Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

continued spectacular as we approached Anvers Island - the Sierra de Fief especially
so, and Mounts William and Francais too. The cameras were clicking at a great rate,
mine too. The Fids called this "Kodachrome Country".
So eventually we passed along the ice cliffs of the Anvers Island Ice Piedmont and
to Palmer Station, where we anchored about lunch time. After lunch we went ashore
in the motor lifeboat (the launch was still being fixed) to see Palmer Station. Irv
Koenig, (Station Manager) and others met and took us into the station. It was a very
American, very expensive set-up with excellent facilities. It really was very large, yet
the actual laboratory facilities were quite limited. There were three biologists
(marine) wintering and I talked at length with the leader, whose name I forget. They
had laid out a spread of food in the lounge area which looked very good, but I
contented myself with a large prawn. Irv showed us around the station, which is
very modern and comfortable - very unlike a BAS base. Somehow it seemed out-ofplace
in the Antarctic, characterless and very ordinary; it might have been a motel
anywhere. I invited Irv, the Doctor (a Cuban) and the Chief Biologist to dinner on
the Biscoe and we had a very pleasant evening's talk. After they left we ended up
talking philosophies.
Next day I went off in the gemnin with Barry and Jeff to the remains of the old
British base (burnt down three yrs ago) and Old Palmer Station. We had a look
around - then left Barry on Humble Island, while Jeff and I landed on Lichfield
Island. I wanted to have a look at it, because the Americans had proposed it as a
Specially Protected Area (SPA) under the Antarctic Treaty. It is a small Island, with
rocky crags and flat valleys filled with luxuriant moss. Quite a growth it is and the
lichens look interesting too. A fur seal bull was close to our landing place and there
were some elephant seals and a Weddell or two. Many skuas, some penguins, shags
and giant petrels were the main birds. A very clear line was visible where the
snow/ice had melted on the permanent patches - so that the rock above it was
covered in grey lichens, and below it was bare, unweathered and uncolonized. The
Palmer biologist came across in the gemini and we had a chat about this and that;
then he came back with us.
We left Palmer at 10.30 am and sailed for Port Lockroy. It was a crisp, clear day
and we drank in the superb scenery again as we went up the channel to the old FIDS
Base A. After lunch we went ashore in the Gemini to inspect the base. It was in
relatively poor repair, the roof felt was torn in two places and letting water in. The
boathouse-store, however, was in very good condition. Then we went over to the
next point - the base is on a small island - and climbed up to see if there was a way
out onto the ice cap. There was, but it wasn't suitable for getting loads up. Also
there were lots of gentoo penguins and on the way down we came upon a small
‘swimming pool’ - lined by rock on one side and snow on the other. The penguins all
approached us in curiosity.
Then we boated across to Doumer Island where Jerry Light and Malcolm Macrae
had been landed earlier to check on crevasses on the occasional airstrip - there were
none. We landed on a rocky point, which had a number of sites suitable for a hut
(rebuild the Lockroy boathouse perhaps?) and walked up to the snow. Then we
followed the others' footprints up to the ridge where the planes land. It really
seemed an excellent choice as a site for a 'North Peninsula Air Facility'. The snow
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