Larsemann Hills 2: Visit to Kunlun and Davis- Guest Blog

Anant Pande was a member of the 28th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica. He represented the Institute of Science, Mumbai. He is a marine biologist. He worked on Antarctic Krills, the staple food of nearly all animals living in the Antarctic Ocean. He is currently pursuing wildlife biology and Wildlife Institute of India. He can be contacted on http://www.indianwandererslife.blogspot.com/
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Visit to Davis

During our near two-month stay at Larsemann Hills, we also got a chance to visit the nearby stations of different countries. The Chinese team invited us to visit the opening ceremony of their new station KUNLUN. A team of five people led by Mr. Ajay Dhar (Voyage Leader) visited the station on the occasion. We also got the chance to visit the magnificently built Australian station DAVIS and know about the research going on in their laboratories. I went to DAVIS on 11th February with 4 other team mates. The station leader Bill received us warmly and showed us around the station. The station was huge and had facilities for pursuing good quality of research. We also got to see the largest of seals, Elephant seals near to the station. On the way back, we landed on Hop’s Island, a site of penguin rookery. There were more than 5000 Adelie penguins on the island. The sight of so many penguins at a time was overwhelming.

Elephant Seals at Davis

Adelie Penguins at Hop Island