Update

Jenny and I arrived in the Falklands on 7 January and stayed in Stanley where we would catch our flight the next day to Rothera in the Antarctic Peninsula. Before arriving here, we had a great trip on the tour ship 'Explorer' which visited some areas in the Peninsula before returning to Ushuaia, Argentina.
I was able to collect specimens from this ship and found one new study site, an abandoned colony on Devil Island (near Vega Island), at the tip of the Peninsula and in the Weddell Sea. From Ushuaia, we took another ship back to Stanley and waited for our flight to the British base.

The next day (Jan. 8), after the pilots carefully checked the weather conditions along our route, we were cleared to go. We left at 11am and it was a five hour flight to the the base. We flew in a British DASH-7 plane (see photo gallery) which holds up to 12 passengers plus cargo. Once we began flying over the Antarctic Peninsula, the scenery was spectacular and I was able to sit in the cockpit for the landing to take photos of the area around the base. There are large glaciers and mountains around the base and ice bergs in the bay.
Upon arrival, we met the base leader and were shown our rooms. We each are in a small room with bunkbeds for four, Jenny shares with three other women and I share with two of the pilots. It is comfortable and typical for a base in the Antarctic to be squeezed in tightly to whatever quarters are available.

Click on picture to see it in the photo gallery

         For our first three days here, we have been required to undergo some training before we can begin our research. The training is important--it involves orientation to the base and its operations, how to use essential field equipment such as radios, a field medical kit, boats (zodiacs), and other gear. We also are taught how to use ropes and climbing gear when
walking across glaciers. You never walk alone and always rope yourselves together when going across glaciers, leaving enough distance between each person so if one falls into a crevasse (a deep crevice that forms in glaciers), the other can stop your fall and pull you out. We learned how to attach ourselves to the ropes, rappel down them, and jumar (climb up the
rope using special devices) back up. We also learned how to use ice picks to stop our fall down a steep snow field and other important procedures.

           While it is unlikely that we will ever have to put any of these techniques into practice for our research, it was good to know about all of them just in case. You never know when you will need these skills when you are down here. The last part of our training was how to set up a field camp using Scott polar tents, large triangular tents built especially for the Antarctic and all the high winds. We went up to a glacier near the base with one of the instructors and set up our tent with four other trainees.

Then, we camped there for the night. It was the first time I've camped in the Antarctic, and for Jenny too, and it was a good experience. It was warm and cozy in the tent and not as cold as it looks (see new photos). We returned from the camping this morning and our next step now is to begin our research. There is an abandoned penguin colony right behind the base and that's where we'll begin our work. In the next update, I'll let you know how our first test excavations go and what we find.

Jenny & Steve at the campsite

Questions, Comments
email David Hughes, djh6183@uncwil.edu
Last updated February 29, 2000