First rays of sun stretch over Scott Base
Scientists usher in a season of new beginnings at Scott Base, Antarctica, Friday, August 19 at 11.30am.
They have spent their lunch breaks eating sandwiches under the stars, and for the past four months their daily work was carried out in the dark.
Now, Thursday’s sunrise over Antarctica signals the homeward stretch for the 12 Kiwi scientists who have been working at Scott Base.
But mother nature shielded her from view and ushered in a storm with 100km/h gale force winds.
Andy Waters, the winter leader at Scott Base, said the day of new beginnings is always ‘‘a bit gloomy’’.
‘‘It’s a tricky one with the first sunrise, it just sort of approaches the horizon but Mt Erebus blocks it from the north so we don’t really get to see if fully for the first two weeks,’’ said Waters.
On Saturday, the Scott Base team travelled west for 40km to the Pegasus Field to get a clear view of the sun.
Waters and his team have spent a ‘‘solid three months in near darkness’’, but when the sun approaches the days get ‘‘bright and beautiful’’.
‘‘We get nacreous clouds this time of the year and that’s when the sun sort of hits the polar atmosphere and hits the clouds because they’re so high up in the sky.’’
The sunrise also signals the start of a fresh season of fresh faces, fresh adventures and fresh food with Winfly kicking off - the late winter fly-in of support staff.
‘‘McMurdo is just over the hill, at the moment they’re at about 130 people but close to 400 people come up so it’s all busy from here on in.’’
More Antarctica NZ support personnel have also headed over as the 2016-17 research season begins to ramp up, signalling 60 years of New Zealand’s presence in the region.
The new team will set a different pace for the scientists who become ‘‘a bit like family’’ over the winter. ‘‘We’re quite busy with work, and the weather is so bad people tend to hibernate.’’