Antarctica Unfrozen

Jonny has a rather incredible 'job', he is the Winter Leader at Scott Base. We caught up and had a chat about what a Winter in Antarctica entails and how the team keeps grounded and stimulated through what I can consider, pretty much an out of this world experience!

Winter in the Antarctic may not be so dark at all...

Thank you Jonny for the incredible Antarctic Aurora photographs and time-lapses.

Have you ever wondered what it must feel like to jump into the near-freezing Antarctica waters through an ice hole and spend the next 30 minutes to an hour surrounded by sea spiders, giant sponges and seals?! Well, tune in for an epic chat with Marine Ecologists, Dr. Drew Lohrer and Dr. Leigh Tait from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, otherwise known as NIWA.

Drew is a principal scientist at NIWA who has made a massive contribution to the advancement of marine ecology. His main area of research focuses on the organisms that live on the seafloor and their contribution to ecosystem function in estuaries and along coastlines. His work in Antarctica has shown that these communities are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and ocean acidification as they respond to change more rapidly than initially thought.

Leigh travelled down to the ice in 2019 with Drew for his first Antarctic expedition where he operated a BOXFish ROV, taking our knowledge of the under-ice environment to new depths, literally! Leigh is also a marine ecologist at NIWA, he specialises in ecophysiology ecological structure in the marine environment.

Sit back and tune in as we discuss all things benthic ecology, kinds of communities exist under the ice in Antarctica, how sea ice influences them and how resilient they are to climate-related changes! We also touch on Science Under the Ice, an epic outreach project which takes you on real and virtual research expeditions to Antarctica where scientists like Drew and Leigh explore how climate change will affect the marine biodiversity in Antarctica.

Bruce is the kind of guy where the only place I can imagine meeting him is in fact at the bottom of the world in Antarctica. Bruce is the Water Engineer at Scott Base and while that may sound like quite a standard job description, he’s absolutely integral to ensuring the bases critical hydro systems stay running through both the Summer and Winter seasons! Was a pleasure talking sh*t with you Bruce, both literally and figuratively!

Oh, Bruce also happens to be the only Base resident that jams the bag pipes in his spare time! You always need someone who can play the pipes around right?

Welcome to Antarctica Unfrozen! A podcast connecting you to Antarctica like never before. Created and hosted by Blake Antarctic Ambassador - Harry Seagar. Brought to you by The Sir Peter Blake Trust and Antarctica New Zealand.