September 5: First seal pup...and the skuas

After a long day of Petrel nest hunting we returned to Bauer Bay hut, to  witness the first seal pup that we saw for the year, cuddled up and bleating beside its mother. With little other food choices on the beach, an armada of skuas, also arrived, ready to pounce on the pup if it became weak, or to nibble of its umbilical cord, given the first opportunity. They also are on the ready to harass the pup off the nipple when it is feeding, and take advantage of the free flowing  rich seal milk.
The elephant seal pups are black furry little things, with a hoarse yelping bark, and big round eyes that seem to fill most of their faces.
There are still only two cows on the beach, something sure to change rapidly in the coming days as the  breeding season draws closer.
Spring has sprung.

Two cows , one pup and many Skuas lined up ready for a meal. Photo: Jacque Comery

September 2: Breakfast on the deck at Bauer Bay

Andrea and Rich met up with me last night at Bauer Bay. We awoke met by a stillness, so rare for the west coast. Glorious sunshine, and a gentle breeze welcomed us out onto the porch. Rich cooked an amazing pancake breakfast complete with lashings of tinned butter and maple syrup, and we sat back, coffee in hand to enjoy a very special September morning.

Relaxing morning coffee. Photo: Jacque Comery

September 1: Marine debris collection haul

The latest haul from the monthly marine debris collection at Bauer Bay.

Hard plastic chips washed up on the west coast. Photo: Jacque Comery

Green string. Fishing waste, collected from Bauer Bay beach. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 31: The first skua of spring

This Great Skua Stercorarius skua lonnbergi was nestled in behind one of the 'beach balls' at Bauer Bay.  It is the first Skua that I have seen since they disappeared from the Island  over winter. Soon the elephant seals will be giving birth to their pups, and the Skuas will be here on mass to take advantage of a ready food source.

Great Skua shelters from the wind on the beach at Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 30: Dew drops on the cabbage

A pretty morning dew descended upon the Macquarie Island Cabbage Stilbocarpa polaris behind the Bauer Bay Hut. It is said recorded that early occupants of the island used to eat the cabbage to provide a source of vitamin C to ward off scurvy. It has very hairy leaves, but its stalks are not unlike  a hairy celery stick. It has not appeared on the menu this year!

Dew drop in cabbage. Photo: Jacque Comery

Dew drops on the cabbage hairs. Photo: Jacque Comery

Dew on cabbage. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 29: Feathers and Dew

Feather on the beach at Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

Sunlight and dew drops adorn a feather. Photo: Jacque Comery

Feather on the beach. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 28: Bone on the beach

An interesting bone find on the beach at Bauer Bay.

Tree of life inside a bone. Photo: Jacque Comery

Bone fragment. Photo: Jacque Comery

Bone structure. Photo: Jacque Comery

Bone. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 27: Logs on the West Coast

The logs laying on the beach on the west coast at Bauer Bay may not seem that significant, except for the fact that there are no trees on Macquarie Island. All of these logs have drifted from somewhere in the world to land  upon our shores. If only they could tell the tale of their travels....

Log in the creek at the south end of Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

Another tree at Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

A log on the beach of the west coast. Photo: Jacque Comery

A washed up tree over 100 metres from the waters edge. Photo: Jacque Comery

Log on the beach at Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

August 24: Dried kelp at Bauer Bay

I was picking up marine debris when my eye was drawn to this rock as I thought it was draped in plastic wrap. It was just dried kelp.

Kelp on rocks at Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

Kelp on the rocks. Photo: Jacque Comery

July 5: White snow and black skies

Leaving Bauer Bay hut early this morning, I found myself a lone figure moving through a beautiful monochrome landscape. The light changed by the minute, casting a new filter upon the landscape faster than I could appreciate the previous one. If light be a costume, Macquarie Island wears it well.

Snowy Bauer Bay morning. Photo: Jacque Comery

Beach ball. Photo: Jacque Comery

First view of the plateau weather. Photo: Jacque Comery

Frozen Island Lake. Photo: Jacque Comery



Sun breaking through. Photo: Jacque Comery

Stormy skies. Photo: Jacque Comery

Almost home. The last section of the Doctor's Track. Photo: Jacque Comery

This post of beautiful scenery is dedicated to my Aunty Fran.

July 4: Memorials and more marine debris

Today is the anniversary of the death of Charles Scoble on the posthumously named Scoble Lake. Mr Scoble broke through the ice on the lake whilst skiing in 1948.  I decided to go and pay my respects on behalf of the 68th ANARE, on this suitably icy and cold day.
Having left so much marine debris uncollected at Bauer Bay, I further decided to walk on to Bauer Bay again and spend my weekend completing the beach clean up solo.
I arrived at Scoble Lake in a snow storm, to find the Lake partially frozen. Had it looked like this in 1948 I doubt that the party would have attempted a crossing.
Onwards to Bauer Bay, and I embarked on the 'treasure' collecting immediately to make the most of the light. Another 215 lengths of green string, 60 plastic fragments and 12 bottles later, I prepared a dinner of miso soup, cheese and pickled vegies, had a read of my book, practiced some Spanish did my Sched with VJM and dried my gear.  All cosy in the hut, I was asleep by 1930hrs.

Charles Scoble memorial. Photo: Jacque Comery

Scoble plaque. Photo: Jacque Comery

First view of Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

About to drop down into Bauer Bay. Hut is centre of frame. Photo. :Jacque Comery

Footprints on the beach. Photo: Jacque Comery

Plastics from Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

Green string. Photo: Jacque Comery

Marine debris. Photo: Jacque Comery

Hooray for hut dinners. Photo: Jacque Comery



Drying off my gear. Photo: Jacque Comery



Tucked in for the night. Photo: Jacque Comery

July 1: Marine debris survey at Bauer Bay

This morning I headed out with Ranger-in-Charge, Andrea Turbett to Bauer Bay on the west coast to assist with the monthly Marine Debris Survey. The route to Bauer Bay takes us up onto the Plateau via the Doctors Track and then over onto the Island Lake Track (the ILT), a fast and easily navigable route, to drop down into Bauer Bay. The lakes were frozen, and the entire landscape was a picturesque blending of shades of grey. We danced over the icy track, and arrived at the hut around lunchtime. After dropping our packs at the hut and taking on board some hot blackcurrant juice,(known here as BCJ), we hit the beach, buckets in hand.
We were most excited to see what had washed ashore in the big seas. As well as loads of kelp our haul included  approximately 10 plastic bottles, 60 pieces of hard plastic, 40 bits of rope, and 165 pieces of  'green string'.
The green string has been washing ashore at Macquarie Island and a number of other sub-Antarctic islands, and is thought to be used in long line fishing for Patagonian Toothfish.
One exciting find was a fine piece of plastic which  carried text with a please return if found instruction. The return address  was NIWA in New Zealand.
We searched until dark only covering a small portion of the beach, such was the amount of debris.  We counted weighed and photographed our load. Pre-dinner conversation was dominated by brainstorming what NIWA was and who would possibly expect such a small piece of plastic to be found, let alone returned!
We are such a small speck in the remote southern ocean, and yet still plastic lands upon our shores everyday.
After cooking a dinner of pasta and butterscotch pudding, and completing our  nightly Sched with VJM (the Station), we settled in for the night, happy with our efforts.

Blue hard plastics collected at Bauer Bay. Photo: Jacque Comery

Frozen shore of Island Lake. Photo: Jacque Comery

Island Lake. Photo: Jacque Comery

Icicles at Island Lake. Photo: Jacque Comery

Jacque at Island Lake. Photo: Andrea Turbett



Green String! Photo: Jacque Comery

Collecting marine debris. Photo: Andrea Turbett

NIWA tag. Photo: Andrea Turbett

Hard Plastic haul. Photo: Jacque Comery

Green hard plastics. Photo: Jacque Comery

Caps and Lids. Photo: Jacque Comery