Masaryk University's 20th anniversary Antarctic expedition is slowly coming to an end. At the end of February and beginning of March, researchers ended their stay on Nelson Island, home to the CZ*ECO-Nelson polar station, and moved to neighboring King George Island, where they waited for suitable weather conditions for departure. They then traveled to mainland South America and from there to the Czech Republic. Here, the processing and analysis of the collected samples will continue...
The CZ*ECO-Nelson polar station was operated for thirty years as the only private station in the whole of Antarctica. Since 2018, it has been leased by Masaryk University. The main building houses the facilities, but the scientists are accommodated in tents.
February temperatures hover around 0 °C at the end of the Antarctic summer, and in addition to the cold, participants must also get used to wind, humidity, drizzle, and occasionally even polar storms. But even then, they still have to go out and fetch water...
…but when the weather is nice, you can also have a picnic!
Researchers in Antarctica spend much of their time collecting samples — microorganisms, plastics, mosses, wood — or managing and reading data from weather stations. Expeditions to these stations require caution when moving across the glacier.
Although it may not seem so at first glance, the harsh polar landscape is quite diverse, and the rugged coastline offers breathtaking views...
...as well as the fauna, consisting mainly of colonies of penguins and seals.
The Polish sailing ship Selma and Polish scientists have been collaborating with their Czech counterparts on Antarctic research for many years. In 2015, its crew set a world maritime record when they sailed to Whale Bay, a destination normally only reached by icebreakers. No yacht had ever gone that far before.
