We are back at Neumayer base to break away the ice for a docking place along the cliffs of the shelfice. The freightship Naja Arctica has been waiting for several weeks for the fast-ice to open in order to unload building materials for the new station. Polarstern is now helping a bit, which leaves us some time to show material on the Emperor Penguins that breed in the nearby Atka Bay.
Emperor Penguins lay their egg in midwinter. Standing on the sea-ice the male incubates the egg on its feet under a bellyfold. In spring both the parents start to commute between the sea and the colony to meet the increasing food demands of the hungry chick. By the time the chick becomes larger, it is summer and diminishing ice brings food sources in the ocean nearby. However, in a heavy ice year like we currently experience, parents must continue to commute over ice over considerable distances. The Atkay Bay birds currently have to travel 20 km's over ice to reach the colony and back. During our first visit to Neumayer we made distant aerial photographs of the 'creches' in which the chicks gather. The counting of the thousands of animals on the pictures is a painstaking job and not yet fully completed. Regular surveys of major birdcolonies provide a measure for the potential effects of climate change, which is a key issue in the research of the International Polar Year 2007-2008.
Message from the IMARES team on board Polarstern voyage ANT-24-2

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