tiabunna's photos

Immature Elephant Seals, Macquarie Island, resting ... as they do. I suspect they had been to the same party as the earlier one :) It's a tough life being an 'Ellie'.

Without doubt, these really deserve their title. Very majestic birds indeed and, as can be seen, regally dressed.

King penguins near the station, Macquarie Island.

A year-old Elephant Seal, which has returned to shore for its annual moulting, resting against the fence surrounding the meteorological enclosure. I suspect it had been celebrating HFF the previous night. :)

This is on Macquarie Island, in the Southern Ocean, and the heavy duty fence surrounds the area housing the meteorological instruments. When the landscape is filled with rather dim witted Elephant Seals weighing up to 3 tonnes, everything needs protection! It also is necessary to protect buildings from a brutal climate of near constant strong wind, rain, and heavy salt spray. That is why, since my term there, the buildings have been re-clad in dull grey but weather-resistant treated pine to reduce maintenance. The fence is made from the same timber. Happy Fence Friday!

This seal pup would have been two to three months old - they grow incredibly quickly. Strictly speaking it should be called a Southern Elephant Seal - but often they are referred to simply as "Ellies". That mucus on the nose is common and of no apparent significance. From the Australian Antarctic Division website: "Pups weigh about 40 kg at birth and are weaned after 24 days by which time they weigh on average 120 kg. A large weaner may weigh in excess of 220 kg."

The beach on the east coast of the island, between the living area and working areas of the station, with resting elephant seals and wandering penguins.

Excuse me while I use this balloon launch to also launch into reminiscence. The Met. Office staff treated me as a VIP visitor and gave me a great personal tour of the office, new equipment and the station itself (visiting areas that tourists don't normally reach). This balloon launch shows how technology has moved ahead in the 37 years since my term on the island. The inset note shows how it was done in the "old days", with a giant radar reflector. No need for that now, the radiosonde contains a GPS which sends back the height and position. Intstead of two people frantically calculating results for temperatures and wind, that is now done with a computer. So the sequence becomes launch, then return indoors for a coffee. The other change I really noted was the far greater emphasis on safety - we didn't think about protective gear!

Wollemi pine Wollemia nobilis is not really a pine, though it is coniferous. It had been long known from fossils up to 200M years old. Amazingly though, living examples were not discovered until 1994: and then only 150km from Sydney! It now is cultivated in nurseries and sold in pots.