Boating

Last weekend was perfect weather for boating.  The hut at Green Gorge needed a new wind turbine, so we used the opportunity to take out the Zodiacs.

The water is ice-cold, so it's dry suits all around.  Not very comfortable, though.

We had two boats in the water, one with Ben, Ian, and Barry; the other with myself, Sharon, and Rod (with a bit of switching around at Green Gorge).

Here's a bit of scenery on the way down the coast.  Green Gorge is about a 45 minute ride by boat - or a 5 hour hike by land.

The Green Gorge hut is in a spectacular location that is very popular with the King penguins.

They seem very happy to get some company.  Here they are crowding around Ian and Rod.

And me.

A shot of the kelp beds as we pull out of Green Gorge and a penguin colony on the way home.

And one more.

The Station

Macquarie Island was island was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1933, stopping the exploitation of wildlife that had been going on since its discovery in 1810.  Australian National Antarctic Research Expediitons (ANARE) established a station here in 1948.  Today, the station houses approximately 30 to 35 people in the summer and 10 to 15 during winter.  The station is located on the isthmus at the North end of the island as can be seen in these photos, taken facing North.  The big ball is an antenna. 

To the left of the ball are two lab buildings.  Our labs are pretty nice, and quite well outfitted.

 

The North side of the station has all the living quarters - here's Garden Cove, the building I'm in.  And my room.  A bit small, but very functional.  There are eight of these rooms in Garden Cove.

Looking South from Garden Cove, the building on the left is the mess hall/surgery.

The mess hall has a bar at the end.  The brewery supplies home-brew beer, which is popular in the evenings before dinner.  There's a big screen for movies.  The kitchen comes stocked with a chef (Rod), seen here.

To the right of the mess is the trades shop.  The station has carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and a mechanic (the dieso shop is over on the South end of the station).  Upstairs is a library, sewing room, computer room, small gym, and movie room.  Further to the right is the store, with walk-in coolers and freezers for food, and room for basketball, badminton, and volleyball.  This season the asbestos siding was replaced.

The station has a number of other buildings as well (main power house, auxilliary power house, gym, two more living quarters).  In this view from the North you can see the ham shack up on the hill - a great place to watch a movie.

In addition to the buildings on the station are five field huts that hold three to four people.  Here are photos of Green Gorge (left) and Brothers Bay (right).

Wildlife

There aren't many species of higher plants on Macquarie Island.  Some of the prevalent ones are Stilbocarpa polaris

and pleurophyllum hookeri

There are quite a few grasses.  The Macquarie Island tussock grass (Poa cookii) is the largest, and most impressive.  

A lot of the plant cover consists of tiny things like the Azorella (below), which grows very slowly and forms cushions over a long period of time.

One of the most impressive plants is the Bull kelp (Durvillaea antarctica).  Most of the rocks on the coast are covered with huge beds of this tough, leathery plant.

The animal life is everywhere.  It's difficult to give a good feel of the level of daily interaction we have with wildlife.  The animals are mostly unafraid of people, and it's easy to get very close.  Here's Tim next to an Elephant seal.

and me sitting among King penguins.  The King's are very curious and if you get down to their height they come up to inspect you.  They'll often peck at your clothing.

In many places the beach is covered with penguins and seals, making it difficult to navigate around them.  It's not uncommon to have to climb up the hills behind the beach to make your way without disturbing them.

Four kinds of penguins are commonly found on Macquarie.  The King penguin is the largest (85 to 95 cm tall) and the most spectacular.

The Royals are also very handsome with large, prominent eyebrows (I'm sure that's not the proper term).  They breed only on Macquarie Island, and the breeding colonies are huge.

There are Gentoo's, which are 75 to 90 cm tall.  Rockhoppers look much like Royals, with large eyebrows (sorry no decent photo at this time).

Seals and penguins were slaughtered for their oil.  Remnants of this industry remain.  Here is some kind of a cooking pot (a pressure cooker, I think).  In some places there is a soil horizon (layer) made of penguin bones.  I like this photo that makes it look like penguins are flowing from the spigot.

Other birds include Skua's (shown here) and Giant petrels, the islands main scavengers.

Here's a Kelp gull

and a Sooty albatross 


Two kinds of seals are common.  Elephant seals are huge, lumbering things 

whereas fur seals are small, doglike critters.  Here's a Fur seal pup that's been hanging around the station.  He's been nicknamed Charlie, and you can easily get a foot or two from him.  He acts like he'd like to be petted and scratched - but their teeth are very sharp and menacing.


Special mention for the rabbits.  An introduced species, they've caused extensive damage, as can be seen here.