to get a good look at these incredible predators generating bow waves in order to confuse their prey and knock them into the water.

                                

  Orca hunting crabeater seals- Photo credit: Rupert Johnson

Spy hopping behaviour- Photo credit: Rupert Johnson

Within days of arriving on station, we were out on the boat with the marine team to witness our first Antarctic dive. It was fantastic to see the operation unfold from kitting up and filling hot water bottles (to keep out neoprene hood and gloves nice and toasty) to craning the boat onto the wharf and and weaving through ice! It was a dream come true. Having been 15 m above sea level for 7 weeks on the JCR, witnessing the Antarctic environment at sea level made the icebergs feel even more impressive.

Unfortunately, just as the divers were preparing to enter the water, I spotted an enormous dorsal fin meters from the boat! "Orca" I cried as a group of eight individuals emerged including two calves. I was desperately excited to see orca up close but I had to contain my excitement because the presence of orca means that a dive must be cancelled. Unless the orca are seen again, under BAS regulations, divers cannot enter the water for 4 hours following the sighting. The same rules apply for leopard seals, although these predators do not actively hunt humans, they could pose a risk to divers. Seeing these animals before a dive is understandably taken very seriously.

Kitting up in boat suits in the dive store

The wharf where the diving boats are launched from and the JCR in the background

Using a crane to launch the boat into the water

Lowering the boat from the wharf

Our first outing on the boat

To be signed off as crew and cox for the three boats that are in operation on station, it is important that we familiarise ourselves with each boat, learning how to check them over before taking them out, how each one steers and how each GPS system works. Our boating area is defined by boundaries which are set according to how far we can be away from station in the event of breaking down or in the eventuality of a diver needing to come back for therapeutic treatment in the dive chamber. During our familiarisation, we practiced reducing our speed and carefully driving though brash ice and around growlers (small icebergs). It is crucial that all crew remain vigilant and look out for pieces of glacier ice that sit almost below the water surface and blend into the colour of the sea because they are transparent. 

Familiarisation of the local boating area

Quest: one of the boats used for diving, note the dive tethers coiled onto the front of the boat

Lagoon Island with dozing elephant seals- South of Rothera

The marine team training has been very varied. It has included using a tractor to move the boat between the boat shed and the wharf - as well as learning how to 'banks' (give appropriate hand signals), manoeuvre trailers, operate the controls and drive the tractor, which have been crucial first steps. Furthermore, our lorry loader training course that we did back in the UK has set us up for operating the crane and lowering Quest: a 2 tonne boat from the wharf into the water.

Our Massey Ferguson tractor

Given that diving is a high-risk activity, it is essential that we have a dive chamber on site and that we are all trained as operators and internal tenders. The diving officer has given us multiple theory and practical sessions about how to set up the chamber, open the oxygen supply, check for faults etc. We conducted a training dive where the chamber was pressurised and a scenario unfolded with a diver complaining of pain in his leg. The chamber tender (our boating officer, Pete) conducted a full neurological examination in a confined space whilst the patient (Ryan, the marine assistant) breathed into the BIBS (built-in breathing system). We practiced as if this was a real scenario and the neurological examinations were conducted under the station doctor's supervision.

Mock scenario: Patient and chamber tender 

Dive chamber familiarisation

Our bursts of training have set us up well for when we replace the current marine team in March. There is a lot to take in and, like always, a large part of learning happens on the job. Our first dives have been incredible and the cold has not been as bad as I had expected. However, we are still in summer where the sea temperature is in positive degrees; (we recorded 0.18°C at 15m during our last water sampling event)  diving in -1.8°C in winter may be another kettle of fish. The diving process is becoming increasingly slick as we kit up in our thermal layers and drysuits, put the boat on the water, reach the dive site, have the diving officer clip our life lines to us (including a telephone line which is woven into them), don our hood, mittens and diving accessories and conduct the final comms check with our full face mask strapped to our face before rolling backwards into the sea.

Divers kitting up ready for water

Full face mask secured and ready for comms check

Beginning the morning by travelling by boat to our dive site and passing a group of penguins, does not compare to anything I have yet experienced.

 Furthermore, during our free time, there is ample opportunity to make the most of our surroundings and visit the local wildlife- it's absolutely spectacular...

An Adelie penguin in action

A yawning elephant seal 

A waving Weddell seal

I am constantly thinking about my friends and family back home experiencing the relentless threat of Covid-19. Wishing you all the best and sending hugs.

The classic Antarctic photo- Adelie penguins on an iceberg