“Back on Ship”

We are all back on aboard now, with everyone feeling exhausted from the hectic two days, and there was a big line for dinner right at 5:30. Antarctica is beautiful but tiring and it gives you an appetite! The atmosphere of the continent seems brilliant and draining at the same time:  the powerful rocky landscape, biting wind and sun are a stark contrast to the softness of ship travel. It was certainly an exciting two days. At midnight last night I forced myself to get into all my winter survival gear to go outside and see if there was an aurora: there was one but not very colourful or spectacular, so instead I sat on the rocky slope above the elephant seal “wallow” and made a lengthy recording. In the silence of the night their constant deep belching sounds are truly spectacular. I am hoping some ANU student will use this material for a very fruity symphony. I also spent this morning videoing them, and then tried some more recordings of harp in the wind. The erie aeolian effect seems to perfectly suit the landscape and the sound travels a huge distance – this might be due to a combination of factors like dry air, lack of absorbent vegetation, cold, the nylon strings. A small group of young Adelie penguins added their calls. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take the special windproof field recording mic ashore this time as space was limited, so I think the recordings will be better from Mawson when I can filter out the wind.
Before I caught the IRB (inflatable rubber boat) back to the ship, I was treated to a most magnificent helicopter ride – more than an hour over the fjords, ice plateau, glacier, crevasses, lakes and rocky hills. The most extraordinary thing was to see the ice fields from above – they are pale blue with windswept white snow across the top.
Full steam ahead to Mawson now – 24 hrs predicted until we get to the edge of the ice, and then there will be reconnaissance flights to work out the best way in from there.