The southbound flight from Christchurch is in the air and I will soon be leaving for transport to Pegasus. I am never certain but it is looking likely that I will be leaving on my scheduled northbound day. I'll have more confidence once we leave the ground.
About two weeks ago I sent out an email asking for questions about Antarctica. I received a number of questions and I am finally getting around to answering them. Many of the questions came from the kindergarten / 1st grade students that I Skyped with last week.
Q: How often does McMurdo experience Condition 1 weather?
A: I asked one of the long-term contractors this question and he told me very rarely does it go to Condition 1 in McMurdo. It certainly varies from year to year but it seems that generally it is no more than a few times a year and sometimes never in a year. He said one of the key reasons for going Condition 1 in town is because people are essentially placed in lock down and it keeps everybody indoors and away from the dangerous flying debris due to the high winds. This friend has been in McMurdo for just over a year and he recently agreed to stay around for another month.
Q: Any fun friends?
A: The McMurdo community is an interesting bunch. There is a tremendous community and bond amongst the people here, especially those that come down year after year. This tight community will be especially evident in the coming week with people from all over the world converging back in a place that many of them now call home. Yet within that tight community, there are also some that never seem to come out from hiding. I was told that this year at the mid-winter dinner, with a static population of about 135 for most of the winter, there were people that arrived that looked like strangers. Getting to know the people of McMurdo and making new friends is always a highlight for me with my trips to Antarctica.
Q: What types of animals do you see during WinFly?
A: WinFly is not the time of the year to see animals. The sea ice edge and open water are a long distance away from McMurdo with it being at the end of winter. That means that most wildlife, especially the penguins, are far away from McMurdo. On top of that, there are no helicopter or twin otter flights at this time of the year so there are no flights to where the penguins live, like I had a year ago. The only wildlife that is seen are Weddell seals. The Weddell seals are also not the most exciting animals to see as about all that you see is them lying around on the sea ice. There are scientists who have been down at WinFly, and more coming soon, who are here to study the Weddell seals.
Q: Are there blizzards there? If so, how do you know?
A: Yes, there are blizzards here and it is mostly driven by the strong winds that can be experienced in Antarctica. The strong winds in combination with the infinite supply of snow results in tremendous amount of blowing snow. Such conditions are especially true out on the sea ice, the ice shelf, and the ice sheets. The blizzards can be the result of a storm that is also precipitating (falling) snow or it can be a ground blizzard with blue skies above and only the result of the strong winds.
Q: Do animals get confused with no sun and then lots of sun?
A: Yeah, I have no idea on this question. You have to love kinder questions. I stumbled through this answer during the Skype session. Hopefully, they don't remember what it was that I said but you know that will not be the case.
Q: Do you drink a lot of hot chocolate?
A: Well, I am no fun with this answer because I have never been a hot drink person, of any type. I will say that drinking hot drinks in Antarctica is very common and often very wise as it is one of the few ways to warm your body from the inside. I have decided that I should find a hot drink that makes me happy for that very reason.
Thanks for all of the questions.
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