New Neighbors on the Peninsula

[Sciencetech]

On our way south we made a short stop to resupply the crew of the Sedna IV, which is wintering at the north end of Anvers Island — perhaps 50 miles from Palmer on the other side of the island. Nice folks on a science, educational, and filming mission. Mostly Canadian, I gather. Their website (http://sedna.tv/en/mission/objectives.php) is somewhat campy, with lots of gushy writing about “epic drama” and “tremendous quest for adventure”, but apparently the 4th-most hit website in Canada. I like the crew photo although I can’t help but think they look a lot like Team Zissou. 8)

We didn’t actually get to see the ship, it was hidden in a cove away from where the LMG anchored. But we could see the masts…

[Anonymous]

Wow, that is an awesome picture. 😀

[thepooles98]

I see the hf radio towers, but what are those 3 big telephone pole things on the left?

[Sciencetech]

Oops, sorry for the confusion. The three big poles on the left are the masts of the Sedna IV.
Between the 2nd and 3rd (main and mizzen?) masts you can see another radio mast, which is actually part of the station, not the ship.
The station is called Melcior, and most of us had no idea it was even there.
The LMG’s charts only said “hut” at that location. Quite surprising to see it there.

Here’s an enhanced zoom/crop of the same image….

[Sciencetech]

And you gotta love that rocky island in the backgound. I think I could spend a week there just exploring.

[skua77]

Glenn,
Thanks for sharing all that as well as the photos. I guess you didn’t get to go ashore 🙁 I just spent a bunch of time going through their diaries and although they were full of emotion–well, lets see, is that the noun based on “emoting”:) it was great fun, looks like some interesting neighbors.

I looked up the base (Melchior, an Argentine summer facility that has been used off and on since 1947 and moved at least once, it used to be on a nearby island). I don’t remember anything going on there back when I was going to Anvers Island and don’t recall hearing about it, but it looks like they’ve upgraded things a bit and are letting the Canadians live there for the winter. The summer crew left on the Argentine “Almirante Irizar” that showed up in mid March, bringing the rest of the winter crew and taking summer folks away.

Again, thanks, I’ll be watching how they do..

[Author]

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