Microbial biodiversity

Thanks to a Shackleton Scholarship Fund and the help of Falklands Conservation, we were able to spend a few days on the Falklands to do sampling of soils for microbiology analysis at sites where Falklands Conservation is currently carrying out habitat restoration pilot studies.

We spent two busy days in the Fritzroy area and Cape Pembroke. The first day, we not only got to visit various sites covered in rich Diddle-dee and grassland vegetation as well as see exposed peat and clay areas with the Habitat Restoration Officer, but also got to enjoy one of the rare hot summer days on the Falkland Islands. Our second day was apparently a lot more like a 'normal' day in February with thick clouds, rain and strong gusts of winds.                                                                              

                                                                     Tussock grass at Cape Pembroke, Falkland Islands.

                                                                              Diddle-Dee in Fitzroy, Falkland Islands.

                                                        Fieldwork with the Habitat Restoration Officer, Falklands Conservation.

                                                                               Collection of soil using a corer.

                                                                      Collection of soil for molecular analysis.

The diversity and abundance of sea birds in South Georgia is stunning! We were fortunate to be able to visit many areas on South Georgia including St Andrews bay, which has one of the largest king penguin colonies in the world... but also other birds can be found such as gentoo penguins, giant petrels and of course skuas. 

King penguins on St Andews bay.

Gentoo penguin.

Giant petrel.

Skuas.

Our last field trip was to Harpon Bay. Unfortunately, we managed to pick one of the most rainy days of our whole trip. Nevertheless, we still got some good samples, and even more enjoyed dinner and a warm cup of tea in the evening. The main glacier in Harpon Bay is the Lyell Glacier which is highly covered with debris. It is also a very active glacier with a lot of calving.

Lyell Glacier with meltwater stream and seal wallows

Lyell glacier with ice debris

But, now it is time to say good-bye to South Georgia. After 1-month of extensive sampling, we now have an interesting set of samples to take back to the UK for further analysis. The last two days, we spend cleaning, packing, and getting our samples ready for shipping.

We left South Georgia on the James Clark Ross (JCR), one of the British Antarctic Survey's research vessels. The JCR arrived on a windy morning and we were all transferred by jet boat onto it. The JCR left Cumberland Bay as soon as we were onboard, and we waved King Edward Point goody-bye.

Last views of Grytviken (thanks to Barbara for the images)

King Edward Point Research station

Before the JCR headed towards the Falklands Islands, there was another stop at Bird Island, a small island at the northern tip of South Georgia. A few people joined us from there, and some re-supplies were loaded off. It was a cloudy morning, but Bird Island still looked beautiful. A multitude of birds such as petrels and albatrosses could be seen.

After a few hours at Bird Island, we headed for the open sea. While we were on the JCR , we had a chance to visit the labs and find out more about the science happening on the research cruise. We were lucky the sea was pretty calm throughout our journey, and after 3 days we arrived in Stanley, Falksland Islands. From here, we jumped on a plane to get back to London.

Bird Island

Several albatrosses

On the JCR in open sea

JCR in Stanley Harbour, Falkland Islands