ML – Collection of vegetation data under the project banner "Invasions of the Sub-Antarctic." Currently this involves estimating the percentage of vegetation in 3x3m plots spread almost randomly across the island. EG – The loneliness and feeling of COMPLETE ISOLATION – it's just me, my thoughts and the beauty of Marion. Firstly, the brilliant sunsets that bring life to the surrounding lakes during the golden hour and secondly, because of the macaroni penguin-packed amphitheater.
EG - I would have included more of the little things that make you feel at home - that's actually what I miss the most. When the journey starts, you can see Skuinskop to the northwest of the cabin and the Amphitheater towering to the southwest. You will only see the hut when you are about 20m away from it and it tends to surprise you if it is the first time you stumble upon this hut.
The river is south of the hut and there is always some kind of pool from which you can get drinking water. Our GPS assured us that we were among the hills in the center of the island, but the last visible feature we had seen that morning, the Cathedral Hut, was swallowed up shortly after we stepped away from it. As we climbed a particularly long and steep slope, the mist once again enveloped us thickly, but eventually we reached a pile of stones that marked the pointed top of this hill and the end of the climb.
We could even see Boot Rock jutting impressively out of the sea to the north and were amazed at how close this famous feature seemed from the top of the world.
Hey there, little one…”
Brown Skua chick (Stercorarius
Brown Skuas (Stercorarius
No Entry!”
Charlotte Heijnis
Elsa van Ginkel
Family Outing
A mini Giant…’
Liezl Pretorius
Northern Giant Petrel chick (Macronectes halli)
Wandering Albatross
ROCKSTAR…
Southern Rockhopper
Penguin (Eudyptes
Respect!
Elephant seal Bull (Mirounga leonina)
We will certainly miss our little ones when they take to the skies in the coming weeks, but we wish them well on their life journey across the ocean where they spend most of their lives - seeing sights and places we can only dream of. You see them standing on the sidelines playing lookout, often hovering over the nests and when the opportunity presents itself, they drop to the ground and grab an egg or chick in a split second. The Subantarctic Leek (also known as the Brown Leek) is the heaviest species in the Stercorariidae family, which for some reason I always compare to vultures...subantarctic vultures.
They are estimated to reach sexual maturity around the age of 8, with their breeding season starting from late October. At one point (or several points) in the early 19th century, some blind house mice arrived at Marion Island with sealers and survived. Conservatively, this could mean that a single female could produce 29 (four litters) to 50 (seven litters) young in a breeding season.
Twenty-six years later, in 1975, the descended feral cat population grew to an estimated size of about 2,200 cats, wreaking havoc on the smaller breeding populations of seabirds rather than controlling the numbers of the somewhat more mobile and therefore difficult to catch mice. On the coast, they are found among boulders and pebbles right up to the waterline, and at altitudes in the polar deserts they occur above 1,000 m - a dead mouse was even found on the summit of Bald Peak at about 1,162 m. Actual mouse densities depend on the type of vegetation and varies seasonally with numbers peaking in late summer and falling significantly in the cold winter months.
The slight taming effect (in 1978 only 16% of cat stomach contents contained 4.4% mice by volume) of cats was effectively eliminated by the virus and the mouse invasion adapted. The decline in invertebrate biomass over the past 40 years (figure 1) has been attributed to rodent predation. In addition to being useful for peat formation on the island, these slow-growing plants serve as nurse plants for many epiphyte species and shelter for many invertebrate species.
A good example of the former is that the island's only land-bound seabird, the Little Skedebek (or Paddy), now forages mostly along the coast and mainly eats sea weeds and intertidal organisms instead of foraging inland during the winter months. invertebrates. Changes in population size, habitat use and breeding biology of little scabbards (Chionis minor) at Marion Island: impacts of cats, mice and climate change. Eradication of House mice Mus musculus from Marion Island: a review of feasibility, constraints and risks.
Spatial variation in structural damage to a key plant species in the sub-Antarctic: interactions between Azorella selago and invasive house mice. My favorite gadget is the GPS - a beacon of light when the fog starts playing mind games and you start confusing the hills on the way home.
James Burns
Moustache
Taste of the Island life
Mike V’s Hut Birthday Surprise and …
Trading night
It is relatively form-fitting (almost like a second skin), providing an extra layer of warmth to any outfit, without too much extra bulk. And because it's made of stretchy material, it's generally very flexible and comfortable, allowing you to climb, bend, jump, stretch, catch a seal or bird, dig in a bird hole, etc. We're quickly approaching the end of it years and although we are bombarded from home with stories about summer holidays and spectacular beach trips, we are still in the roaring forties on Marion and it has been quite chilly.
We've gotten a lot more sunshine and warm(er) weather, but the wind is still chilly, tricking many Marionites into various states of sunburn. As I'm sure you've noticed, the wind on Marion is by far the biggest factor affecting all aspects of island life, and this month we'll look at how we measure it. An important thing to know when considering wind on Marion is the importance of the island's physical location.
I mentioned that we are in the "rohoring forties" which refers to the latitude area between 40 and 50 degrees south where we are. This belt surrounds Antarctica, and because it is mostly not covered by any major land mass, the wind is known to blow strongly and continuously across the Southern Ocean, bringing all kinds of cold fronts and other extreme weather events. As part of our weather operations here at Marion, we report wind speed and direction.
This is accomplished through the use of a wind sensor which is part of our automatic weather station. It is also cable anchored on all four sides at three levels to keep the mast from bending too much. The sensor itself is not unlike a windmill and rotates freely to face the wind directly with the help of a tail flap.
The direction is recorded as degrees from north (i.e. 90 is east, 180 is south, etc.). For those of you who may not know, the wind direction is reported as the direction it comes from. The propeller, which always points into the wind, is connected to a shaft that rotates in the mechanism, allowing the wind speed to be determined. For most of us here on Marion, the wind is the main determining factor when we go out to work and when we should definitely tie knots.
SAWS MONTHLY WEATHER STATS – November 2018
The sensor is attached to the mast in such a way that South is fixed and the direction the windmill is facing can easily be determined relative to this. For example, the most common wind we experience here is a 'North-West' and comes from the north-west direction (about 340 degrees).
RAIN
WIND
SUNSHINE
TOTAL
