Between August 2008 and April 2018 I spent a number of years working on Signy Island (South Orkney Islands) and Bird Island (South Georgia) for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). I worked as a Zoological Field Assistant on the penguin, seal and albatross long-term monitoring programme. After a 5 year break, i'll be heading back down to Bird Island in Janary 2024 for another dose of penguin work.

This blog gives readers an insight into my day-to-day life in the Antarctic, from my first trip south in 2008 to the present day.

Saturday, 23 December 2017

Midsummer

Firstly, seasons greetings from the Signy Team.

Secondly, Happy Midwinter to anyone in the northern hemisphere.  After a gorgeus day of sunshine, lovely clouds and ice...

...we were treated to a beautiful calm evening.  This is how dark it was at midnight.

It is lovely having such long hours of daylight. 

At Signy we are busy preparing for Christmas, but there are still a few bits of fieldwork to complete before then.  The Adelie colonies are now quite busy as the ever growing chicks demand more and more food. 

It always suprises me how quickly they grow!

Whilst out and about doing the whole island chinstrap penguin survey over the last week, we have visited most of the island.  There were some rather nice views.  These are Cape Petrels.

This is a large pile of Elephant seals.

Gentoo chicks (also growing very fast!).

And some peaks on the icecap.

I'll write about Christmas next time.  Meanwhile, I wish everyone at home a lovely Christmas and best wishes for 2018.

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