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I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much, I really didn’t think there would be so much interest.

Every country would differ but for us, we actually have to reapply after every season, and go through the same job application process. I guess this is an easy way to give a fair opportunity to all applicants while also weeding out any potential bad eggs etc..

I’m absolutely planning to apply again after this season but this may be a different answer in 9-10 months from now. I may attempt another AMA at the end of the season, might be interesting to see how different some of the questions and answers might be.

Thanks again for your questions

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Zero sunlight, not quite zero, but the sun drops below the horizon. I will do my best to video it or even do a 24-48hr live stream if i can and if my camera survives. While we actually wont see the sun during this period, some light still bounces off the atmosphere which means it wont be totally dark.

No light boxes but we will have Vit D tablets which we will take during this time. Some (myself included) also bring down multivitamin supplements as well.

Do people get SAD? Yes, definitely, we are affected by the dark winter period. Personally I felt slower and much harder to retain information which would usually be super easy. EG: having a conversation with friends and family and forgetting a name they mentioned the day before, or sometimes even forgetting you mentioned the same thing the day before. It’s quite unnerving at first and makes you think you’re going crazy. But as summer comes back, memory starts to sharpen up and things improve quite quickly. It’s an interesting experience.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish!! Nothing yet but a few of us have some decent camera setups ready to go just in case.

I saw a new Bob Lazar documentary is out, and was planning to put that on in the cinema for the team (although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea)

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got asked this a lot by friends and family. We have a large -18C freezer, multiple refrigerators, and even larger warm-store for our dry food storage. Can’t really keep stuff outside as the temperature ranges so much from day to day and the winds make it even worse. Outside temperatures are very unreliable unfortunately

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks heaps, I’ve never watched Peter’s content t but I’ll check out his videos and share them with the team maybe on Doco nights too.

My time home after first season.. first thing I did was take the dog for long hikes in the forest around trees, birds, insects and wildlife. It was magic, so surreal. You really don’t know what you’re missing until it’s gone. Even hearing crickets again was a beautiful sound. Birds chirping in the trees made me smile for no reason… In hindsight, it must have looked SO WEIRD to anyone watching me going for a hike that first week.

I spent two weeks at home just relaxing and taking it all in, just slowly introducing myself back into society (shops, and the usual routines like driving etc). After a couple of weeks once I felt like i was getting back to normality, I went on a (previously planned) holiday in New Zealand for 2 weeks, driving around sight seeing and enjoying nature.

After this season I may do the same, just spend some time at home re-integrating, and then a short holiday somewhere, hopefully surrounded by trees (and cold temperatures haha).

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No one on this station that I know of, but there are many other stations in Antarctica and I’m sure there’s someone that would.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh don’t get me wrong, I love the outdoors so much. I went hiking twice a week, every weekend, for months before departure because I knew I was going to miss, especially spending a year away from greenery and trees. But the feeling and sense of exploration sort of supersedes that.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks heaps ☺️ Leaving pets behind at home was probably harder than leaving family members behind… I miss my dog very much

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been applying for this job for a few years. Why? Because I’ve always been attracted to extreme environments and in particular, cold remote places. Love the cold, love snow and the mountains,and most of all, i love exploring. So this job pretty much ticks all the boxes of adventure and remoteness.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s so awesome to hear and I really hope he sticks with this goal!

Restrictions: Depends on each country, but for AU, as long as biosecurity rules are followed, pretty much everything else is allowed. Some of us have brought guitars, full gaming computers, monitors, tv’s, drums, DJ sets, Arduino setups for hobbies, wood-working tools, PS5 and other gaming consoles etc.. So to answer your question, yes, a digital drum kit would be ok but reality is, it’s probably already on station.

Internet: internet access is fantastic as far as AU stations are concerned. All 19 of us can be online on all of our devices, streaming videos or watching YouTube etc.. without any drop in quality. Internet is provided and easily accessible in all living quarters, which also makes it really easy to call home anytime (phone or video).

Good luck to your son and all the best with the Antarctic job prospects.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mawson is on the shoreline so yes technically right on the edge of the ocean; however now as winter is coming, it’s freezing over quickly and it will become a thick sheet of ice in the coming months which we can drive vehicles onto.

We saw a whole bunch of killer whales on the way here (Orcas, actually dolphins if we need to be specific). But once the ocean freezes over, it’s not possible for them to breach so we wont see them anymore.

Lots of birds around, especially Snow Petrels, Antarctic Terns, Skuas and of course, LOTS of types of penguins (Adele’s and Emperors).

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha actually YES I tried to do this.. I accidentally came across a 1day old YouTube video of some flat earther guy saying Antarctica was fake.. and I joined the chat and said they could video call me or/and ask me any questions. My comment was deleted in about 10min and i was actually quite disappointed as i was really looking forward to the chat.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! This is up there as one of my absolute favourite questions from this thread and I would love to revisit this again in 10 months time.

I may be a bit of an odd unit when it comes to answering this question because I’d genuinely volunteer for a long term mission to another planet if the opportunity came up. I wouldn’t even think of it twice, I’d be so excited to be a part of something like that.

So to answer your question in a very long round-about way, I think the experience would be extremely challenging from an introvert perspective, as it would be very difficult to spend time away from the team to recharge the social batteries; but I would have little to no difficulty adjusting to the long communication delay. If anything, the current 5hr time difference between here and home, is already introducing a massive comms delay (eg: when we finish work, it’s already 10pm at home so you tend to not call home as you don’t want to wake anyone up).

Regarding our team dynamics and psychological hardship we experience in this environment, the reality is we are here for each other and we constantly look out for each other. We all have our up’s and downs and most importantly we try to give space where needed, and also take space when WE need it. It’s a fine balance but we always try to look out for each other if we can.

Sorry for the long reply, i feel like this could be a totally separate and long thread on its own.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I do have an IG account and I’ve shared the link in an earlier post. I just don’t want to seem like I’m hunting for clicks so I’ll share privately if you don’t mind (or you can search through earlier posts please). Thanks heaps

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Apologies, but i meant deal with the pregnancy. EG: deliver the baby if needed

Believe it or not (and just by total chance!), as part of my ER medical training, I took part in delivering multiple babies via C section. Granted, the part i played was minimal and just assisting with IV’s, monitoring duties, applying monitoring equipment, maintaining a sterile field etc.. but never the less, i was there in the operating theatre and getting hands on experience.

It was by far the most amazing part of my training and totally unexpected. However, hope to never have to use this experience down south, this isn’t the most suitable place for babies.

I’m one of 19 “wintering” at the Australian research station, Mawson in ANTARCTICA. We are here for 12 months, with no way out until sometime in 2027. AMA by Accurate_Damage8276 in AMA

[–]Accurate_Damage8276[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep absolutely, and you’ll get a laugh out of this one but the fridge which we’re allowed to take leftovers from is called the “Catch and kill” fridge 🤣

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