God Jul! Merry Christmas!

I am living in Longyearbyen, Svalbard in the High Arctic. Everyone knows Santa lives at the North Pole, but I have seen his workshop (maybe he has many across the Arctic?) as I walk up the valley to Nybyen.

Santa's workshop. In summer, known as Gruve 2, obviously Santa goes on holiday during the warm months.

Here, I shall definitly have a White Christmas! Already, I have taken part in Christmas Baking days, Christmas Crafts, Christmas Dinners, and this week there is a Christmas Lunch! UNIS has a decorated Canteen, with decorated Gingerbread (Peperkake) hearts, christmas tree covered in Norwegian flags and handmade decorations, and today we have some Christmas baking at morning tea.  I have tried alcoholic Glogg (warm red wine with raisins, spices and ginger and some secret ingredients!) and non alcoholic, with apple juice and spices.

Santa's mailbox. I have sent him a list of wishes, but wont say what they were in case they dont come true!!

But this is all so different to my previous christmases!! New Zealand Christmas (for me) used to consist of barbeques, summer holidays, beach time, swimming and sitting with a cold beer in the sunshine... We would have cold ham, potato salad, fresh salads and pavlova and trifle for dessert.

Here I am looking forward to reindeer, hot roast potatoes, liver pate and other winter-time foods. I am going to try Lutefisk, as it is a traditional food... But I have been forewarned that I may not love it. Instead of swimming, I shall go dog sledging, out into the dark, snowy valley. I have been told that if I want to swim, there is nothing stopping me (except my fear of sharks sneaking up on me in the dark, cold water, the dark itself, and the ice and snow).

I am excited, spending Christmas somewhere new and getting a white, snowy day will be wonderful! I wonder what happens at New Years....

God Jul! Merry Christmas! Miri Kirihimete!

Im pretty certain that this is Blitzen, Donna, Dasher and Prancer... Feeding up before the busy Christmas season.

Spark and Me - a late night adventure

This is a Spark. Also known as a Kicksled (according to Wikipedia). A very Norwegian item, I am told. I was lent one by a friend, to get home last night.

So, out I ventured onto the flat street. I had been advised that it worked best when it was a bit icey, so I headed towards the middle of the road (I normally avoid this, as ice causes me to walk like a new born giraffe on caffiene, before FOOSH-ing). (FOOSH: Falling On Outstretched Hands).

I was kicking away, one foot on the Spark, and having a wonderful time! You slide along gracefully, as if you were a professional ice skater, about to perform some fancy-pants trick. The wind was biting into my cheeks, my breath was frosting behind me as I swished past a couple out for their evening stroll.

I came to the top of the hill, excited about the idea of simply standing and holding on, while I zoomed past the idle snow scooters... I stepped on, and gently pushed off, then held on, narrowed my eyes against the cold, and headed off! Down the hill! Which suddenly got steeper!

I realised then, that I hadnt received any instructions on how to stop.....

So, with some kiwi ingenuity, I edged the Spark towards what looked like a soft snow drift. One of ski/skate bits hit the snow, speed dropped almost immediately, and I stumble-ran for a few steps, slid, (saw my life flash before my eyes) ran some more, before being able to come a halt, before the intersection with the main road.

Relieved! I did the quick check for people watching, but due to the lateness of the hour, I had saved myself without embarrassing observation!

This hasnt dimmed my excitement of the Arctic wind in my hair, the stinging snow nipping my cheeks, or the adrenalin rush of the downhill speed when riding the Spark. Cannot wait to try again, especially after being informed of the 'technically correct' way to halt the Spark - put your boot down so it slows you down!

A Winter's Day

Papaver dahlianum near Sysselmann's office in Longyearbyen

It is winter here.

There is snow over everything, and Christmas is on the way! It feels like I am in a christmas movie - gingerbread, mulled wine and sparkly snow drifts crunching under my boots as I walk to and from uni.

It is wonderful to see the contrast actually, the difference between summer I remember from previous years in the Arctic, to the winter I am experiencing now! The constant darkness has been disorienting, but thank goodness for watches and time keeping! Otherwise I do believe I would be constantly lost.

However! The poppies, the flowers, the vegetation that I am used to are all underneath a decent covering of snow now. I did come across these two, poking out above the snow:

Old poppy seed capsules in December

It never ceases to amaze me how these plants survive in suspended animation, almost, during the dark, cold winter under layers of snow or coated in ice.

Here is hoping I manage to make it through the next three months above the snow and ice, experiencing my first true snowy christmas eve and writing my thesis in the perpetual dark!

Cutting Some Shapes on the Dance Floor

Flower Shape

Flower shapes can be divided into a number of classes. Here is a quick look at the common shapes, and some of the Arctic species that fall into the shape catergories:


Bowl (aka Parabolic bowl)

This shape is good for solar power apparently! The sides of the bowl reflect a large proportion of light into the center, allowing for maximum power production. In flowers, the same concept applies, with the center of Svalbardvalmue (Papaver dahlianum) being the 'hot spot' of the flower (below).

Papaver dahlianum in Endalen

D. octopetala in Adventdalen, Svalbard

Saucer

This is like a flat bowl. Not so much reflection of the sides and into the center, but there can be some. Dryas octopetala is a good example of the saucer shape, the eight petals form a shallow dish, with the anthers and ovaries in the very center of the 'saucer'.

D. octopetala in Adventdalen, showing common saucer shape.

Fluffy balls of cotton wool!

Sphere

The spherical shape can be applied in a few different ways. Arctic cotton grass is a sphere, with the fluffy balls on top of the stems. However, many Asteraceae species can also be considered spherical, such as Erigeron humilis.

Erigeron humilis below Hjorthamna

I saw the sun!

Heliotropism is a plant behaviour. A plant will arrange itself in correlation with the sunlight. The most efficient Arctic plant that does this (in my opinion!) is the Arctic Poppy. The Arctic Poppy is a species complex; it is a complex network of closely related species. One of the members of this complex is Papaver dahlianum, the Svalbard Poppy.

The Svalbard poppy (Svalbardvalmue) is the iconic flower of Svalbard. It has white or yellow flowers, hairy, lobed leaves and grows in many different environments. See the link below for  short overview of my research into flower colour in P. dahlianum

Hot n' Cold (By Eva Therese Jenssen

White flowered Svalbardvalmue (Photo: Eva Therese Jenssen)

Below is a link to the "Blomsten og Bien" (Flowers and Bees) camera project that I helped with in 2010. Timelapse photos were taken throughout the flowering season and these weather proof cameras caught many exciting images. In particular, watch out during the Silene acaulis video for the reindeer hoof-print and the grazed Bistorta vivipara!

Blomsten og Bien (Flowers and Bees)

Saxifraga, you're so sexy...

Saxifraga species from Svalbard

The genus Saxifraga contains a wide variety of species. Many of these are found on Svalbard, 14 species counted from Rønning's 'Flora of Svalbard'.


Saxifraga oppositifolia is one of the species that I have come across most often. The species name "oppositifolia" is describing the leaves - small, stiff leaves that lie opposite one another. When you look down at a shoot, it will look like a square if the leaves are densely packed.  

It is one of the earliest flowering species (have seen it flowering in Endalen, with intense, purple-pink flowers at the end of May). In Norwegian, it is Rødsildre, or Purple Saxifrage. It is widespread throughout Svalbard. It has two growth forms, creeping and tufted. It has been suggested that these growth forms reflect different environments (creeping on ridges, tufted in less exposed places), but no obvious pattern has been identified.

Purple, tufted

White, tufted

S. oppositifolia also has two main flower colours, making it colour polymorphic. These colours are a dark pink to purple, or a very pale pink to white. I have observed large, iridescent flies (Calliphoridae) visiting S. oppositifolia flowers, but they did not seem to be choosing one colour over another.






In 2011, I took part in the International Polar Year Field School (held in Svalbard, see link: IPY Field School Information ). I guided a group of students in investigating heating and size in S. oppositifolia (it was supposed to be Papaver dahlianum, the Svalbard Poppy, however I was unaware that it does not grow on the calcareous soils found near Nordenskjoldbreen in Billefjorden). Although they found no significant effects of heating (Poster entitled "Sexyfraga" - Does size matter to heat things up?"), it was an interesting weekend looking at many different S. oppositifolia plants.

Sound in the South

I found this article via Facebook recently. I think it is an excellent way in which to inspire some feeling about what the Antarctic is like. The sounds in an environment can help portray what it is like, in a way that photographs cannot!

The sounds of the Antarctic

(NB: Cheryl Leonard had the appropriate permits for her collections)

Small sastrugi in the Antarctic (wind blown ice formations) during the PCAS trip (Photo: L.Little)

I especially liked the sounds of the ice crystals, and how they tinkle and crash down into the crevasse!

Her thoughts on 'silence' are also very interesting. How often do we get complete silence and total quiet in the world today?


Below is a short movie from the Longyearbreen Ice Cave (Svalbard) in 2011 (with Paul as the musician!!) showing some of the percussive sounds of ice:

In contrast, the movie below is the sound of ice hitting itself in the waters of Isdammen (Svalbard) in 2011:

There are so many sounds! Least of all being the wind....

Recreating Antarctic Spaces

Before heading south to the Antarctic in 2008, I was instructed in keeping a journal by a very knowledgeable and wise young woman:

"Describe what you can't see in a photo. The taste, smell, internal emotion. Record conversations, thoughts and feelings, looking back, it will help re-create the space you were in at the time".

These are words that I have always remembered. The woman who told me these very words is now writing her own book, an impressive feat! And I have kept journals on each of my journeys; Germany when I was 16, Sub Antarctic in 2008, the Antarctic, Arctic..... (I now have eight). Some are more detailed than others. Some are full of doodling art, meandering as I meandered through a plane flight. Others are full of self analysis! But I often go back and read through them, trying to find good words to describe a place or time, and relive my personal experience of that place.


Interested person - "Wow, you have been to the Antarctic?? I have always wondered - whats it like down there?"
Me - "Well, its hard to describe, but....
Here is a clip from Wednesday 18th December 2008, 745 am:
"Antarctica is HUGE. Had the most awesome view whilst on the toilet last night, the sun was waaay over in the west and it was reflecting on this mountainside in such a way I HAD to take a photo while still on the toilet".

The Toilet from which the photo was taken.

I am ALWAYS stumped by this: What words should I use to describe the places I have seen? I am yet to find a word that accurately conveys the right emotion, senses and description of the Antarctic. Each word I try undersells what I want to say, yet grander words are also unsatisfactory!





Interested person - "Was it cold?"

I bonded with my art.

Me - "Its cold in Antarctica, a dry, seeping cold that freezes your snot so your nasal passages bleed and your knees go stiff"

This excerpt, taken from my Antarctic Journal, 16th December 2008, (sometime around 10pm) suprised me. Reading it whilst sitting in the sun outside my flat in Christchurch (after the trip to the Ice), made it seem so unreal I could hardly remember writing it!

On one of our 'final' nights at Scott Base, we gave a short presentation (apparently tradition for PCAS students and Base staff), where we thanked everyone, then I got to claim my southernmost belly dancing performance, with a makeshift costume (christmas tinsel) and Mambo Number Five soundtrack... Good times, and such epic memories!

Camp PCAS at 11 pm on our first night in the field.

All At Sea

Throughout my travels, I have met some wonderful people from a wide variety of backgrounds! The above link takes you to a short movie, made by Pascale Otis. This was filmed during the summer season of 2010, soon after our arrival in Perserverance Harbour of Campbell Island.

The Sub Antarctic Islands are very isolated! These storm-swept isles were home to many shipwreck survivors through recent history, where they would have to subsist on megaherbs (Stilbocarpa polaris reportedly tastes similar to celery!) and albatross.
I have travelled across the Southern Ocean in between Campbell Island and New Zealand in three different ships:

• Heritage Expeditions on the Spirit of Enderby (72 m, ice strengthened, can travel up to 12 knots)
• The Tiama (15.15 m, retractable keel and rudder, built by Henk Haazen)
• The HMNZS Otago (New Zealand Royal Navy, 85 m, top speed of 22 knots)

View from the Tiama on the second day at sea....

First view of Campbell Island! It appears, a dark shape, hazy in the distance

Each of these boats have their pros and cons. I did enjoy the three days spent bobbing up, and down... up... and down... with the Tiama and her crew. It seemed a fitting way to arrive into the harbour, relieved that the sea was no longer heaving beneath us, watching for albatross in the sky and sealions in the water. Well worth the trip.

Such calm sea after three days fighting to keep lunch down! Incredibly relieving, and worth the 'perserverance'. You can just make out the old Met Service buildings, to the left of Beeman Hill.

52 Degrees South

Looking out towards Northwest Bay, from Col Lyall saddle, Campbell Island. Silvery Pleurophyllum hookeri leaves can be seen lying in rosettes, with the odd Bulbinella rossii with yellow brush-shaped flowers.

Campbell Island is one of the southernmost subantarctic islands of New Zealand. Its climate is constantly cool, often cloudy, and during two weeks in November/December, almost every type of weather was encountered! Horizontal rain, vertical rain, low fog and cloud, high winds and fog, snow and even some sunshine and blue skies.

In 2008, I was a lucky recipient of an Enderby Trust Scholarship - with Heritage Expeditions, I got to spend 8 days onboard the Spirit of Enderby, visiting the "Forgotten Islands of the South Pacific" (the title of our cruise). We visited Campbell Island, Auckland and Enderby Island, and did a boating trip around the Snares Islands.

Campbell Island was the most impressive in my opinion.

Megaherb field in 'Belinda's Garden', on Col Lyall, Campbell Island

 Not simply for being the southernmost, or home to the Southern Royal Albatross (and others!), or because sealions (Phocarctos hookeri) wait hidden in the tussocks far from the coast.
It was because this island, which seems so windswept, isolated and wild, was farmed for many years in the 20th Century. Sheep were the main livestock, and they ran rampant over the island - however since their removal in the late 80's, the megaherb flora, tussock grasses and small forbs have made an impressive comeback!

The last of the sheep were taken to Invercargill for research into back wool (can read more about them here: http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/campbell.html).

Campbell Island is also the worlds largest island to have had rats completely eradicated! Once again, helping the unique flora regenerate simultaneously with insect fauna and birdlife.

As a botanist, once and always the best part of this island are the plants. Megaherbs are large, herbaceous, flowering plants which when compared to mainland relatives are simply HUGE! Imagine your lawn daisy, but its so huge it reaches your kneecaps. That is the awesome scale of our megaherbs.

From Left to Right: Anisotome latifolia, Pleurophyllum speciosum, Stilbocarpa polaris and Bulbinella rossii.

So it begins...

So it begins, this record and journal of botanical exploration in the polar regions of our world. Plants are often overlooked in the grand scheme, but these biological wonders help shape our world as we know it. And plants that are specifically adapted to live, grow and reproduce in the polar regions are stunning - often easily coping with conditions that, as humans, we would find impossible to endure.

Welcome to Plants and Ice: A story of Botanical Exploration