Returning South: Digital Reprise, 2005-06

When I left Macquarie Island after a year, in December 1968, I would never have conceived that I would return as a tourist 37 years later (see Macquarie Island 1968: A new industry arrives... ). At left is the main body of the island. The station is situated below North Head, at the right of the connecting isthmus. Macquarie Island is famed for its poor weather: the low cloud is almost constant there, with rain on most days (we were fortunate in that regard).

Unlike my first trip on it (see note), this time the Southern Ocean was benign. The squall line proved to be no more than the passing shower seen at left.

The beach on the east coast of the island, between the living area and working areas of the station, with resting elephant seals and wandering penguins.

Excuse me while I use this balloon launch to also launch into reminiscence. The Met. Office staff treated me as a VIP visitor and gave me a great personal tour of the office, new equipment and the station itself (visiting areas that tourists don't normally reach). This balloon launch shows how technology has moved ahead in the 37 years since my term on the island. The inset note shows how it was done in the "old days", with a giant radar reflector. No need for that now, the radiosonde contains a GPS which sends back the height and position. Intstead of two people frantically calculating results for temperatures and wind, that is now done with a computer. So the sequence becomes launch, then return indoors for a coffee. The other change I really noted was the far greater emphasis on safety - we didn't think about protective gear!

Young male elephant seals wallowing among the kelp that surrounds the island and is strewn on its beaches.

This seal pup would have been two to three months old - they grow incredibly quickly. Strictly speaking it should be called a Southern Elephant Seal - but often they are referred to simply as "Ellies". That mucus on the nose is common and of no apparent significance. From the Australian Antarctic Division website: "Pups weigh about 40 kg at birth and are weaned after 24 days by which time they weigh on average 120 kg. A large weaner may weigh in excess of 220 kg."

Macquarie had its usual low cloud when we landed, at least it wasn't raining! The first sight, for most visitors, is of the elephant seals spread along the gravel beach, interspersed with penguins.

This is on Macquarie Island, in the Southern Ocean, and the heavy duty fence surrounds the area housing the meteorological instruments. When the landscape is filled with rather dim witted Elephant Seals weighing up to 3 tonnes, everything needs protection! It also is necessary to protect buildings from a brutal climate of near constant strong wind, rain, and heavy salt spray. That is why, since my term there, the buildings have been re-clad in dull grey but weather-resistant treated pine to reduce maintenance. The fence is made from the same timber. Happy Fence Friday!

A year-old Elephant Seal, which has returned to shore for its annual moulting, resting against the fence surrounding the meteorological enclosure. I suspect it had been celebrating HFF the previous night. :)