Memoirs of a Glacier

 On the 11^th of January, I woke up to someone saying my name and the sound of a door closing. I was plagued by the confusion that comes from being woken in the middle of deep sleep, I called out hello but no one was there. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Seconds later (it was probably longer, but it felt like seconds) Cassie, the trainee doctor, came into my room and turned on the light. ‘They’re letting people on the ice’ she said. I sat straight up, but I was still so out of it. Cassie found my clothes and socks for me and I have no idea how I got dressed or how I made it to the kitchen. People were milling around, smiling and laughing at me. Apparently, I was hard to wake, there were two attempts!

Anyone who has spent any significant amount of time with me knows I am not a morning person. I require coffee and lots of time just sitting and moaning. This whole experience is seen through the eyes of someone not quite awake….

The dream team

Will, Steve, Madi and I were hustled out the tween deck onto the brow (gangplank), and I was standing on frozen water! In front of a glacier, in Antarctica! It was the most magical experience of my life.

Walking on water

The sea ice was crunchy and uneven, but from the top of the brow it looked flat. There were two Adelie penguins in the distance. We walked to the front of the ship and did the photo thing. The penguins were coming closer and I knelt on the ground to get a photo. As soon as I got down on their level, they came hurrying over. I must have looked less imposing on the ground. I couldn’t stop smiling. There was a bit of sun and the floe we were on was huge, I couldn’t see the edge. The Mertz glacier was behind us, I didn’t feel cold or warm, I didn’t feel anything, it was incredible and overwhelming.

My welcome reception Photo by Will Hobbs 

The exact location in front of the Mertz Glacier tongue where I walked on water

We took a few more photos and we walked back over to the ship, as we walked back, I dropped to the ground and grabbed a handful of ice, just to make sure it was real, and then it was finished. I was in shock and the memory felt hazy, it was like a dream, of course I started crying back on the ship like an idiot… I can’t believe how lucky I am. The ice floe was 1.4m thick and apparently it was a great ice station for the sea ice team.

Adelies, my ship home and Mertz glacier 

“I’m floating today”

After the Mertz Glacier, we headed over to the Ninnis Glacier. Another glacier named for a dead member of Mawson’s team. Ninnis had the unlucky fate of falling in a crevice. We originally never planned to go to Ninnis but as we didn’t get to the Totten, it was suggested as a replacement. We are the second ship to ever come to Ninnis, and the first ship since 1979.

The Ninnis Glacier: The brown cliffs are made of dolomite.

We arrived in the Ninnis Polynya for more CTDs, and just like every other amazing thing on this trip, I woke up just as we got there.  Ella woke me telling me I wouldn’t regret getting up. Honestly I didn’t think the Ninnis would be any different to Mertz. You’ve seen one glacier you have seen them all… Beautiful, but I had already seen it, so I could wait a couple of hours more for sleep. But she was right. It was completely different to Mertz. The Mertz was more of an enormously tall ice cliff. The Ninnis was a shorter gentler slope with brown rock cliff peeking through the snow. The sun was out and the water was glassy. It was very beautiful and I’m glad I did get up. I had my coffee up on the heli deck in the sun.

Ice sliding down the glacier to the sea

We only stayed at Ninnis for 24 hrs, it was pretty big, considering how small it looks on a map compared to Mertz. There was a beautiful stretch of fast ice (fast ice is sea ice that is held ‘fast’ to something like land or and iceberg) on the face of the glacier with penguins climbing up and down.

After Ninnis we said goodbye to the continent. I don’t know if I will ever see it again but I want to.

Our last day in the sea ice, I was pretty sad but it was a heck of a last day. The ocean was glassed out again and it stayed glassed out all day. I had no idea the Southern ocean could be so calm before I came down. There was one last ice station and I laid in the sun on the monkey deck. There was no breeze, the sun was out, I just needed a cocktail and it would have been perfect. I also spent some time down in the focsle chatting to penguins. There was a little guy swimming near the ship, so I squawked at him, and he squawked back to me. He swam around squawking, looking for a friend. I think I confused him a bit. But he did find some friends on an ice floe nearby. I think the sun knew it was our last day in the sea ice. The sunset that night was one of the most stunning so far.

My penguin friend

After leaving the sea ice we headed back to the last couple of CTDs on the SR3 transect. We completed our last ever krill trawl. It was a mega swarm; I got gravid (pregnant) ladies for my samples. There were whales feeding on the school, and albatross. I collected my last water samples from the CTD. The science is officially over.

Collecting water from the bottom of the ocean Photo by Mana Inoue

On one of the last nights, I gave a presentation on my PHD work and what kind of samples I was taking throughout the trip, what the heck POPs are, and are there even microplastics in Antarctica? People seemed to enjoy it J I didn’t see anyone asleep anyway…

One the second last night, we witnessed the Aurora Australis, the southern lights. Unfortunately, it was only visible through the camera. I was lying on the deck star gazing and I could see white light in the clouds. I took a photo and, sure enough, it was the aurora.  Everybody came out on deck to see. Note: it's hard to take a great photo of it when the ship is rocking..

Aurora Australis, At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within the Southern Ocean?

All too soon we were back in sight of land, my phone reception returned, I got an awful sunburn sitting outside watching us sail up the Derwent , and we were back. Back from the most amazing experience of my life. 

Sailing up the derwent

Disembarking the ship for the last time

Getting our drink on: followed by the worst hangover of my life... but that's another story