First landing in Antarctica and polar plunge
Day 6 – January 12th: written by Rebecca
We woke up to find the horizon obscured by fog and a flurry of snow racing by our window. The early morning survey shift was cancelled due to the conditions so we all gathered for breakfast.
When the fog started to lift we returned to the outside deck for our watches. Our time on effort was quiet in terms of sightings, however, far from it in weather. We battled relentless snow and wind, switching out observers frequently so that no one was exposed for too long to the freezing winds. Eventually the weather won the fight and we retreated to the sheltered observation station one deck below.
After I was relieved from duty there was time for a quick nap before switching to bird observations for my next shift. Our survey efforts came to a stop when the ship arrived at the afternoon landing site Horseshoe island, in Marguerite bay. Although we didn’t see any marine mammals on our morning surveys we still enjoyed great views of the amazing scenery.
After a quick group meeting we all headed to a lunch buffet so good that there were second (or third) servings of everything involved. We had to wait our turn to go ashore after lunch so there was a bit of downtime for us all. This was a chance to prepare (mentally) for what was to come… The dreaded polar plunge!!
Soon it was time to get onto the zodiacs to head to shore. The keen eyes on board already started to spot seals dotted along the coastline on the way to the island (two Weddells, one ‘rock’ seal). On Horseshoe island we were met with incredible views, a hut with a rich history, two more Weddell seals dozing on the snow, and a friendly Adélie penguin hopping over some ice floes. We kept well away from two skuas which were protecting their fluffy little chick.
Three of our team went with Sonja to collect samples for microplastics analysis from the intertidal zone and snow patches around the island. As we’re under enhanced biosecurity protocols due to the threat of avian influenza (so far not reported in this area!) we are not allowed to put backpacks on the ground, sit or kneel. This provided quite some juggling challenges for the samplers but the team managed well while also being careful to avoid sample contamination. Filtering the samples took quite some time and multiple filters – so take away lesson is to avoid sampling very fine sediments.
Before we knew it the moment that some of us had been dreading, and the others anticipating was upon us. We took turns stripping off our multiple layers, down to our swimwear, and made our way into the ice-cold water. There were mixed reviews of this chilling experience; some felt invigorated, others couldn’t stop shivering. I reluctantly dipped down to my shoulders and hurriedly waddled back out. Alessia, on the other hand, lasted 6 minutes! sitting in the water. But there was one common factor uniting us all; we couldn’t feel our toes for a good while afterwards.
After the plunge we all quickly redressed and made our way back to the ship to warm up. Hot tubs and saunas thawed our frozen limbs and melted away the freezing memories giving way to fuzzy and proud feelings. We are the first St Andrews student group to take the polar plunge south of the Polar Circle!
After dinner and a quick debrief we celebrated with €6 cocktails up on deck 10 before we all crashed in bed, blissful from our eventful second day in Antarctica.
