WEBVTT - What's It Like to Live and Work in Antarctica?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio Pay

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogal bamb Here. We tend to think

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<v Speaker 1>of Antarctica as being a giant, frozen, empty waste land.

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<v Speaker 1>If that's the impression you personally have of the continent

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<v Speaker 1>at the south end of our planet, well done. It

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<v Speaker 1>is indeed just as huge, frozen and full of a

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<v Speaker 1>whole lot of nothing as you think it is. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's said. As with all deserts, people do live and

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<v Speaker 1>work there. In the case of the southernmost continent. The

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<v Speaker 1>humans they're mostly comprise polar researchers trying to figure out

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<v Speaker 1>what Antarctica's deal is, and the drivers, mechanics, cooks, pilots,

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<v Speaker 1>and electricians who support them and keep the research stations running.

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<v Speaker 1>So what's it like living and working on the most

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<v Speaker 1>remote place on the planet. There are a few different

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<v Speaker 1>ways to live and work in Antarctica. The continent is

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<v Speaker 1>home to seventy five individual research stations, and they're run

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<v Speaker 1>by thirty countries. Of these science spaces, forty five are

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<v Speaker 1>actively operating year round, although most are accessible for only

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<v Speaker 1>a three month window every year due to weather conditions.

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers first have their stuff shipped to a base like

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S. McMurdo Station on Ross Island, which they

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<v Speaker 1>use as a staging area for their field expedition. McMurdo

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<v Speaker 1>Station was officially established in nineteen fifty two and can

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<v Speaker 1>support more than one thousand, two hundred residents at a time.

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<v Speaker 1>Once team members are ready for the field, they're taken

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<v Speaker 1>with all of their stuff in a plane and dropped off.

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<v Speaker 1>Some researchers work on ships, but not all ships are

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<v Speaker 1>research vessels. During the austral summer, cruise ships regularly depart

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<v Speaker 1>from Argentina and travel to the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula,

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<v Speaker 1>which is considered the Banana Belt of Antarctica. It's much

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<v Speaker 1>warmer than the rest of the continent and is where

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<v Speaker 1>virtually all the wildlife hangs out. However, for such a

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<v Speaker 1>largely lonely place, you're early alone there. Pretty much everybody

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<v Speaker 1>on Antarctica lives in cramped quarters, either in tents or

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<v Speaker 1>in dormitories or on ships. We spoke via email with

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Narita Wilson, an invertebrate marine molecular biologist at the

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<v Speaker 1>Western Australian Museum. She said it's tough not getting any

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<v Speaker 1>loane time for many weeks at a time. I've always

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<v Speaker 1>been based on ships, where the work hours are long

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<v Speaker 1>and the sleeping quarters are close, often four in a

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<v Speaker 1>very small bunk room. Being alone requires a having the

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<v Speaker 1>time and be having a place to go. Because of safety,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't always roam the decks of the ship alone,

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<v Speaker 1>so mostly you are in company. The research stations themselves

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<v Speaker 1>are kind of like small towns, but only kind of.

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<v Speaker 1>Very few people over winter there, and the continent has

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<v Speaker 1>no indigenous population, so nobody was born there. There are

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<v Speaker 1>no children around, and nobody has much of a history there.

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<v Speaker 1>We also spoke with Dr Jenny Baseman, a polar researcher

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<v Speaker 1>and the executive director of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, and an Arctic research station is like a

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<v Speaker 1>remote mining town, but because it's nobody's permanent home, it's

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<v Speaker 1>everybody's home. Everybody's very friendly and helpful. Everyone feels excited

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<v Speaker 1>and fortunate to be there. Because there's twenty four hour

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<v Speaker 1>daylight during the austral summer. The temporary residents work a lot,

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<v Speaker 1>but in their free time they hang out at the

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<v Speaker 1>bar or the coffee shop and go to a movie

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<v Speaker 1>or play trivia. Sadly, the bowling Alley that the U. S.

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<v Speaker 1>Navy built at McMurdo in the nineteen sixties closed in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand nine. However, there are absolutely challenges to living

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<v Speaker 1>and working normally. For example, the weather can and I quote,

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<v Speaker 1>turn to milk in five minutes. One Dr David dal Mayer,

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<v Speaker 1>Professor emeritus in the University of George's Geology department, spent

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<v Speaker 1>twenty years as a naturalist on small Antark Dick cruise ships.

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<v Speaker 1>He also spent a few field seasons out on the

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<v Speaker 1>ice studying the geology of the area. He remembered my

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<v Speaker 1>first day in the field, we got dropped off six

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<v Speaker 1>hundred miles inland from mcmurdough. We watched the plane turn

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<v Speaker 1>into a little speck in the distance, and we started

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<v Speaker 1>to our field site. Pretty soon the wind came up,

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<v Speaker 1>a thick fog developed, and all of a sudden I

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<v Speaker 1>realized we were walking over our own tracks. We were

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<v Speaker 1>walking in circles. We shut it down, put up the

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<v Speaker 1>emergency tents, and we sat there for two and a

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<v Speaker 1>half days. I'd say the wind was easily fifty knots

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<v Speaker 1>and making it even more difficult out on the ice.

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<v Speaker 1>It's tough to judge distances. Del Mayer said, you look

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<v Speaker 1>at something and you think, oh, that's maybe four miles away.

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<v Speaker 1>Eight hours later, you're only halfway there. There's no reference

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<v Speaker 1>for distance out there. All of this is part of

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<v Speaker 1>why scientists who arrive in an Arctica must undergo survival training.

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<v Speaker 1>Survival schools teach them skills like how to build shelter

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<v Speaker 1>out of ice and snow. Perhaps most strangely, though, there

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<v Speaker 1>are no smells there. With the exception of the other humans,

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<v Speaker 1>you're almost constantly around almost nothing on Antarctica smells throughout

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<v Speaker 1>most of the continent. There are no plants or animals

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<v Speaker 1>to stink up the place. Baseman said, when you're coming

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<v Speaker 1>back on the plane from McMurdo to New Zealand, about

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<v Speaker 1>three quarters of the way back, you can start smelling plants.

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<v Speaker 1>Your sense of smell is so desensitized that the smell

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<v Speaker 1>of pollen in the air just washes over you. It's incredible.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Jescelyn Shields and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Lang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>cool topics, visit how Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radio for more podcasts my

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