The Galapagos of the Southern Ocean

[RooFlyer]

Wonderful scenery ... i'm sure you were thinking of stuff like this when you called it the Galapagos of the Southern Ocean



ps is the vegetation Gondwanan?

 

[JohnM]

Wonderful scenery ... i'm sure you were thinking of stuff like this when you called it the Galapagos of the Southern Ocean

View attachment 200121

ps is the vegetation Gondwanan?

Never let it be said that I do not think of your fetishes when I take photos...

 

[JohnM]

Comes the dawn at Macquarie Island and standing off the settlement since about an 0400h drop-anchor. Ship’s time was still running to NZ time, but Macca runs to Australian time, 2h behind. We had to wait until the folks ashore crawled out of bed.

And just to save @RooFlyer the trouble of having to dust off his Geology for Dummies: Macca is geologically unique in being an uplifted exposed portion of the Macquarie Ridge and is located where the Australian plate meets the Pacific plate. The island lies close to the edge of the submerged microcontinent of Zealandia, but is not regarded as part of it as the Macquarie Ridge is oceanic rather than continental crust.

It is the only place in the Pacific Ocean where rocks from the mantle are actively exposed at sea level. It also is the only oceanic environment with an exposed ophiolite sequence. It is because of these unique geological exposures that it was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997.

A major pest vertebrate eradication campaign initiated in 2011 culminated in the island be declared rabbit, rat and mice-free in 2014. A fantastic effort.

Macquarie Island - Wikipedia Pests eradicated from Macquarie Island

We had to first stop off the ranger/research/BOM station to pick up three of the rangers before heading a few km further S on the E coast to sandy beach for a landing. We had an interesting situation in that one of the pax was the wife of a BOM staff member on the island and they had been apart for most of the year. So, along with the rangers, he came aboard to overnight during the 36h we were there. Much mirth around the ship!

BUT, poor sod, he got seasick even just offshore in the steady swell. Much pity for his wife added to the mirth!

Macca is famed for its massive king and royal (and is home to all these for nesting) penguin colonies and elephant seals.



Welcome committee of king penguins.



Heading off to collect the rangers – and check us through Australian immigration.



Moving S to Sandy Beach for a landing amongst a lot of kelp washed up by the recent unusual easterly storm. The dominant bull elephant seals (‘beachmasters’) had completed their work and had gone back to sea, leaving moulting females and juveniles.

The king penguins were also moulting, some were still incubating eggs and large chicks and fledging chicks were present.

A sensational day and perfect weather. I almost ran my camera battery flat!

 

[JohnM]

Toes up – incubating an egg.

 

[JohnM]

 

[RooFlyer]

Macca is geologically unique in being an uplifted exposed portion of the Macquarie Ridge and is located where the Australian plate meets the Pacific plate. The island lies close to the edge of the submerged microcontinent of Zealandia, but is not regarded as part of it as the Macquarie Ridge is oceanic rather than continental crust.

It is the only place in the Pacific Ocean where rocks from the mantle are actively exposed at sea level. It also is the only oceanic environment with an exposed ophiolite sequence. It is because of these unique geological exposures that it was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997.

You lucky devil and well done on mentioning the magical 'ophiolite' word. I was supposed to have gone there for my Honours thesis many, er years ago, but was bumped off the vessel at the last minute by a National Parks rabbit shooter . I managed to climb an ophiolite in much more comfortable circumstances at Cyprus, a few years later

 

[JohnM]

Elephant seal showing signs of developing the proboscis. And moving along to the S end of the beach where royal penguins dominated.



People are meant to stay 5m away from the animals but that becomes impossible when trying to pass around or when sometimes one will walk up to inspect a boot.

 

[henleybeach]

Brilliant @JohnK
I’ll have to live through your lenses as my sea legs will never be that stable to make it to these destinations.

 

[JohnM]

Steps and a boardwalk led through the megaherb and grassland vegetation to a major royal penguin rookery.



There were a lot of very young chicks – and skuas prowling about looking for an opportunity to swoop in and steal one.

 

[VPS]

Fantastic photos - looks like there were a few people with some more serious cameras and lenses (hope you didn't feel too inadequate )

 

[JohnM]

Fantastic photos - looks like there were a few people with some more serious cameras and lenses (hope you didn't feel too inadequate )

There are always many more people with serious cameras on these trips.

Pffft - feeling inadequate. The story of my life...

 

[JohnM]

After a sensational morning at Sandy Bay, it was back to the ship for lunch while heading further S to Lusitania Bay – home to 200,000 penguins, including 51,000 chicks at the August count. Landing is not permitted there, as it would be too disruptive in such a crowded colony, but we went cruising just offshore in the Zodiacs.

Some orca activity was spotted in the distance as we moved along the coast in the ship. The old digesters where countless penguins were rendered down for their oil (1.5L/bird) in the 19th century lie rusting on the beach.



What a day!

 

[drron]

Macca really is a fantastic place.We had a Linblad captain on our cruise.A little later they took over the Orion.He thought Macca was fantastic and compared the wildlife to South Georgia.
What did the rangers eat whilst on board.several were invited on for dinner on our cruise and all they wanted was salads-just don't get fresh veggies there.

 

[JohnM]

I recall that one of the rangers was really hanging out for avocado. She was sitting next to me at lunch and she was duly delivered her avocado with a flourish. I pretended to pinch the bowl containing it (just the cut-up avocado by itself). I was lucky to escape with my genitalia intact .

 

[JohnM]

Late in the day, the ship headed back N to again anchor off the Macca Antarctic Research Base at Buckles Bay, which is at the N end of the island. The base was established in 1947 and has been constantly occupied since then. A major re-building is due to commence next year.

A shore visit was planned for the next day - and the rangers needed to be dropped back on shore.

The plan was to go ashore for the morning, to look around the area near the station, have morning tea in the mess and depart for the ship after the release of the weather radiosonde balloon. These are released simultaneously at many hundreds of meteorological stations around the world twice per day.

The weather forecast was for strengthening winds late morning, so we were warned to be ready for a quick return to the ship should the wind pick up too much. As it turned out, we were in the middle of having tea and scones in the mess when the call came to head back to the Zodiacs.

Unfortunately, it was about 30-40 minutes before the balloon was due for release, so we missed seeing that. It was a hairy and wet ride back to the ship through the swell and rapidly rising chop and increasing wind.



The leader for the group I was in was Kate, the base doctor.



Macca is about 35km x 5km. The rangers and researchers walk everywhere to do their work, with a main trail along the spine of the island. They have several well-stocked huts where they overnight or can seek shelter.

A set of steps leads up to the elevated centre of the island to join the main trail but there is also a lookout for visitors to get a birds-eye view.



Rocks for @RooFlyer.

 

[JohnM]

Gentoo penguins.



A dead sperm whale washed up on the beach on the W side of the base two years ago. Prevailing W winds made conditions very smelly until the carcase was picked clean. The main residue is a jawbone and a couple of vertebrae.

 

[JohnM]

The signals dish protection in the geodesic dome. Australian flag, plus NZ and Russian as courtesies to the visiting NZ-operated and Russian-crewed ship.



More rocks for Rooy.



A long pictorial record.



While we were having morning tea the BOM guy was showing his wife around. Understandably, she was very emotional. It was very touching.

Then we got the call to bail. Pics give an illusion of it looking benign. It was not. I was drenched, despite my waterproofs, by the time I got back to the ship. Sitting at the front of the Zodiac did not help.

 

[Major]

In the 1980's M.I. was re supplied by air during the Winter months. The only drop zone was that narrow strip of land between the 2 hills in your last photo. It's so narrow we could only drop 1 compact load per pass.
This is what it looked like from the back of a C130

 

[RooFlyer]

Rocks for @RooFlyer.

Thank you. The best ones are # 5 and #15 in post 36. I won't clutter here, but will explain when i see you next

 

[JohnM]

Thank you. The best ones are # 5 and #15 in post 36. I won't clutter here, but will explain when i see you next

I can pick the right stuff.