4 December- a grey day

We have had the morning to consolidate various and the Sylvia Earle came in the afternoon. The rest of the team came down on this ship so they know all the staff well. Two of them decided to do a polar plunge again when they arrived as the guests were in the middle of doing this….. once again, I think wisely, I declined… just don’t get it!

The afternoon was spent manning the shop and learning about the new technology we have to take payments and discover the wonders of Apple and Google Pay…. The cook was very generous, and we had many eggs, potatoes, fruit and a huge slab of butter!

The ship invited us for a BBQ so we quickly downed some food then back to the island by zodiac.

5 December: a beautiful sunny day

Morning with Ocean Nova doing the shop. Bridie and I did the presentation about Port Lockroy for the guests then down to the shop we had set up. Usual toilet question was first in the Q&A!

Oh my, chaos ruled with hoodies and polo shirts flying as people were trying things on……Shackleton whiskey all went which is a real bonus as carrying bottles back and forth is a real pain. The more we sell to passengers the more money for the Trust although sometimes we do feel a little pommelled by the competition to get the souvenirs each guest particularly wants before we go back to the island. Two of our group stayed on the island to coral the guests around the museum. The main job is to stop them from approaching the penguins. There are penguin highways and still some tourists just don’t get the importance of not getting the ultimate penguin picture. IATTO recommendation for the tour ships is that passengers have to maintain a 5m distance from the wildlife. This is virtually impossible here, but we do cordon off a path to the museum for ships passengers if the ship still decides to land. We cannot close the island or the museum, but are reporting back to the office all those ships who still bring passengers to the island. We heard yesterday that Elephant Point in the South Shetland Islands has closed as elephant seals are sick (awaiting confirmation this is bird flu). This is not great news for the peninsular and even more reason for passengers who often visit the South Shetlands on their way further south.

I have been encouraged by the care the cruise ships I have visited are taking about their biosecurity but surely the longer we can keep bird flu away from further south down the peninsular the better. What worrying times these are for wildlife in this beautiful place.

6 December: glorious day… again…… snow on the island is melting but still about 70% coverage

No ship visits for me today. Some went to do a brief presentation in the afternoon on one of the ships but I worked pick and packing in the morning. It was glorious sunshine and the team chilled for an hour sitting outside on deckchairs doing a Guardian crossword……!!!  some decided to strip off and sunbathe…. briefly… madness…. needless to say I did not!!

Went to Bransfield House to assist Laura doing her condition survey of certain items in the museum. Each year 10 selected items are assessed for deterioration. Many rusty cans getting more rusty (!), rusty chairs… stay rusty… paper items…. Still stained and a quite fungus ridden pair of sheepskin mittens under a bed in the museum that nobody sees have more fungus… Personally I feel the latter needs to go…. biohazard! No doubt there will be a lot of paperwork required for this…. Back under the bed for another year… eek, yuck!

Got first cake baked here for me…. Victoria sponge… no disaster… and went down OK.

7 December: Grey morning, sunny afternoon, two ship visits

Four of the group went on the Sea Spirit to run a shop. Shabs and I stayed back, did some presentation work and baked some bread for lunch. Success on the bread front… a miracle!

Soup, cheese, salami (Cheese/salami from one of the previous ships). We had to get the sink tank emptied down at the shore. This involves lugging the gerry can across the snow down the backside of the island, making sure there are no passing zodiacs and tipping the grey water into the sea. We have a permit to do this together with the human waste buckets we are allowed to empty into the sea at high tide… a joyous (not) task but a necessary one. Most important thing is to avoid slipping on the rocks. The person doing the tipping has life jacket on (God forbid you fall into the sea after the tipping!) and the person that always accompanies them has the throw line in case it is needed…. So far so good.

Afternoon was quite an event. The afternoon ship had its first ever visit to Port Lockroy and the crew were very helpful and kind. Captain gave us a plaque to commemorate the ships first visit here. No visits to the island or museum, so all the Trust merchandise is hauled across the snow to the shore and onto the zodiacs. The passengers were of the wealthy variety (well maybe all are I suppose)….. this group fly into King George Island (South Shetlands) from Chile, pick up the very, very fancy ship (butlers in tails… crazy… ridiculous), spend 5 days cruising and back to King George Island to fly out. I do struggle with the absurdity of such an arrangement and how this is in line with any carbon footprint ideals and whether we should engage with such arrangements. We looked up the cost, £22,000/passenger for flight from Chile/cruise/flight back to Chile. However, as Trust staff we continue to engage with such ships and the crazy non environmental friendly tourism of such flights and 5 days only …..of course we had one of our biggest successes when it came to sales….. I feel uncomfortable with this and we have had some discussion as a group tonight about the ethics of this. In addition, we have noted variable biosecurity measures with some ships…. some are excellent, others less so. As a team we are looking at insisting on biosecurity immediately on entry to ships and that we cannot run a shop if this is not available on entry. We cannot walk into a ship that may have been at South Shetlands where avian influenza in ellie seals is now suspected and potentially act as vectors for infection onto our island because the ship has not got the biosecurity set up that IAATO is recommending they have….. still we will work out what is best for the island biosecurity to ensure we will not introduce anything on our boots/clothing. So the Trust did well today. We have a ship in the afternoon tomorrow and I am hoping to post this if the internet is available.

Tomorrow morning will be spent bagging up “Adopt a Penguin” sacks… these contain a fluffy penguin toy and information about how to be a member for the year, so information will be sent to the adopter regularly from Cambridge HQ and two magazines during the year. We will also pick and pack the stores for the next shop ready for the afternoon…. So life here goes on, pop up shops and ship visits but the best part is the amazing opportunity to be surrounded by the beauty of this special pace and the wildlife… so lucky!

8 December: grey snowy day. 4 Weddel seals out on an ice floe in the bay

Morning to catch up with various jobs. Pick and packing for the next two shops in Bransfield House in the morning.

Plans for Clare leaving tomorrow so she can be home for Christmas. She was here to help everyone work out how things run here and her job is done and she will be home for Christmas and start her new job in the New year. Jerome and I stayed back whilst the others went to do a shop on a ship in the afternoon. We needed to prepare for the evening so we baked bread, chocolate muffins and pizzas. Clare has a rough time on ships with seas sickness so we baked ginger shortbread penguin biscuits as a present for her to take on the ship home tomorrow to hopefully help if she cannot leave her cabin. We have a shop tomorrow morning and likely we can get our washing done too. We might get a shower if time allows as well. Time for bed… I seem to be sleeping 8-10 hours/night…. Not in 20 years have I done that…. I think I have been drugged or just sleeping in a dark bunkrrom….. after tomorrow I will move down from the upper bunk to Clare’s bed by the window… we will see if my sleep pattern changes…..

PS no photos… a stretch too far for the internet on the ship! x