Wildlife at Rothera

Belinda Vause is a marine biologist at Rothera

Rothera sees a wide variety of wildlife throughout the year. All of the large animals around Rothera rely on the ocean and particularly on krill as a basis for their diet; there is very little that grows on land. Seals, penguins and whales form the majority of the wildlife seen at Rothera during the short summer season. During the winter, Rothera is ice-bound with very little wildlife. Continue reading →

An interview with a pilot

A twin otter (note two propellors) lands on the runway

Rothera has four twin-otter aeroplanes and one larger Dash-7. The twin otters land on skis and are the robust little landrovers of the Antarctic. They can land anywhere that is flat and snowy, and they can raise their skis to land on blue ice or gravel. Versatile and compact, they also have an extremely short take off and landing. They do, however, have a smaller payload when compared to the Baslers used by some other nations. Continue reading →

Many people are needed to keep base life running smoothly. There are mechanics and electricians, chippys and project managers, chefs and field assistants, radio (comms) operators, meteorologists and weather forecasters, pilots and plane engineers, base assistants (who drive the heavy machinery) and so on. And in order to keep all these people happy and healthy, there are two doctors on base in summer. This summer, Rothera has Dr Rose Drew and Dr Jen Hine. In this blog post, I conduct an Interview with the Doctor at Rothera Research Station. Continue reading →

Crevasses open up when the glacier is stretched (under tensile stress)

On Saturday, the field assistants Cheese and Roger laid on a recreational trip down our local crevasse. Crevasses open up as glaciers move, and are the result of brittle failure of the ice as it slips downslope. Crevasses are a significant hazard on any glacierised terrain, and can extend all the way down to the bottom of the glacier. They also trap surface water, and can divert surface streams to the base of the glacier. Surface streams aren’t, however, too much of a problem around Rothera at the moment! Continue reading →

Marine biology at Rothera

Apart from visiting field scientists, there is a lot of science that is done right out of Rothera. Marine Biologists work out of the base all year round, diving through the ice if need be. I went out on the dive boat on Friday to help out and see what happens. Continue reading →