Signy

We arrived at Signy base at lunchtime on the 16^th November, however conditions in the bay outside the base were far from ideal with ice in the water still and heavy winds blowing. As such the Signy team just did a quick reconnaissance to establish the condition of the base before we began work on the 17^th. The weather was much nicer on the 17^th and the views of the mountainous Signy and the glaciers on neighbouring Coronation Island were incredible, just when I think the views of the ice on the way here were spectacular these South Orkney Islands upped the level!

Top: Signy - Bottom: Coronation Island

We were split into groups, some going ashore to unload equipment and dig the snow that had accumulated over winter (Signy is only manned during the summer months) out and away from the base. The cargo and people were transferred by a tender with ribs accompanying for safety.

Getting the cargo and people to Signy

I was in the group that initially stayed on the JCR in order to load the equipment on to the tender and reorganise and tidy our cargo hold afterwards. The perk of this job was being entertained by a Brown Skua which followed us around deck. I must say that wild animals getting too accustomed to people is not a good thing, and this Skua certainly wasn’t encouraged by us to be on the deck – don’t feed wild animals! But as this one was sticking around we had to get a few photos; I certainly won’t be expecting the Skuas on Bird Island to be this placid when I see them!

Skua on the JCR

The pictures so far may be a bit misleading, the sunshine around Signy isn’t exactly common and we were reminded of that the following day. The weather reverted to what it was when we first arrived and we had to spend the day aboard the JCR hoping for a window in which to send people and the remaining equipment and stores over to the base again. But with the high winds and ice back in the bay outside the base (the base is behind the low rocks in middle of the picture below) we were left waiting a while.

Grey skies, high winds and ice return to Signy

After a false alarm late in the afternoon on the 18^th – we got all kitted up and waited for the tender but the winds picked up and after half an hour we had to give up – we made our final trip to Signy first thing the following morning. This time I joined the shore team to complete the final cargo unloading and storing. Most of it was food, it had to be stored well and most importantly all the fresh food has to be checked through for any flora and fauna that may have been within; biosecurity is a major factor of protecting small islands with their own unique landscape and happily nothing was brought in on the food.

Cargo being moved by skidoo and sledge and then stored

The base is on Signy primarily to continue work with the Adelie Penguin colony; unfortunately we didn’t have time to go and see them but Stacey Adlard will be running the surveys this summer for the 5^th year in a row (after she also did 2.5 years on Bird Island). It was good to talk to someone so experienced and learn about the work from someone else who has been through it all before. Alongside Stacey’s work there are visiting scientists at Signy this year, exchanging a few times through the season. This rotation of scientists is sometimes done on the islands in order to allow experts to collect a range of different data, that otherwise wouldn’t be collected as part of the regular monitoring projects, in order to better understand and protect the environment. I’m very glad to have had an opportunity to see another BAS base, one that is quite different in surroundings to what I will have on Bird Island, and Signy certainly was a spectacle.

View of Signy from the tender and view from Signy of the frozen bay

But now, with all the stores equipped and all the power confirmed to be running and stable it was time for us to leave the Signy team to their work for the summer and head to our next stop; South Georgia.

Goodbye from the Signy team! Have a great season!