Fresh Faces and Old Friends

The RRS Ernest Shackleton dropped us off at Signy on the 9^th November and left on the 14^th November. During this time the base was refueled and all the incoming cargo sent ashore, plus the all important food of course! During this time all hands are required to prepare the base for the season, especially at Signy which is a summer only site and so the base has to be started from cold! All systems: generators, water collection, communications etc. have to be restarted and tested before the base is declared ready and the ship can leave.

A view down to base from the top of the stone-chute (the main path to the rest of the island)

Of course, during this time we are itching to start the regular long-term monitoring work and so it was great to start catching up to the season on the 12^th and 13^th November before starting in earnest on the 15^th November. This is particularly important for the Adelie Penguins! This new study species for me arrived at Signy in late September and started laying eggs in early November so the start of the season for us is to establish our study colony as quickly as possible.

Adelie colony

The Adelies were already on eggs by the time we arrived at Signy

With the Adelie’s caught up on we could turn our attention to the Chinstraps. Although a few of these did pass by Bird Island they were in very low numbers and don’t breed there. So for me this is another new species to study and enjoy.

Chinstrap penguins hanging out with an Adelie colony behind

Signy is larger than Bird Island and has a glacier in the middle of it! So getting to and from the various study sites can take quite a bit longer – unless the island Skidoo is available that is! Not only does it cut down on travel time quite a bit but it is a lot of fun as well.

Ali, our field guide, showing that you have to wrap up very warm on a skidoo

Despite the extra time gained by using the Skidoo, Signy is large enough, with plenty of work at the distant colonies that overnight stays in field huts will be a regular occurrence here.

Foca Hut in the shadow on the Signy landscape

Of course, by staying in different places around the island it allows more chances to see some different wildlife.

Weddell Seal

It is fantastic to have new species to study and see like the Adelies, Chinstraps, Weddell Seals and the Snow Petrels; these latter flying around in greater numbers and breeding on Signy meaning that I am lucky enough to regularly watch them rather than having just the odd individual I managed to see during my Bird Island winter. But it is also brilliant to catch up with some familiar faces.

Southern giant petrels

Signy is home to Southern Giant Petrels, Brown Skuas, Blue-Eyed Shags, Snowy Sheathbills, Gentoo Penguins and Elephant Seals. All of which bred at Bird Island in varying numbers but are here as well.

Blue-eyed shag colony

There are also plenty of Fur Seals at Signy later in the season but a few have popped up already (although the Fur Seals don’t breed at Signy, it is a hangout for adolescent males!); and to complete a game of seal bingo we also have occasional sightings of Leopard Seals.

A fur seal and a couple of elephant seals hang out next to a very old whale bone

Leopard seal

The highlight for the seals at the start of the season has to be the Elephant Seal pups. Although they don’t breed at Signy every year – and when they do it is in very low numbers, <5! – we have been fortunate enough to have 3 pups nearby to base and one of them in particular is still very much reliant on mum.

Elephant seal and her pup

Suffice it to say, with so much fantastic wildlife – both familiar and new – it is set-up to be a brilliant summer at Signy, snowstorms included!

A short blizzard quickly covers the penguin colonies

Frosty looking penguins!

The Journey Home - Part 1: King Edward Point

Leaving a BAS research station is a weird feeling. Having called such an incredible location home for 16 months leaving Bird Island is difficult, but I will always remember it with amazing memories. But my journey didn’t just end there. Due to the movements of the RRS Ernest Shackleton I was fortunate to be able to travel back home via Signy (South Orkneys) and first, King Edward Point (South Georgia)!

The Shack moored up alongside KEP

KEP is the closest neighbour we have on BI, but even they feel a million miles away when we are on station, so it was nice to finally see what it is like ‘around the corner’.

A few large elephant seals were ashore moulting to welcome us to KEP

In spending a few days on station it was nice to be able to see around the place, particularly when going out and investigating the field sites that the KEP scientists work at. One location I had heard about was Maiviken where the fur seals are monitored. At this time of year most of the adults are out at sea but it was brilliant to have some more time with pups, playing around in their very own lake.

Puppy lake...

...a fun place to watch curious fur seal pups swimming around

I'm certainly going to miss seeing these faces every day!

Very curious puppy!

Blonde pup! It was great to see a blondie one more time

Aside from the seals though I knew KEP was also a great place to see penguins. Having worked with so many macs and gentoos on BI it was nice to continue seeing the latter in small colonies around KEP. But the highlight was finally getting to see king penguins at the nest! Whilst it was a quiet time of year for these as well there is a location called Penguin River where there were a handful of kings still nesting and I got my first sighting of their chicks!

A few small groups of gentoos were around to remind me of my study species

Penguin river

The only 5 king penguins I have seen brooding chicks...

...but seeing even just 1 is amazing!

A few neighbourly squabbles occur in the colony

The chicks are still small and being brooded

Whilst it was nice to still see all the wildlife, where South Georgia really excelled in such a short visit is the scenery! I was used to BI where everything is at most an hour away and walking to Maiviken alone takes 2 hours on South Georgia. This increase in scale also relates to the scenery and South Georgia, with glaciers and snow capped mountains to see, is definitely quite a spectacle.

The scenery around South Georgia, this on the way to Maiviken, is stunning

Walking through the snow was a reminder of what we will be leaving behind!

This is something BI doesn't have, so it is great to get the extra experience

A trip out on a harbour patrol vessel to drop off supplies to a field team and see a glacier up close - yes please!

A blurry storm petrel feeds around the glacier

Scientists are just the latest people to come to South Georgia though. When whaling was a big global industry South Georgia had its own processing sites, one such location is Grytviken where much of the infrastructure can still be seen today.

The view of Grytviken (left), the cemetery (lower middle) and King Edward Point (upper middle)

Grytviken - an old whaling station, now a museum for tourists

The church at Grytviken is still active on South Georgia, with occasional ceremonies taking place

A few old whaling vessels can still be seen at Grytviken

A wrecked ship makes a great pool for puppies to play in!

Going back even further South Georgia is the site of Shackleton’s famous expedition, and it is his final resting place today. I can’t even begin to imagine how different it would’ve been to come to the Antarctic in those days and it makes me feel very grateful that early explorers came here and opened up the pathways for all Antarctic scientists of today to be able to carry out such important research!

The cemetery on South Georgia...

...containing Ernest Shackleton's grave