Davis station leader Brett Barlee talks about Winter Solstice celebrations in Antarctica
Next week, a team of courageous Australians in Antarctica will swim in freezing waters between -5 and -25 degrees celsius.
The astonishing event forms part of Winter Solstice celebrations at Davis Station, one of three research stations on the giant continent that forms part of the Australian Antarctic Program along with Macquarie Island south of New Zealand.
For the 28 Australians stationed at Davis for the winter months, the solstice, or the point at which the axis of the Earth reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun, is akin to “Christmas” in Antarctica.
Davis station leader Brett Barlee, speaking with NewsWire, said a team would take a chainsaw the day beforehand and cut out a two-metre block of ice to give them access to water.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW
“We’re given the opportunity to ‘take the plunge’ as it were,” he said with a laugh.
“Some of us will be doing that, others will be holding fluffy white towels.
An earlier Davis team prepares the Winter Solstice dip in Antarctica. The freezing swim forms part of important celebrations to mark the wid-winter point. Tiarnan Colgan / AAD Credit: News Corp Australia
Davis Station in Antarctica, one of three Australian research stations on the continent. Greg Stone Credit: News Corp Australia
“As station leader it’s my duty to hold the towel, so I’ll be doing that and cheering on what will probably be about 90 per cent of the community who have all done medicals and signed their lives away to be part of this minus two-degree plunge.”
It’s not so much a swim and more a “bobbing” up and down before dashing back to the warmth of shelter.
“I think bobbing up and down like an apple in a barrel is probably the extent of it,” Mr Barlee said.
“The ambient temperature before they take the plunge could be anywhere between -5 and -25C.
“So they are not in there for that long, and when they get out they are certainly not hanging around.”
The team will plunge into freezing waters. Derryn Harvie / AAD Credit: News Corp Australia
Before the swim, the team will dial into a remembrance ceremony at the AAP’s Kingston headquarters in Tasmania for a wreath-laying ceremony saluting those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Antarctica.
They will also call into the 35 other stations across the continent to wish the international missions well.
After the swim, there is a special brunch and then a dinner in the early evening with a special menu prepared by the station’s own chef.
“I have no doubt it will be spectacular,” Mr Barlee said.
A Unique Antarctic ‘Christmas’
The Winter Solstice offers the team a moment to reflect on their strange and remarkable circumstances, and the 77-year-old tradition they are carrying forward.
“It’s obviously mid-way through the winter period,” Mr Barlee explained.
“That’s significant for people starting to shift their attention towards home.
“There’s that physical aspect of it being mid-way, mid-winter.
There are 28 Australians manning Davis Station through the winter. Barry Becker / AAD Credit: News Corp Australia
“It’s also an opportunity for us to acknowledge what we’ve done, our past achievements but also the past achievements of those who have come before us.
“It’s about their achievements and their sacrifices. The sacrifices of their families.”
“It’s an opportunity to share what makes Antarctica such a special place.”
The Science Behind the Solstice
In the southern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the day with the least amount of sunlight.
“Depending on the time of the day of the exact moment of the solstice, and your time zone, the shortest day of the year is usually June 21 or June 22,” BOM Senior Meteorologist Angus told NewsWire.
“The difference between the longest day and the shortest day is larger the further south you get. In Hobart, for example, the shortest day will be about 9 hours long, while the longest day will be over 15 hours, while in Darwin the days vary between about 11.5 and 12.5 hours of sunlight throughout the year.”
The Australian Antarctic Division has four permanent research stations in Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic: Mawson, Davis, Casey and Macquarie Island. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia
“Perhaps surprisingly, the solstice is not the coldest time of year.
“The minimum temperatures (on average) typically occur four to six weeks after the winter solstice, often in late July.
“This is because the oceans around Australia have a high heat capacity (meaning it takes them a long time to gain or lose heat).
“The ocean still loses heat for several weeks after the solstice and the colder oceans around Australia have a bigger influence on temperature than the marginally increased sunlight the arrives in the weeks following the solstice.”
Enduring the Antarctic Winter
The conditions are more extreme in Antarctica.
There is zero sunlight during parts of the winter, and Mr Barlee said the team would not see the sun until July 2.
The winter crew, made up of carpenters and electricians to scientists and communications experts, serve at Davis for a full 12-13 month period.
They arrived on November 10, 2023, and depart for home around November 1.
Mr Barlee speaks of an “unforgettable” moment looking out from his office across the ice to see an exchange between an outgoing and incoming group of expeditioners with the icebreaker RSV Nuyina sitting 500m offshore.
The RSV Nuyina off the Vanderford Glacier in 2021. Pete Harmsen/AAD Credit: News Corp Australia
“Looking at that transition between the incoming group and outgoing group then imagining, this has occurred 77 times in our history in Antarctica,” he said.
“77 groups of people have greeted one another the same way, and what occurred to me then was the huge legacy that each group leaves for the group that are coming.
“You really do get a sense of standing on each others’ shoulders.”
The Nuyina is the main lifeline to the research stations and the central platform for Australia’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research.
A Deep Bond
The tough and isolated conditions form a deep bond between the crew, Mr Barlee said.
“When you are actually down here, so many thousands of kilometres from anywhere, you just realise how incredibly important it is to be able to rely on each other,” he said.
“And that process in itself creates a special bond.
“It’s very difficult to imagine where else that could occur, because it is such a unique environment, such a unique set of circumstances, such a unique dynamic.
Davis station leader Brett Barlee. AAD Credit: News Corp Australia
“I guess soldiers would feel similar, I would imagine.
“Where literally their lives depend on one another and it is not an option not to come together as a group.
“You must, and you do. And that is something, when you talk to past expeditioners, 50 years on they still have annual reunions and it is as if they have never been separated, so there is something quite special that happens down here.”
And propping up the whole operation is the “foundation” of friends and family.
“This is only possible with the support of friends and family,” Mr Barlee said.
“You are only as good, and you are only as strong as the foundation you stand on, and that foundation is friends and family.”