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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0834.PDF
-«,* *• The helicopter (to right of isolated rock) lands to pick up sur- veyor*. The shadow of the photographic Canso can be seen in the foreground. (Left) Chin - strap penguins pay a visit to the Cansos. (Below) Steam caused by volcanic heating rises from the edge of the sea at low water. (Below, right) Bulldozing tide- drifted volcanic ash off the slipway to allow the Cansos to be launched. 840 FIDASE . . . FLIGHT and the success of the ground control operations is thus a tributeto Captain Jacques of Autair and his comrades. Apart from the local view, which in times of bad weather couldbe depressing, life on the ground at Deception Island was far from dull. Immediately after flying there were the operational tasks ofprocessing and printing the films, and maintaining and refuelling the aircraft. When the weather was unsuitable for flying, the daycommenced with breakfast at 8 o'clock. Thereafter everyone turned to and worked at all the numerous jobs, great and small, involvedin running the base. There were stores to shift, oil to be hauled for the diesels, volcanic ash or snow to be shovelled from the slip-way, marine craft to be serviced, oxygen cylinders to be transported to the aircraft, crockery to be washed, floors to be swept, and so on.Even the doctor and meteorologist used to help in these activities, the only specialists excused being the cook and his assistant who,heaven knows, had their work cut out keeping us fed. In the evenings there were hobbies such as painting, model-making and personal photography. People caught up on their reading, and chess, draughts, cards and dans were played. Out-door relaxations included ski-ing, hiking, archery and—believe it or not—golf, though the latter merely consisted of swiping theball across the ash. Incoming and outgoing mail was erratic, and depended upon themovement of such vessels as the Royal Research Ships Shackleton and John Biscoe and the Naval netkyer H.M.S. Protector whichcarried two helicopters and was on permanent station in those waters. One advantage of living is Antarctica is the absence of th£ viruscausing the common cold. The only way to catch this maddening complaint is to open a suitcase of your own clothes brought fromthe contaminated atmosphere of civilization. Simple food, plenty of work in the open, and the prevailing summer temperature ofaround the freezing point (which is stimulating without being drastic) resulted in everybody at Deception Island keeping veryfit; the doctor, tiring of sitting in his surgery with nothing to do, would leave it empty except for a tin of sticking plaster anid abottle of iodine on the table for people to help themselves. The island itself had many features of interest. For one thing,the permanent ice, hundreds of feet thick in places, had during formation become impregnated with black volcanic ash so that itlooked more like grey rock than ice. Then there was the sulphurous steam which rose from the sea edge at low water, showing thatthe volcano, though extinct, still breathed. Connected with this phenomenon was the subterranean heating of the beach areaswhich at low tide made the water at the edge of the sea too hot for the hand, and provided piping hot water (a trifle brackish, butusabk for washing purposes) for anyone energetic enough to dig a hole in the beach two or three feet deep. No description of Deception Island would be complete withoutmention of the penguins. There were several "rookeries" on the island, the largest of which being reputed to contain half-a-million.The most numerous were the "chin-strap" or ringed penguins, so called because of a narrow black line running beneath the chinfrom one side of the head to the other. There was also a consider- able number of Gentoo penguins, larger and more shy than thechin-straps, and distinguished by a white patch on the top of the head.'Both varieties visited the base in large numbers and pro-vided us with many hours of amusement. Their resemblance to human beings in their actions (and reactions) was funny in th'eextreme. Completely unafraid of man, and incurably inquisitive, they would appear singly or in small groups to inspect and discussany new project we had in hand. Satisfied, they would usually make a waddling return to the water, in which element they wouldsuddenly lose their ungainliness, streaking along jnst below the surface with the speed of a torpedo. By the end of February the daylight, which lasts for 22 hours
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