The company we work for, Raytheon Polar Services, is very good about training us in outdoor safety. We have had to attend several trainings on how to cope with extreme cold and what to do if you become hypothermic (hypo= under and thermic=heat). They also teach you how to prevent frostbite.
Here are a few details I got online from MedlinePlus, "Frostbitten skin is hard, pale, cold, and has no feeling. When skin has thawed out, it becomes red and painful (early frostbite). With more severe frostbite, the skin may appear white and numb (tissue has started to freeze). Very severe frostbite may cause blisters, gangrene (blackened, dead tissue), and damage to deep structures such as tendons, muscles, nerves, and bone."
2) Can you pet the penguins at the penguin ranch?
You are not allowed to have much contact with the penguins at penguin ranch. These are wild penguins that are kept in a small corral that is fenced in so they cannot wander off. There are two holes cut into the sea ice so that they can leave to catch fish. The next opening in the ice is so far away that they have to return to the ice holes at penguin ranch. The scientists are studying penguin behavior and physiology.
Penguin ranch: you can see the corral in the background.
3) Are there polar bears there?
Believe it or not, we get asked this question alot. The answer is no! Polar bears are only found in the northern hemisphere. (Just FYI, penguins are only found in the southern hemisphere.)
4) Do you wear clothing made of animal skins? What do you hunt (or do you hunt) animals to eat? Do you catch fish?
There is an official Antarctic Treaty from 1959 that protects all animals on land, so no hunting is allowed. There is sea ice (13 ft. thick) surrounding our base so no fishing occurs either. All of our food is sent down on C-17 planes flown by the New Zealand Royal Airforce and the American Air Guard and most of the food is frozen or powdered. Some of our supplies come in a vessel that docks here once a year.
Regarding our clothing, the company we work for issues all of our cold weather gear. We were given a heavy down parka, long underwear, hats, gloves, and snow pants. Other than that, we are allowed to wear whatever we like to work. However, if you ever leave the vicinity of the base, you are required to carry with you all of your cold weather gear in a bag just in case the weather changes.
As for the Antarctic Treaty, seals, penguins, and various sea birds come on land here. We are not allowed to touch or harass (scare or harm) any animal in any way (not that we would want to). For instance, if you want to take pictures of seals or penguins and you get too close to them and make them run away or nervous, you are in violation of the treaty. The only thing that we come in very close contact with are large sea birds called skuas (5 foot wing spans). However, the skuas are very aggressive and attack you sometimes if you are carrying packages or food. They have been known to fly down and take the hat right off of your head or steal a letter out of your hand and fly away with it. Very comical, brave birds in some sense. You can walk right by them and they ignore you. You can hear people squealing with fright and trying to cover their heads when the birds fly down. We have only had a near hit once and we ducked down and screamed out!
This is a picture of a skua gull.
5) What kind of food do you eat? Do you have any fast food?
Most of our food is sent down on C-17 planes flown by the New Zealand Royal Airforce and our American Air National Guard. Some of our supplies are carried here by a vessel that docks here once a year after the icebreaker makes a path through the sea ice. A separate vessel for fuel also comes once a year. We get "freshies", fresh fruit and vegetables, every now and then. It can be up to a month without fresh food so we are fed canned and packaged boxed food and all of our milk is made from powdered milk. Believe it or not, the food our chefs make is pretty amazing. They make the best baked bread and pastries. As for fast food, there is a little place here where you can get a cheeseburger and fries a couple of nights a week.
This is a C-17. These planes can carry over 100,000 lbs of cargo. They bring most of our food, passengers and mail.
6) How do you get fresh water?
They make our fresh water through a desalination process here. They pull up water through an intake valve and send it through a reverse osmosis filter to keep out dirt, germs, and any live organisms.
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