Heading South

Welcome to another season of my blog.  This blog started back in 2008 when technology in Antarctica was somewhat primitive and it was a good way to get stories and photographs back to multiple friends and family in the UK using as little internet as possible.  With fast internet and many other types of communication now available, blogs start to feel a bit dated, but somehow it still manages to be the easiest way to reach everyone and so I will continue!  I hope you enjoy it.  This will be my tenth visit to Antarctica since I started working for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) 18 years ago.  Some things will therefore be very familiar to those who have followed the blog for many years, but for those who are new, I’ll try to fill you in with what I’m doing and show the bigger picture of how the whole thing works. 

On 8th November 2025 we set off for Antarctica.  A group of about 20 of us left the UK on Saturday afternoon, flying from Heathrow to Sao Paulo in Brazil, then onwards to Montevideo in Uruguay.  Here we joined the ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough, which is taking us to Antarctica.    

 

 

The view from the front of the ship looking out over the city, looks like this.  

We spent our arrival day exploring some of the sights of Montevideo and the port.  The city was a bright bustling place with lots going on and a casual laid back feel.  Here are a few pictures.  

The port was a fascinating place, apparently with a complete lack of any health and safety considerations.  We were free to go wherever we wanted and see all that was going on.  Some areas were densely packed with fishing vessels, others with the most enormous cargo ships being loaded and unloaded day and night.  I think this was the biggest ship I’ve ever seen.

This one was loading timber and was also pretty substantial!  Again, nothing to stop you wandering right up to take a look!

These smaller fishing vessels use strings of glass lights when out at sea to lure plankton and tiny fish to the boats, which then in turn attract the squid the boats are hoping to catch.  

Montevideo is pleasantly warm and we were treated to sunny weather and a nice sunset. 

We set sail on Monday evening to calm seas and warm temperatures.  First stop will be Signy Research Station (which is where I will be getting off) in about a week’s time.