The blizzard continues

The blizzard continues to ravage us for the second day today. It picked up pace in the morning and sometimes the visibility was reduced to 100m. It was very unlike a cold winter blizzard. We can call it an enjoyable blizzard or a happy blizzard, with warm temperatures, low wind velocity, decent visibility but lots of snow deposition. Towards evening, the wind velocity dropped drastically, and as I write this, it is now reduced to just a snowfall with a breeze.



We had a gala time today with snow fights and a lot of frolicking in the snow after dinner. Unlike in the winters, the snow was wet and sticky, and so we were soon fully covered with snow. The wind did not bite as during the winters. It was a bonanza for the summer team members, who usually don’t see a blizzard during their stay here.

A Mid Summer Blizzard

This is something totally unexpected at this time of the year. It is peak summer time in Antarctica (22nd December was Midsummer Day). We don’t expect blizzards at this time of the year at Maitri. They do occur sometimes in coastal area, but not at our location. Blizzards are hallmark of the winters.



Weather was expected to be bad for 3 days starting today, 28th December according to the forecast given by Ralf, but no one expected a blizzard. What started as a snowdrift at noon time soon strengthened into a low intensity blizzard. It is continuing to blow hard as I am writing this. Although the wind speed in about 40 knots, but it is bringing in copious amounts of snow. The snow flakes are big and wet. They are not powdery as is seen during the winters, when they can be dusted off. The contrast between fresh snow and rotten snow is striking, though both appear white. Visibility is poor, but not as bad as during the winters. This is presently a moderate intensity blizzard, but the prediction for tomorrow is worse. The summer team is going to have a tough time tomorrow, while we are enjoying the what is probably the last blizzard before we depart at the end of next month.

R.I.P

This is it folks. The penguin kids did not last long. My next trip after the egg had hatched was on 21st Dec. I was delighted to find not one but two boisterous penguin chicks. They were tiny creatures, grey in colour and were flapping their tiny wings. They were hovering around their parent’s legs, darting in and out, chirping without a moment’s break, except when the parent lay down on them on its belly. The parent penguin did not move an inch from its place. It was constantly poking its beak at the kids, as if scolding them. It was a delightful sight. But their fate was never in doubt. My next visit to the place was on 25th Dec. This time the parent penguin was their, but the place was very quite. There was no chirping to be heard. The parent was still firmly in its place, but there was no movement near its feet. My worst fears came true when I zoomed in my camera near its feet. There lay two lifeless, furry creatures. The parent was standing guard over them, as if expecting them to come to life. It was constantly prodding them with its beak. But there was no chance. The kids were gone. The icy continent had taken its toll and the penguin kids met their fate. There was no food to go by for the penguins. The continent is lifeless, except for the birds, and the sea is 100km away. By the time the other parent returns with food, it is too little too late. But the penguins continue to come here following their instinct, looking for rocks to nest in. Now I only hope that the parent realises the futility of standing guard at the site and goes to the sea for food. Else, it will also meet the same fate. When that happens, the skuas are going to have a grand feast. If that does not happen and the penguin stays back any longer, they are going to have a real gala time.



That’s nature. Can’t help much.

Dakshin Gangotri Glacier

http://picasaweb.google.com/abhijeetbhatia77/DakshinGangotri

Many of us have visited the Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas. But a trip to the Dakshin Gangotri glacier is a once in a lifetime event because one would have to come all the way to Antarctica for that. I had this opportunity on 22nd Dec 2008. This was a long pending trip and we should have gone there in the winters itself. But better late than never. The Dakshin Gangotri glacier is about 10 km west of Maitri in the Schirmacher Oasis.

The geologists are monitoring the rate of recession of the glacier since the 2nd Indian Antarctic Expedition in 1982. This time too they were going to take fresh observations. A group of 12 people from the old as well as the new team went to the glacier. A group of scientists from the new team was to collect lichen samples from the Dakshin Gangotri glacier for study.

We left at 10 in the morning by Pisten Bully. We left the vehicle near Shivling that is about 4 km away and then trekked the rest of the way. We passed numerous lakes along the way, all of them in various stages of melting. We also crossed various historical landmarks on the way. The first of them was the place where the second Indian Antarctic Expedition landed in a helicopter and selected the place as a site for a permanent Indian Station. They placed a placard bearing the name “Dakshin Gangotri” there. The idea was later dropped because of the inaccessibility of the area to vehicles. The placard now lies in our station. The second site of historical importance was the site where Indians had first carried out drilling in the rocks to obtain geological samples in 1982-83. The rocks bore tell tale holes all around. An iron rod was inserted in one of them.

Most of the route was downhill. After a trek of about 5 km, we saw a tongue of ice projecting into Schirmacher from the continental ice cap on the southern side. This was the Dakshin Gangotri Glacier. It is also know as the Dakshin Gangotri snout, because of its resemblance to an elephant’s snout. It lay in front of us in all its grandeur. The contrast between the ice cap and the rocky Schirmacher was striking. We descended towards it, and on the way we saw markings on a rock that demarcated the spot from which the 2nd Indian Antarctic Expedition carried out the first survey of the DG glacier. The glacier rose abruptly from the ground. All its walls were absolutely vertical. Blocks of ice lay in front of it, descending into a lake. We lazed around the glacier for a while, taking in its beauty. The rocks around bore parallel markings signifying the direction of movement of the glacier. These markings were made by the rubbing of rocks by the moving glacier.

Soon it was time to get back to work. I was the ‘official photographer’, the position I have earned during the last one year. We ascended along the eastern face of the glacier and found some markings on the rocks. These were made by the GSI team in 1996 to mark the position of the glacier. We were shocked to see that the glacier was no where near those points. It had receded at a rate of 1 meter per year. These markings were present at various places on the eastern end of the glacier, and all of them told the same story. At places where the glacier had been 4 meters from the markings, it was now 16 meters. We made fresh markings at the present position of the glacier and I took photographs of the old and new positions of the glacier.

While ascending, we saw an ice cave in the vertical face of the glacier. There were massive icicles hanging from the roof, extending almost to the floor. At the base of the glacier, fine mud was seen. This was rock flour, and is formed by the grinding of rocks under the weight of ice over millennia. Water flowed from all sides of the glacier in copious streams into the lake at the snout of the glacier. There were small waterfalls too, falling from the ice face. I collected water from one of these to take back to India as a souvenir. Icicles hung all around the place with water dripping from their tips. We sucked them like lollipops. Soon it was lunch time. We descended to the base and had alu paranthas and fruit juice, rested awhile and then proceeded to the western face of the glacier. It was considerably less steep than the eastern face. But the findings were more shocking here. At one point, where the glacier was 1 meter away from the marking in 1996, it was now 33 meters. Nobody would believe it, neither did we. But the proof was right in front of our eyes. At places where the GSI team had to scale vertical rock faces in 1996, we could now walk over comfortably. There were some waterfalls here as well. If the glacier continued to melt at this rate, there would be hardly anything left in the next 10 years. We continued our work till 3 pm and then we collected a few rocks as souvenirs and started our return journey. We were dead tired by the time we reached the vehicle near Shivling. It was 7 pm by the time we reached Maitri. A tiring but highly satisfying day had come to an end. A trip to Dakshin Gangotri was something I could only dream of. But it has now come true.

The Skuas Lay Eggs

There is an abundance of skuas around. I can see around 8-10 pairs now and I have lot count of who is who. Shankar has found a mate. He hovers around our station, but since that is the preserve of its parents, he is not allowed near it. So he stays near the pump house.



Aish has laid its eggs near the Priyadarshani lake near the Tirumala hut and is now incubating them. I accidentally discovered this fact when I was going for a walk near the lake. Suddenly, Aish emerged from behind the rocks and screamed in a menacing tone. Her voice appeared to have gone bad. She was in a foul mood. Then equally suddenly, I saw Abhi rocketing straight at me, shouting in the same menacing voice. I thought that he was going to attack me. But he just wanted to scare me away. He hovered around me till I was at a comfortable distance from Aish. Then he stood guard till I left that place.



The next day, I again visited the site at a safe distance armed with my camera. I saw Aish through the powerful zoom of my camera and took a photograph. I could not see the eggs, but she is always seen in the same position, sitting down. This kind of behaviour can only be because of the eggs. We leave the couple alone and try not to scare them. In the pics below, Aish can be seen shouting and Abhi is having a swim.

The Eggs Hatch

18 Dec 08 dawned as a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny day with slight wind. It was after 18 days that we were seeing the sun. Till now, it was overcast and very windy with intermittent snowfall and snow drift. We were not able to venture out for any length of time. But today I decided to make use of this opportunity and went out for a long walk. Uttam Chand also joined me. He also enjoys long walks. Initially, we had planned to go to the skua’s nesting site across Priyadarshani Lake. When we did not find any breeding skuas there, we decided to go to the penguin rookery.

The snow had still not melted. So we slid down most of the way. I was soon drenched with sweat. Sweating is very uncomfortable in Antarctica because of the woollen clothing that we wear. It makes one feel cold. When we reached the site where we had seen a penguin incubating its egg a few weeks back, we heard a chirping site quite unlike that of a penguin. The egg shell was still there. But between the legs of the penguin, we noticed a greyish mass wriggling around. The penguin egg had hatched and what we were seeing was the chick of an Adelie penguin. It was tiny. The egg had probably hatched a few days back. The parent penguin was still in the same place as we had seen it a few weeks back, but there was a lot more guano around. It was just moving its head all over. Feet were stationary. This was a thrilling moment for me and I clicked my camera away merrily. But then the stark reality struck me. This chick will not survive for more than a few days. There was no food to keep it going. By the time the other parent returns with food from the sea, it would be too little too late.

Strange are the ways of nature. I will follow up the chick’s progress till it reaches its destined fate.

In the pics below, concentrate on the greyish mass between the penguin’s leg’s to the right of the egg shell. That is the penguin chick.

Santa Visits Maitri

It was a premature Christmas for us. The Russian Santa Claus was visiting us on 20 Dec. 08. We had been informed well in advance about this visit and so we were preparing for the divine visit for a few days. There was hectic activity at the station since morning. Actually, since yesterday. The lounge was being decorated, menu was decided and gifts for the Santa and his entourage were prepared. I was on cooking duty with Narayan Singh. It was a hectic day.



Finally, at 6 PM, we saw the Russian vehicles approaching us in the distance. An announcement was made over the station public address system and we were all on standby, cameras et al. The vehicles halted outside the gates and an elegantly dressed Santa stepped out. He had a one and a half meter long beard. He was wearing a red robe with golden embroidery and a cap and gloves to match. He spoke Russian in a deep baritone voice. One of his interpreters translated his words in English.



He came inside the station and moved around authoritatively. He spoke of the spirit of Christmas and Indo- Russian friendship. The Santa had come from the northern most parts of Russia, 14,000 km from here. He gave some mementos to the station leaders and then we raised a toast to the Santa and for Christmas. This was followed by cocktails and repeated rounds of photographs. We were falling over each other to get photographed with the Santa in all his regalia. It was a fascinating day for us.

Towards the end of the function, the Russian leader distributed certificates to all the participants of the Indo- Russian convoy held in Nov 08, of which I was also a part. Finally, the entourage left, with most of the Russians dead drunk at 8 PM. This event left us all refreshed for the rest of the 40 days of our expedition. The festive spirit did not leave us untouched.

Global Warming?

As is the trend these days, lets blame it all on global warming. Mid summer day is round the corner and the end of the polar day is just one month away. But the lakes in Schirmacher have not yet melted. Priyadarshani Lake is not even half melted and many lakes have melted only at the edges. The temperatures continue to hover around the zero mark. This is in sharp contrast to last year, when the temperature had reached +7ºC in November itself and there was an excessive ice melt. The lakes were completely melted and boating was in full swing. Though the lakes are sure to melt soon but it is too late in the day for that. Also missing are the beautiful ice formations and the rivulets that appear during the summers. The next 2 weeks are going to be warm. A lot of melting should happen now.

Maitri Goes Online

Today, 12 Dec 2008 is a historic day in the annals of Indian Polar Research. Maitri is finally connected to the World Wide Web since 8 PM in a grand inaugural function. The efforts of the 27^th ISEA have finally borne fruit and we are in touch with the happenings all around the world. The days of extreme isolation in Antarctica are finally over and we can look forward to happier and less stressful winterings at Maitri. TV transmission started in August and now the internet.

We had lugged bags of cement and iron hardware on our backs during the construction phase of the satellite antenna during the summer part of the 27^th ISEA irrespective of rank and professional qualifications, as is the norm in any Antarctic expedition. We had given up hope that the internet facility would start during our expedition. It is common in Antarctica that the team that does all the hard work does not get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. But we were lucky not to meet that fate. with still about a couple of months of our expedition left, we can look forward to enjoying the internet connectivity, and hopefully better blogs with photographs and videos straight from the icy continent.

Keep watching these columns for the hottest pics and maybe videos you would have ever seen.

Internet Activated

Internet has been activated at maitri from today.

Ice Caves Revisited

I visited the ice caves near Shivling on 6th Dec 08, this time with Uttam Chand a member of the new team. We went at around 9 PM. Time was not a problem because of 24 hours daylight.

I went there to see how much the caves had melted. But I saw that on the contrary, there is more snow than there was in September, when I last visited them. This time around, the snow had accumulated almost to the roof in the middle. We did not go in because of the risk of the ice caving in on us and there were some cracks visible on the roof. Moreover, there was no point in going in because there was too much snow. The ground had also not melted at all. The only signs of melting were the icicles all around. This was surprising.

The smaller caves were quite a contrast to the bigger ones. Half of the roof had caved in and roof of the remaining half was very thin. They could not be called caves any longer.

All around the caves were footprints as if someone had come here with crampons. They could be none other than the tourists from the nearby White Desert Tourist Camp, or the dhabawaalas as we call them. The tourists coming there are stinking rich, paying $40,000 for a ten day trip. It is sheer madness. All they end up doing is walk upto the ice caves, a few rounds on the snow scooter, a trip to the shelf on foot, some ice climbing and probably a day trip to the Humbolt Mountains, 100 km south of here. All this goes down the drain if the weather is not good, as it is these days. For us, the weather would not create problems, but not so for those who are not acclimatized to the cold here. The proprietors are all adventurers, who have skied to the South Pole a few times.

One Year Goes By

I have reached a major landmark today, the 6th Dec 2008. It is more of a personal landmark. It is exactly one year since I sailed from Goa for Antarctica. We sailed from Mormugoa Harbour, Goa on this day last year at 13:35 hrs. The moment we were sailing away from our homeland is still firmly etched in my memory. There was a horde of people to see us off at the harbour. The gangway was slowly lifted up. The pilot boat began to tug us away from our berthing place into open waters. We began to slowly sail away from land. All hands were waving high up in the air. My parents were also there in the crowd, waving at us till the ship was out of the harbour. My heart was full of trepidation. I did not know what lay ahead. I had some serious doubts whether I would be able to meet this challenge. I did not know what lay ahead. I had virtually shot in the dark. It was like going into the deep, dark and unknown forest. Had I bitten more than I could chew? I never needed to do this. I had everything going for me, when I threw it all away and took up this offer. These and many more thoughts were going through my mind as we sailed away from India and land slowly drifted out of view, and the only sign that land was nearby was the presence of sea birds. I had given up myself to destiny. I was sure it had something lined up for me.

But now, one year is over and we are at the fag end of our expedition. The worst, and also the best are finally over. The remaining few weeks are not going to be easy by any standards. But what I have experienced during the last one year has been worth every bit of our stay here, and all the hardships that we have undergone. Antarctica has given a whole new perspective to my life, and also a few extra kilogramsJ J. This is easily going to be the most memorable year for me for a long time to come. There will be many more such reminiscences. So I will save the rest for later.

The Team Departs

The deinduction of the 27th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica continues. A component of 8 members of our wintering team left for home late night on 1st Dec 2008. They leave behind a sense of emptiness in all of us. We have been through so much together during our seemingly never ending stay at Maitri and it will be not be possible to forget them for any of us. They take with them some sweet and some bitter memories. The bitter ones will be forgotten soon but the good ones will linger on.



The ALCI flight of the IL-76 was scheduled to depart at 2 PM. Hence the departing members left the station at 11 AM. I also went to the Novo Runway to see them off. On reaching the Novo Runway, we were informed that the flight would be departing at 10:30 PM. This was because of a rescue mission under process. 2 adventurers who were attempting to ski to the South Pole from Germany’s Neumayer station were stranded on the way since their stocks were depleted. A Basler aircraft was to go to rescue them. All the members were given the option of going back to Maitri or to stay on till evening when the vehicles and the leaders would return again to see off the departing members. Many returned and others stayed back. I too stayed back. It would be a long awaited change and a welcome day away from the station.



I munched on the variety of food freely available at the ALCI cafeteria. There were a variety of meats, cheese & bread to choose from. The cookies too were yummy. I first helped myself to a huge portion of ham, salami and brown bread and white bread along with coffee. This was followed by an assortment of cookies.

There were 2 four- wheeled vehicles parked near the cafeteria hut. It is not usual to find such vehicles here. They were huge, something like the Hummer trucks. I went up close to investigate. A few westerners were working on and around the vehicle. Some were testing a tent nearby. I discovered those vehicles to be the Hilux model from Toyota. They were arctic trucks that were here to give support to a ski race to the South Pole. The participants would be air dropped 400 km away from the Pole, from where the race would begin but the vehicle would drive down all the way to the Pole. It was an amazing thought. I wondered if the vehicles were suited to the conditions expected enroute. The Pole is 2000 km from the Novo Runway and the route is ridden with massive crevasses. Temperatures of the order of -50ºC were expected on the way even at this time of the year. I also wondered if the wheels of the vehicles would be suited to the ice, instead of snow. Would they not skid? The vehicles had huge, spikes wheels but no chain that we normally put on wheels in the Himalayas.

All these doubts were put to rest soon. The vehicles had a ladder with which they could cross crevasses many meters wide. They would also have a sensor a few feet in front of the vehicles to detect hidden crevasses. The suitability of the vehicles to the low temperatures was not in doubt because they were Arctic Trucks, meant for use at the Poles. Later during the day I saw these vehicles speeding along the runway at probably 150 km/hr and breaking suddenly. They used to stop abruptly instead of skidding. The wheels of these vehicles were spiked. Hence, their suitability for ice was also good.

We were allotted a tent for the day. The tent had 7 comfortable beds where we spent most of our day. Soon it was lunch time. The cafeteria served a non veg stew and soup. I did not bother to ask what meat it was. The Russians are supposed to be particularly fond of beef and horse meat. Whatever it was, it tasted good and different from what I have been having all the year. I spent a lot of time exploring the airport. I went upto the smaller Basler aircraft that transports men and material to Troll, Neumayer and other areas nearby, and the larger IL- 76 aircraft, taking photographs from all possible angles. I also took a walk on the 3 km long runway. It had been evened out with a vehicle with spiked tyres. It was amazing. It is only in Antarctica that we can go right upto the aircraft and even board it and go all over the runway without any restrictions. There are no policemen or security guards in Antarctica. Everything is based on trust. I saw numerous old, abandoned vehicles belonging to Novo lying all around. They included bull dozers and sundry other vehicles whose utility I could not comprehend.

I saw 3 skuas permanently parked outside the cafeteria tent. They appeared to be working in shifts. At any point of time I saw only one skua there, and each time it was a different one. It used to wait for titbits from visitors. They were more docile and domesticated than the ones in Schirmacher and did not get scared away so easily.

I chatted up people from various stations around Dronning Maudland, including Russians, Germans, Norwegians and Canadians, who were going to Cape Town that evening. It was nice to talk to such a wide assortment of people. They all had interesting titbits to tell about their wintering experience. Most of our talk centred on blizzards and temperatures.

Soon it was dinner time. Dinner consisted of noodles, non veg curry and salad, along with pork. The place was teeming with people. Soon, our team members also arrived from Maitri and joined us in the cafeteria. As the time for departure neared, the outgoing members were reminiscing about their wintering experience and the good and bad times that we had shared here. It was a happy as well as an emotional time for them. They had developed an emotional bond with Maitri. But soon they got busy with the boarding formalities. There were no passport checks, or security checks. There was no restriction on the amount of luggage you carried, or what you carried. That’s trust, Antarctica style.

It was now time to go. The outgoing members were taken to the aircraft in a sledge drawn by a snow scooter. We followed them on another one and bid them the final goodbye before the aircraft was ready for take off. It finally took off at 10 PM, raising a lot of snow. It was bright sunshine when it took off, as it always is. We returned soon to a station that looked empty without those 8 members.

The Isolated Water Bowls

29th November was a very windy day. It had been so for a few days now. We did not venture out much because of the wind. The cold did not disturb us much. But today, Ralf, the meteorologist at Neumayer had predicted a decrease in wind velocity to 12 kt. So we planned a trip to the base of the Trishul peak for Dr Asim to take a few samples. We waited all day for the wind to die down. It did not quite reach 12 kt but it did drop to 20 kt in the evening. So we decided to leave at 6 PM. We were in no hurry to come back because there will be no sunset. There were 5 of us, Dr Asim, Leader, Asit, Hembram and myself.



So we proceeded towards Trishul. Instead of going to Trishul, we turned northwards before it and proceeded towards Long Lake from the eastern side of Trishul. I had never been here before. As we went on, we suddenly came across an area which was flat and was surrounded by hillocks all around. The ground here appeared to have been levelled. The grounded was carpeted with dried mosses. It looked like a bowl, enclosed on all sides. It had the appearance of a dried lake bed. And it was. It does get filled up with water during the summers. This inspite of the fact that it does not communicate with any other lake in the vicinity. The source of the water in that lake is the permafrost. When the permafrost begins to thaw during the brief Antarctic summers, the water rises to above the ground and forms a lake a few inches deep. With the onset of the winters, the water again seeps into the ground and refreezes. Since this lake has no drainage, the water does not leave it. The result is the high salinity and alkalinity of the water. This place appeared very lonely. Dr Asim took a few samples of the lichens and we moved on.



We crossed the western face of Trishul from a distance and we came across a deep gorge to the northern side. This again appeared to have been levelled. But this time it did not appear to be a bowl. It was long and appeared like a dry river bed. We descended into it by sliding down on the snow that was still relatively hard. This we later came to know, was the “flood plain” of the Long Lake. This implies that when the Long Lake overflows, it drains into this area. It was not totally dry but had a few isolated puddles of water. The only apparent source of the water in these puddles was the permafrost that had probably started melting. This was confirmed by the high alkalinity of the water that Dr Asim measured. The water in this puddle repeatedly underwent the cycle of freezing and melting during the last few days. This was evident by the presence of water rimmed with ice along the edge and ice in the centre. The wind was causing ripples in the water. Further on, there was a bigger puddle, that could be called a lake. It had a similar appearance, with a thin layer of ice at the edge, then water and finally a thick layer of ice again. There were a few rocks in the water. These were topped with ice. The water that passed over them froze in the wind due to the wind chill factor. This layer of ice appeared like multiple huge diamonds studded all over the rocks. At places, where the ice over the rocks had again started melting, were huge icicles. They appeared like the teeth of a shark and sparkled brilliantly in the weak sunshine. Had we gone further, along this lake, we would have reached the Long Lake. But we did not want to expose Dr Asim any more to this harsh weather (wind chill temperature was around -30ºC) and decided to return. The journey back was along the base of the Trishul peak and passed through a few more gorges. This route was known to me. Right at the base of Trishul was another isolated bowl. At many places, tell tale streaks of salts were present of rocks, that told about the presence of water there.

It was strange that even though I have been to Trishul many times, but I had never before seen these isolated bowls before.

A Penguin Rookery and an Esteemed Guest

The day dawned bright and clear. There was a brisk wind early on and so it was slightly chilly, though the temperature was a pleasant -5ºC. I was going for a field traverse along with a multidisciplinary field party for sample collection on 24th Nov 08. The most high profile member of our party was a microbiologist of Indian origin from the USA who is here on a NASA research project. Dr Asim is studying the survival mechanism of the micro organisms found here against the extreme cold and high UV radiation and its medical applications. He is here to collect samples from the lakes of Schirmacher Oasis. The other members of the party were 3 geologists, who are collecting ice core samples from the epi shelf lakes, a limnologist who was collecting lichen and moss samples and our leader. We were to go to a mini penguin rookery nearby via a few land locked lakes to the east of the station. This penguin rookery houses about 10- 12 penguins during the summers. We expected to find some penguins there, hopefully with the eggs.

We reached our first lake in no time at all. It had just started melting at the edges. The melting lake was a pretty sight, especially the region where water met ice. At places, the water had frozen again after melting. The layer of ice was weak. The mosses in the lake had revived again when the melting began. The various members of the team collected their samples and we moved on to the next lake. We collected samples from a few more lakes and then we decided to go to the epi-shelf lake near the penguin rookery. On the way we came across an area where soil was arranged in polygonal patterns. There were rocks in the crack between the polygonal patterns. Our leader explained this pattern. During the winters, the soil has permafrost, which thaws somewhat during the summers and expands the soil in the process. This expansion pushes the rocks sideways. This movement is of a miniscule degree, but accumulated over millions of years, it is appreciable. As a result of this movement, the rocks have been pushed to the junction of the polygons. Quite interesting indeed. He also explained the various striations seen of the rocks as due to glacier movement in the past. At places the rocks had a highly polished surface, again due to glacier movement. The glacier movement had also formed numerous gorges in Schirmacher, one of which led to the penguin rookery from where we were presently. This particular gorge was like a river bed and it appeared as if the earth had been levelled using a bull dozer. The appearance was striking.

The epi- shelf lake was still frozen stiff. It was strong enough to take our weight without breaking. But it was exxxxtremely slippery. We could not walk on the ice without slipping. So we crawled all over the place and had a lovely time. The geology team got busy drilling ice cores all over the place. The rest of us went to look for the penguins along the shelf.

We walked about a kilometre from the lake when we came to a rocky outcrop, where we expected to find the penguins. There were none. This was strange. However, we did see a few skuas hovering around. If the skuas were here, the penguins could not be far. Probably the skuas were waiting to catch a penguin for lunch. We finally came across an abandoned penguin nest. It was made of a collection of pebbles arranged in a circular manner. There were 2 such nests. There was no sign of the penguins or the eggs. The nest was stained with penguin guano. Dr Asim picked up a few stones that were streaked with penguin guano for his kids back home.

The geologists soon joined us. One of them told us that he had seen a penguin incubating an egg nearby. We thought he was pulling a fast one on us. However, he dragged us along. Sure enough, hidden among the rocks was an Adelie penguin sitting on a white coloured egg that was 3 times the size of a hen's egg. All the rest joined us. We kept a safe distance from the penguin so as not to scare it away. We got busy photographing and videographing the penguin and its egg. It appeared to be restless because of our presence. This inspite of the fact we were so far away from it that I had to use the maximum limit of my camera's 12x zoom to get a good close up of the penguin. We moved away soon to avoid causing much disturbance to the penguin. Dr Asim had never seen a penguin before. He said that this penguin made his trip to Antarctica worthwhile. Not that we had seen too many of them. We were all as excited as Dr Asim. We had our lunch and then headed back to the station. It was already evening by the time we reached back. A highly fruitful day thus came to an end.

It is really sad that inspite of the penguins best efforts, the chick is unlikely to survive. There is no source of food nearby. One of the parents treks down to the sea 100 km away. By the time it returns, its mate is already weak with hunger. It cannot bring back enough for the chick, which in turn grows weak and is eaten by the skuas. This is the fate of most of the penguin chicks born in Schirmacher Oasis.