Island Update: Spring

Contributions from Dr Bree Woods

For many Macquarie Island winter expeditioners, mid-winter celebrations mark the shortest day and also several months since resupply. This year with the late resupply and shipping, midwinters arrived with great gusto, effectively marking the start of the 78th ANARE on Macca. As the team settled into life on the island, the Green Sponge cycled through short days and cold snow blasts. But the island is now stirring. Early September marks a transition period, with the first hints of spring arriving—even as the island was blanketed in heavy snow in recent weeks.

The island has witnessed the return of large male southern elephant seals, coming ashore to breed. Soon the quieter shoreline will transform as the males defend their harems and the beach fills with females ready to pup. Skuas have also returned, with numbers steadily increasing around king penguin colonies and the station. King penguin chicks are steadily getting fatter in their creches and grey petrel chicks are maturing in their cosy burrows.

On the island’s mossy slopes, the winter to spring transition was also marked by the first flower of the season of Pleurophyllum hookeri, one of Macquarie Island’s signature megaherbs. Its striking leaves and purple blooms stand out against the greys and greens of the island.

The recent snow has added to the drama of this seasonal shift. The island’s familiar features—rocky headlands, king penguin colonies, and windswept plateaus—were transformed into a monochrome landscape.

As the weeks roll on, the pace of life on Macquarie Island will increase. The island will witness the return of many species, such as the royal penguins and the black-browed and grey-headed albatross and the island will hum with activity. But for now, these first arrivals mark the beginning of another busy season on this wild and remarkable subantarctic outpost.