Copacabana Situation Reports 2023-2024
These reports highlight science activities and events from the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program's Copacabana Field Camp on King George Island, part of the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica
U.S. AMLR Program 2023-24 Copacabana Field Team:
- Dr. Jefferson Hinke, Head of Seabird Studies
- Dr. Christian Reiss, Program Lead of the Ecosystem Science Division’s Offshore Wind Program, Head of Krill and Oceanographic Research
Situation Report 1: Arrival. January 2–7, 2024
Camp Opening
The Copacabana (“Copa”) Field Camp is open for the 2023-24 field season. On January 1 at approximately 5:00 p.m., Jefferson Hinke and Christian Reiss embarked from Escudero Station on the Antarctic support vessel M/V Betanzos, along with other U.S. AMLR and Bespoke Construction personnel bound for Cape Shirreff. After delivering 14 passengers to Cape Shirreff at approximately 6:30 a.m. on January 2, the M/V Betanzos turned around and made for Admiralty Bay, King George Island. We arrived off Copa 10 hours later at roughly 1630 and promptly disembarked. All Copa personnel, luggage, cargo, and provisions were loaded into two Zodiacs and delivered to shore in front of the main hut by approximately 5:00 p.m. We thank Agencias Universales S.A. (AGUNSA), DAP airlines, and the captain and crew of M/V Betanzos for their efficient efforts to complete our journey. In particular, we are grateful for the kind hospitality of Escudero Research Station (Chile) and Artigas Research Station (Uruguay) for their support during our travels.
We found the Copa Field Camp in good condition with no new structural failures upon arrival. All electrical, heat, cooking, refrigeration, communications (VHF, Iridium), weather monitoring, and water management systems were returned to operational status without issue. On-site food stores were in good condition; however, four jars of pasta sauce and artichoke hearts had unsealed and leaked sometime during the preceding two winters and were promptly discarded. Mold and mildew loads throughout camp were typical and manageable.
In an abundance of caution, however, we decided to repurpose one of the oldest structures of campus. Originally a bunk and office room for two that was brought ashore by a floating Polish tank more than 40 years ago, the “Annex” is no longer a suitable living space. Continued expansion of wood rot in the flooring and extensive mold coverage on walls and other surfaces render the space unfit for sleeping accommodations. The space, after cleaning, does remain suitable for storage of large items, and will become our “new” warehouse for lumber and general supplies that are currently stored in various corners of camp. While this repurposing of space reduced the capacity of the camp to four personnel, it will continue to protect camp supplies and help reduce clutter in other work and living spaces.
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Science Activities
Seabirds
At opening, gentoo, chinstrap, and Adélie colonies in the vicinity of camp were all guarding chicks and just transitioning to the crèche stage.
Gentoo colonies have expanded greatly since our last visit in 2021-22. In particular, previously unoccupied areas in recently unglaciated moraines near to Ecology Glacier host several new nesting aggregations. The population of Adélie penguins appears to have continued its slow decline, with at least one nesting aggregation abandoned and several others with much-reduced extent. A census of chicks will occur in the coming weeks once a full crèche stage is reached to confirm current population status.
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We promptly deployed GPS, video, and dive loggers on six Adélie penguins to take advantage of our relatively early arrival in camp. One video logger has been retrieved and it successfully captured over 7 hours of at-sea foraging video and diving behavior. All other instruments are scheduled to be retrieved in the coming days.
We have checked local breeding territories of brown and South Polar skuas to verify breeding activity and continue long-term efforts to resight banded birds. Of thirty-five territories checked, 17 show signs of breeding activity. Among active nests of brown skuas, 66 percent have fully hatched with 12 chicks alive. Among the 4 active South Polar skua nests, the birds are incubating 5 eggs.
We have resighted one Adélie penguin that was banded as an adult in 2011-12 as part of a long-term demographic monitoring study; banding ceased in in 2012-13. The bird is therefore at least 14 years old, as Adélie penguins do not breed until at least 2 years old.
A king penguin was sighted wandering in the colonies. This species has become an annual visitor to the Copacabana colonies within the last decade.
We staged our canoe near Ecology Glacier. The canoe is used for crossing the shallow glacial lagoon to access adjacent penguin and skua colonies near the Polish research station, Arctowski.
Finally, we also resighted a branded southern elephant seal, (brand # A940; not part of U.S. AMLR studies) near the Baronowski Glacier.
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Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Monitoring
Our initial assessment of penguin colonies revealed no signs or symptoms of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and birds in all areas of the colony appear to be normal. We continue to monitor for any suspicious behaviors that may indicate active infection.
Unoccupied Aerial Systems
We flew three short test flights with our Autel Evo II hexacopter in preparation for chick census flights in the coming weeks. Equipment performed as expected.
Weather
Weather since arrival has been pleasantly dry with steady, but moderate wind from the northwest.
Camp Maintenance
In the opening week, we thoroughly cleaned camp and pantry spaces. The cleaning assault also included scrubbing a portion of the bunkhouse roof which serves part of our water collection system. A local pair of brown skuas has claimed the roof as their perch and fouled the surface. We are monitoring the roof for further bird activity before we install rain gutters for this section.
While atop the roof we also discovered a severely corroded aluminum housing for protecting the penetration point of solar panel electrical cables into the building. The lack of housing has exposed several wire connections and the conduit leading toward the power system. Fortunately, this has not obviously compromised the performance of the solar power system yet, and we have identified a remedy to enclose that penetration point.
We have replaced a wooden mount for our Iridium antenna with a stainless-steel baseplate and custom mast attached to the main hut.
Camp Life and Safety
Jefferson and Christian are comfortably encamped and enjoying the quiet life of camp. The consumption rate of tea, broccoli, and brownies has skyrocketed relative to typical rates back home.
Situation Report 2: January 8–14, 2024
Weekly Overview
We’ve had a successful second week at Copa focusing on science tasks and several important maintenance tasks around camp.
Science Activities
Seabirds
This week we focused efforts on telemetry studies, collections of Adélie penguin guano for collaborative research on penguin diets around Antarctica, and a census of Adélie penguin chicks.
We recovered the remaining 5 instrument packages deployed on Adélie penguins last week. One video logger failed to record video, but we recovered two full days of diving behavior from the depth recorders. All 4 GPS instruments were recovered, but one is unresponsive to software and the data remain on the tag for the time being.
Upon recovery all tags were recharged and deployed on gentoo penguins. At present, 2 video loggers and 4 GPS units are on mission and scheduled to be retrieved later in the coming week.
We completed collection of 100 fecal samples from Adélie penguins as part of a collaborative circumpolar collection effort. The aim of the study is to characterize penguin diets from around the continent using genetic analyses of fresh scats.
We started data collection efforts for estimating the number of Adélie penguin chicks here at Copa and also in the colonies in the adjacent colonies at Rakusa Point. This year, out of an abundance of caution due to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, we used our small Unoccupied Aerial System to collect aerial images of the colonies to count the largest nesting aggregations. We have completed counts of smaller aggregations at Rakusa Point and will finish hand counts of small aggregations here at Copa in the coming days. All colonies have been photographed with the drone for full estimation, to be completed at a later date.
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We also started efforts to collect krill length data from penguin diets. We only collect the spontaneous regurgitate often found on the shore, or the small amounts of spill that occur during chick feeding. So far, the amounts found have been small, but we will prioritize collections in the coming days to better assess krill length frequency distributions currently available to foraging penguins.
In other observations, we note that humpback whales are consistently presence in Admiralty Bay this year. We routinely sight flukes and spouts, often in the vicinity of large rafts of penguins. We also spotted a gray-headed albatross just beyond the shoreline of Copa. Albatross sighting within Admiralty Bay are exceedingly rare.
Unoccupied Aerial Systems
We successfully completed 1 test flight before conducting 8 mission flights totaling 55 minutes over Adélie penguin colonies for chick census studies. All flights were successful, but we encountered one battery failure during a mapping mission that required an abort and emergency landing. The faulty battery will be tested to better evaluate the unexpected rapid drain of power while in flight.
Weather
Weather during the week was highlighted by a storm bringing wet snow and high winds on Tuesday. Accumulation was negligible and all melted within the day.
Camp Maintenance
A treacherous, rotten, triangular section of deck that threatened to give way without notice on any of our frequent trespasses over it was repaired by the ever-industrious Christian. With dull carpenter’s saws, nails that weren’t quite long enough, scavenged spare lumber, and cannibalized existing decking, he replaced several rotten support pieces and decking. The repairs required only one piece of new lumber and we no longer worry about crashing through while we round the corner to our bunks.
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We also repaired an old generator that has not run in several years. With a tank of fresh gas, new spark plug, and a dash of dumb luck the generator turned over and ran roughly after only several 10s of pulls. Thereafter, it ran well and initial tests of electrical generation were successful. In keeping with U.S. AMLR tradition of naming our gentleman generators beginning with H, we decided this unnamed Antarctic hero would henceforth be known as Javier.
We also continue reorganization efforts to clear clutter from floors and corners to promote drying and general longevity of camp.
Camp Life and Safety
Life at Copa had one of its annual highlights on Wednesday morning. The sun was bright, the winds were calm; perfect conditions for coffee on the deck. We filled our cups and enjoyed the spectacle of waves and gentoo penguins across the lawn. We also visited our Polish neighbors at Arctowski Station on Saturday to coordinate several shared studies and logistics requests, including disposal of our trash. We also used the opportunity to shower and run a load of laundry to infuse camp with a fresh lemony smell.
Highlights from the kitchen include a pizza night and a spicy veggie stir fry. Broccoli supplies remain high.
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Situation Report 3: January 15–21, 2024
Weekly Overview
Another week has disappeared here at Copa. We’ve kept busy with krill measurements, telemetry instrument recovery, census work, and celebrating a birthday. Details below.
Science Activities
Seabirds
We continued collection of the spontaneous regurgitate of penguins to collect and measure krill. The pace of collection was slow and steady throughout the week. So far, we’ve estimated a mean length of 43 ± 6.5mm with juvenile krill (<35 mm total length) representing 17 percent of the total. Collections will continue throughout the coming week.
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We recovered all 6 instrument packages deployed on gentoo penguins for estimating trip duration and foraging locations. Several animals conducted overnight foraging trips. Unfortunately, all birds equipped with video loggers opted not to forage during the period of time the video loggers were on.
We conducted several flights with our small drone to collect photos for a census of penguin chicks. We finished flights for all Adélie penguin colonies at Copa and started flights to count all the gentoo chicks. This week we flew 8 missions, lasting 103 minutes and collected >1700 photos for creating the orthomosaics needed to count the chicks. The only remaining area to census is Copacabana Beach which will be conducted in the coming week, pending good weather.
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We completed nest checks of skuas in the Arctowski Station vicinity. We visited 87 known nesting locations and 62 were vacant. Of the 23 with birds attending the territory, and only 8 exhibited evidence of breeding activity this year, with a total of 5 eggs and 5 chicks present.
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The network of time lapse photos continued a run of success this year. We collected photos from the 17 time lapse cameras deployed around the colonies to monitor nesting success and breeding phenology in penguins and giant petrels. For the first time since cameras were deployed at Copa, all cameras survived the winter and recorded daily photographs for the entire breeding season. Cameras will be serviced and deployed for the 2024-25 breeding season in the coming week.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Monitoring
We continued efforts to identify and monitor the presence of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza among the seabirds. Unfortunately, we observed several individuals this week, all gentoo chicks, which exhibited signs of the virus (extreme lethargy, tremors, and unresponsiveness). Three chicks were later found dead.
Unoccupied Aerial Systems
As noted above, we used our Autel Evo II several times for missions lasting over 20 minutes. All equipment performed as expected. We have not yet evaluated the defective battery from last week.
Weather
Weather during the week was highlighted by another snow storm bringing and high winds on Friday. Accumulation was 1-2 inches in most places, creating an unbelievably soupy mess in the penguin colonies when it melted.
Camp Maintenance
Twenty-three new window storm shutters were stained for installation. If that sounds like a lot of window shutters, we agree.
We replaced a leaky propane regulator feeding the kitchen.
The corroded housing for the penetration of solar electrical lines into the lab/bunk building was sealed. We continue to debate whether our temporary fix will survive the winter, so have several contingencies prepped to mitigate potential leakage.
In camp cleaning efforts, we have continued to identify long-stored but seldom-used items, often entire totes, to be staged for removal from the island.
Camp Life and Safety
The week was highlighted by a celebration of life, as Christian passed into his late 50s. We enjoyed a gourmet meal of succotash, mashed taters, and baked chicken encrusted with sour cream and onion potato chips. Well, it would have been that, but Jefferson ate most of the potato chips before the crust was complete, so he had to supplement with sour cream and cheddar potato chips. Christian was nevertheless pleased and now owes his cardiologist a visit.
We also welcomed two Polish scientist, Robert Bialik, the Head of Antarctic Biology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and his assistant, Kasia Fudala, for dinner this week. Robert and Kasia have helped us maintain our camera network when we cannot be on station. It was a good opportunity to thank them and show Robert our camp, which he had never visited despite leading research in the area since the 2015-16 field season.
Situation Report 4: Departure. January 22–29, 2024
Weekly Overview
Copacabana Field Camp is closed for the 2023-24 season. On the morning of January 28, we received notification that the M/Y Hanse Explorer would shift operations by two days and pick us up by days’ end. We quickly transitioned from our plan to continue work with the penguins to cleaning, packing, and closing camp. The ship arrived on station at approximately 7:30 p.m. and after three quick Zodiac trips, personnel, luggage, and all cargo were safely aboard and preparing for transit to Cape Shirreff. We thank Arctowski Station for gracious hospitality and support during our stay at Copacabana, and for agreeing to accept our trash for incineration. We also thank the M/Y Hanse Explorer, EYOS, and all involved in ensuring vessel support for Copacabana this season. The preceding week was busy with science and camp projects and we detail that below.
Science Activities
Seabirds
Due to an earlier-than-planned pickup, we ended collection of the spontaneous regurgitate from penguins that we use to estimate the size distribution of the krill population. Based on our sample of 427 whole krill found in the regurgitate, we estimate the mean length of krill to be 42 ± 6.0 mm with juvenile krill (those <35 mm in total length) representing 16 percent of the total.
We finished our drone flights to collect images for counting gentoo penguin chicks over Copacabana Beach. The survey required two flights totaling 45 minutes. All photos will be stitched to create mosaics from which we can count all chicks.
We completed nest checks of skuas in the vicinity of Demay Point and Patelnia, both adjacent to Bransfield Strait, this week. On an epic 9-hour hike covering more than 15 miles, we visited 54 known territories to assess reproductive activity and resight banded birds. Birds were present on 31 territories, but only 7 remained active at the time of observation. In the active territories, 9 chicks and 1 egg remained.
On the hike, we also counted all chinstrap penguin chicks in the Demay, Uchatka, and Patelnia colonies. Chinstrap populations have been falling dramatically in the study site over the last several decades and this season seems to follow that pattern. The estimate, including those in the Copacabana colony, of 385 chicks is 12 percent lower than our last full count in 2019-20.
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The network of time lapse cameras was redeployed for the coming season. We replaced 4 cameras that exhibited signs of leakage or were otherwise ready for retirement.
Adélie penguin chicks began their fledging period this week, marking their departure from natal colonies for 2-4 full years before their first return. Our early departure from camp cut short efforts to monitor the full fledging period, but we collected weights from 64 individuals and estimated an average fledging weight of 3.2 ± 0.34 kg, which matches the long-term average of 3.2 kg.
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Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Monitoring
We continued efforts to identify and monitor the presence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza among the seabirds. We collected cloacal swabs from 6 gentoo and 4 Adélie penguins for virus detection. We will transfer those samples to colleagues at Escudero Research Station (Chile) for genetic analysis.
Unoccupied Aerial Systems
As noted above, we used our Autel Evo II for missions lasting over 20 minutes. All equipment performed as expected.
Weather
Weather during the week was highlighted by a full rainstorm and air temperatures up to 8oC on Friday, following immediately by a blizzard, leaving 5-6 inches of snow on Saturday. It was mostly melted by the time we left camp Sunday night.
Camp Maintenance
We installed 8 new winter storm shutters around the camp using a mount system composed of lag bolts and wing nuts to avoid annually drilling new holes in the window frames. We think they look sharp and are snap to mount and remove. In future seasons we’ll mount 16 more.
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Our initial attempt to seal the hole in the lab roof from the solar panel penetration was revealed as utterly ineffective by an all-day rain storm on Friday. A contingency plan was enacted and we are hopeful that the Copa-style fix that employed a variety adhesives, applied in the waning hours of our time in camp on Sunday, will survive the winter.
Future campers are reminded of a growing soft spot under the entry way of the main hut. We suspect that the original plywood flooring, which sits under a soft tile that was installed in the mid 2000s, is slowly rotting away.
We also re-tested the defective battery and confirmed that it should not be used for future flights. The battery, fully charged, supports flights only 5 minutes long relative the 30+ minutes that are expected in Antarctic conditions.
Camp Life and Safety
Maybe it was the back-to-back storms this week, the chaos of the rushed camp close, the lingering seasickness from the lumpy transfer to Cape Shirreff, or the utterly astounding new digs here at Cape Shirreff, but our last week in camp remains a blur. Food highlights included grilled steak with roasted carrots, and over-indulgence on potato chips. We also hosted two Polish scientists for lunch on Friday.
This closes our weekly situation reports for the Copacabana Field Camp. See you next year!
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