Holidays McMurdo Style

Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone had happy holidays, where ever you are. I enjoyed the weekend very much. We had the station Christmas party on Saturday night. It was hosted by the Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF), also known as the Heavy Shop. This is where they maintain and repair on all of the big vehicles on station. The party was fun. I smelled distinctly of fuel at the end of the night. The Dining Facility served a delicious dinner of lobster, beef Wellington, duck and some vegetarian options on Christmas Eve. Nik and I decided to take some time that afternoon before dinner to walk to Hut Point and explore around the ponds. The ponds are not as pristine as the ponds in the dry valleys, but they have several features in common. For one thing, they are frozen solid for most of the year. They are also in darkness for about four months. Then, during a few months of the summer, they melt. Depending on the weather, they may still contain some ice, but there is enough water for the algae to grow. Like the ponds in the dry valleys, there are no predators to graze on the algae so it can grow in thick mats along the bottom. The mats "lift-off" too, just like the mats in the dry valleys. The algal mats become so saturated with oxygen bubbles from photosynthesis that chunks will tear off and float to the surface. One of the ponds had a lovely green color from the algae. One thing I have learned from working in Antarctica is that, where there is water, there is life.

Besides the algae in the ponds, which was cool enough, we also saw penguins, seals and skuas that afternoon. The penguins were too far away to photograph, but they were out there on the sea ice. A few seals decided to haul out into the sea ice to sun bathe for a while. They were rolling around on the ice, searching for a comfortable spot. They are pretty fun to watch when the are moving, even though they may look a little like giant slugs in the picture.
We also heard and saw skuas. Skuas are sea birds, like gulls. These are some seriously tough characters. They frequently attack diners in McMurdo who attempt to leave the dining hall with food. Besides galley food, skuas also eat penguin eggs and chicks. This skua had other things on its mind. I think that there was a skua nesting nearby because there were two, one apparently on the nest and one to keep watch nearby. The one in this photo looks calm enough here, but when we got a little closer, it opened its beak to screech at us, which sent chills down my spine. We took a wide path around it so we didn't bother it any more. I plan to write more about skuas in a future blog because they are such a significant part of life in McMurdo.
Before we left Hut Point, we walked around Scott's Hut and saw this beautiful ephemeral art work. The window was still in the shade and had frost on it. You can also see the reflected landscape of sea ice, mountains and sky in the window. I walked back to the hut a few hours later and that side of the hut was in the sun and the frost was completely gone, without a trace. I have never seen this frost before, so I don't know how often it happens. It might be that it was just the right humidity and temperature. I was lucky to be there and see it and to have my camera with me to share it with you too.