Life Beyond the Beaker

Before winter begins (in 6 weeks time everyone leaves 22 people on base for 7 months)...us winters get to have a little holiday, well it involves work but mostly it's about having a bit of a relax and alone time before the fun begins! I was co-pilot for the trip there and back which was INCREDIBLE. On the way there it was very sunny, the scenery was breath taking. On the way back 4 days later the weather was not so kind, however I thought this was awesome as I got to do some instrument flying, Ian even taught me how to feather the prop and adjust the torque. We also found some wave to climb up in!  So for 4 days I was based at a place called Fossil Bluff which is in the middle of nowhere. It is the most idyllic and historic place I've ever been to.  Below is Bluebell Cottage. This was mine, Samways, Bryony and Joe's cottage for 4 days. It was over looking King George IV sound placed on Alexander Island just off main land Antarctica. Whilst at B...

My line manager Dave Barns has been given a grant to look at sea ice movement from the Sheldon Glacier which is <50 km to the West of Rothera. I have been tasked with the mission to look after this camera over the winter.  The aim of this project is to look at how the ice breaks away from the Sheldon Glacier and then which direction it goes, also to see if it looks like it scours the bottom of the sea bed as it moves. In a years time there is going to be sea bed mapping project in front of the Sheldon glacier, with these two techniques coupled together we can start to look at how ice bergs scour the sea floor and damage the benthic species.    Dave Barns explains: ''This sea ice camera will remotely photo sea in front of a rapidly retreating glacier and help understand how sea-ice loss in the polar seas is helping life on the seabed grow more, capturing more carbon and fighting back against climate change.  This fits into work by a multina...