Hello again - the weekly update from Cape Shirreff.
It's another mild, sunny, beautiful day. We've only had one truly horrible weather day so far and got soaked to the bone. Unfortunately that was a long day for us because we had to do full nest checks (which involves checking all of the skua territories to be sure they still have their eggs and then lifting all 100 penguin butts in our reproduction study sites to confirm that their eggs are ok.) We do this every 4 days to minimize disturbance. Then we also had to do a nest census and count all of the occupied nests - over 9000 - which is an unpleasant task in the horizontal rain. That's done now and no more censuses until the chicks hatch. We expect gentoo chicks any day now. I saw my first 2 day old kelp gull chicks yesterday. They are adorable. Will be exciting when chicks start hatching all over the colonies. Right now the beaches are crawling with newborn fur seal pups. There are thousands of crying pups and mama seals calling to each other and we expect at least as many to arrive in the next few weeks. Female seals come to shore and usually the next day, give birth to a pup. I've caught the tail end of several births. Within a week, they come into estrous and the male on territory copulates with them. I saw my first seal copulation yesterday. The pups are very precocious and after a few days are wandering away from mom to explore and form little gangs. Unfortunately a few get squashed by fighting bulls who totally ignore the pups. I've been helping the seal biologists capture female seals to take milk and DNA samples and to mount satellite transmitters and time-depth recorders on their back. It is a chaotic process because females are strong and wary, and peripheral bulls are always looking for a chance to get in and get a female, so 2 people handle the female and one or two of us fend off aggressive bulls. It takes about 20 minutes to measure, weigh, and get all of the samples. The pup also gets measured and gets a haircut and bleach job on his head so he is recognizable for the rest of the season. I got some video footage of the whole process - wailing moms, crying pups, fighting bulls, and struggling biologists. This island is full of Antarctic life. Every day brings something new. I feel very privileged to be one of less than a dozen people who are allowed to be here this year. Cape Shirreff is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the large breeding colonies here, so only a handful of scientists with permits are allowed - no cruise ships or other vessels. It's very peaceful having this place all to ourselves. We're still skiing on our rickety skis, but by next week the snow will mostly be gone. Our stray king penguin is still waddling around the island. I found a digital camera in storage here and have started taking photos with it. Lots of fun. I may try to send some up to the states in Jan. Hope all is well with you and you are calm and relaxed, ignoring the stress of the holiday season. I must say, there is none of that here. I don't even think Santa's reindeer can make it this far south. Take care...until next week.

Love, Iris