So the sea ice has finally formed and all we can see in every direction is white, the ocean has disappeared for the next few months.  It is still a little bit thin for us to walk on and ‘breaths’ like it is alive, as a wave comes in it inhales and floats up and then exhale settle down.  It sounds like it has advanced airways disease though as the inhale is a wheezy eeeeeeee and the exhale a scratchy aaaaaaaaaahhh.  It’s a bit freaky after a while.

There was a seal sitting on the ice yesterday at lunch time, the crew were all looking at it through the window and trying to guess its weight, 60kgs was the common thought, I looked and was like no way thats got to be over 100kgs!!!!  Then one of the younger members of the team redirected my failing vision from the hunk of ice I was looking at to the seal that I could only see through the binoculars…….. Was probably 60kgs, mind the miniature ice-berg I was looking at was at least 100kgs…..

Yesterday (through binoculars) I also watched three little penguins racing off across the ice to find the edge of the sea ice and catch a feed.  They were so cute, being so vertically challenged they swing themselves side to side to walk at a fast trot and they can get some speed up.  They had covered a couple of kms in an hour.

These ones are a little bit late in the season, most of their kin left a couple of weeks ago before the sea ice firmed up and became to solid.  These guys have only just finished moulting so they couldn’t leave with the others, because they are not waterproof until their new feathers have grown in.  The penguins that are left are a miserable lot, very grumpy and irritable…… I guess I would be if I had such bad ingrown feathers.  I just want to walk up to them and pluck the last few out, but as soon as you get to close they start screeching and yelling and flapping their wings.  They are not really scared just don’t like us very much, I did watch one a couple of weeks ago as it walked towards a colleague.  He was just sat patiently watching and the penguin just walked up to him and smacked him on the back with a wing then walked off again…. grumpy old man.

They hang out in the funniest places like under steps or service lines, the little guy in the picture is quite smart is is a windy day and he has settled in under the service lines behind a snow drift.  The service lines have a heating wire running through them to prevent the sewerage and fresh water freezing so it is a couple of degrees warmer under there were he is hiding.

Some of them just love to be martyrs and hang out on the side of the hill and just get covered in ice and snow.  Emerging after a blizzard with big sheets of ice to shake off.

As I watched these last three little penguins wondering off across the ice towards the ocean I sent a little bit of positive energy towards them and wished them safe travel.  It is a long walk so I hope they all get there safe and sound.  It is very odd living so close to wild animals.  The harsh reality of life is constantly present and I am not entirely comfortable with it yet.