salt water 02
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Letters from Marion Island.TRANSCRIPT
Around 08:15. Sunrise. But only barely. The sun will describe a low arc through the sky before disappearing
behind the western horizon eight and a half hours later. The days are short and the light low, but Marion doesn’t share the extremes of the high latitudes which have near or complete darkness for most of the winter. Nor does the temperature drop sharply. Mean winter temperatures are only a shade lower than the rest of the year. Despite this, there is a definite feeling of winter. A stately, graceful calm before the buzz of spring and summer. On crisp, calm days you can see lazy vapour puffs as killer whales blow while hunting Subantarctic fur seal pups. In the late evenings gentoo penguins quietly appear at their nesting sites and on the few days where the weather allows, you’ll see the snowy summit of the island.
The Sealers’ winter is dominated by the little fur balls we check on twice daily during our tropicalis attendance patterns study (TAPS). In the mornings and afternoons we survey two rookeries (Mixed Pickle Cove and Van den Boogaard River/Rockhopper Bay), recording the presence of tagged fur seal pups and whether they are alone or being fed by their moms (who are also tagged). Using these data we can construct the ‘attendance patterns’, or how long each mom goes to sea to feed before coming back to the rookery to feed her pup. In reality its a good excuse to spend time observing the antics of these little characters. When they’re not suckling, sleeping or engaged in the odd squabble with a nearby pup they’re practicing swimming in the river or their favourite pool. Their sumo-wrestler physiques belie their grace; they transform into the lithest aquatic athletes, executing moves that would make a fighter pilot queasy.
Enjoy these images, wherever you find yourself in the world!
RyanMilky Way over the Mammal Lab.
Bull kelp at Paddy Rocks.
TOP: Resveratrol, my friend. BOTTOM: A Subantarctic fur seal pup at Mixed Pickle. RIGHT: Waves lash Mixed Pickle Cove.
Ice crystals on the Van den Boogaard River.
Ice on Lake Kilkenny.