Port Lockroy and the penguin post

LOCATION:64 degrees in latitude, 62 degrees in longitidue and travelling at 10.9 knots

THERE TO GREET US as we stepped onto the Antarctic Continent were - in order of appearance - Lynn, Rinie, gentoo penguins and the Holy Virgin Mary.

Incongruous to the ice and wildlife, the benevolent Mary is nonetheless fitting at an Argentinean research station, and the icon is protected from the elements in a grotto dug into rock and sealed with a glass door.

The Almirante Brown station is situated in Paradise Harbour in the crook of tall white mountains and curvaceous glaciers. The daytrip to the famous bay marked our first steps onto the Antarctic Continent from where, theoretically, we could walk to the South Pole. For some of our group the visit ticked off the last of all seven continents touched and travelled.

We arrived there via the Errera Channel, a breath-taking stretch of sea and islands rendered mysterious in the mist of our first rainy day. The Professor anchored one cove from the landing point, to which we whipped along in the zodiacs having stopped once for a closer look at a cliff of blue-eyed shags. Dotted among them, sheathbills kept an opportunistic eye out for fresh frill-rich guano on which they feed.

In my boat-load of ten, Peter Barrett pointed out the cliff’s prominent geological features in the form of turbidites and vivid lengths of turquoise-coloured copper stains left in the wake of ancient lava flows.
From deep cracks in the sheer icy cliffs surrounding us, glacial blue light leaked like the secret of life.

Having nodded to the Virgin we climbed ashore, skirted the sides of the station and pushed through slushy ice up a steep rocky outcrop for views of the harbour.

From here the pink and green algae staining the ice competed with the red buildings and I noticed the inflatable dinghies indicating the residence of station staff. Said staff may or may not have got a giggle out of the sight of us taking the quickest route back down on our behinds.

Our second landing of the day was on one of Antarctica’s most visited spots. Port Lockroy ‘Base A’ is designated an historic site and monument under the Antarctic treaty and was built during the Second World Way as part of the British Government’s secret mission code-named “Operation Tabarin”.

The Professor raised a Union Jack in sporting reference to the British base, and we all had our passports stamped with the Port Lockerby colours. A museum and souvenir-store, the base is a fascinating time capsule of Antarctic past. Station manager Rick wound up the gramophone to treat us to a not-too-scratchy ragtime tune by Flannigan and Allan, and looked very much the part sitting under a black and white photo portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II.

It was fascinating to scan the pantry shelves of tinned food, and the radio room’s archaic equipment. In the centre of the largest room, “The Beastie” held pride of place – an instrument used by station physicists to record a shrinking ionosphere. Peter pointed out that this was some of the earliest atmospheric research preceding the discovery of the ozone hole responsible for the region’s UV-richness.

We snapped up souvenirs in the station’s gift-store and took postcards to write in quiet corners. From Port Lockroy the cards will travel to the Falkland Islands and onto Britain before entering the international mail circuit, giving us just long enough to have forgotten sending them before they arrive at their destinations.

The clouds lifted a little as we drew out of the harbour and we shared our purchases in a cocktail-hour show-and-tell session. I’ll leave you now – it’s dinner-time and duck a l’orange and vegetable strudel is on the menu.

Tonight, Peter will lecture on the ANDRILL Antarctic core-drilling project with specific detail about Victoria University’s contribution to this. There is quite a bit of relative information on the Antarctic Research Centre website listed in the “interesting web-links” on this site, and the International Polar Year website is another good reference.

Rumour has it that we will swim in the thermal waters of a volcanic caldera on Deception Island tomorrow!

Swimmingly,
Stephanie