‘This Christmas I’ll be counting penguins in Antarctica’

How are you spending your Christmas? While many will curl up on the sofa in front of a roaring fire (or at least with the central heating on), spare a thought for the hundreds of people working in the Antarctic region, surrounded by penguins.

Thousands of miles from home, employees of the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are spending the festive season on board the RRS Sir David Attenborough, based at five research stations and in Harwich.

Some of them are sharing their Christmas plans – telling us how they’ll be spending the big day.

Darren Fox, 52, is a zoological field assistant at Signy Island Research Station, about 370 miles (600 km) from the Antarctic Peninsula on one of the remote South Orkney Islands.

Originally from Cornwall, he now “always lives on a yacht”, he says.

“On Christmas Day I will head to the Gourley Peninsula on the island’s southeast coast to do almost daily checks on Chinstripe and Adélie penguin colonies to monitor productivity,” he said.

“Then there will be some sledding or snowman building with some of the other station members before returning to base for the traditional Christmas meal this year, cooked by our station leader this year, and then maybe the traditional Christmas Fall asleep in front of one in the style of a happy festive film.”

The task of preparing the perfect Christmas dinner falls to Signy’s station leader Sarah Clarke.

The 42-year-old says she has “moved around … my whole life … but for the last six years I’ve been living in North Wales near Bedgelert”.

She added: “It’s a signature tradition to cook Christmas dinner for the station leader, so that’s what I’ll be doing – but at the moment we’re just a small team of five,” she says.

“We will have a nice brunch while reading email greetings from all the other Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations.

“Then the others will probably go out to do some penguin surveying and some sledging and I’ll hold down the fort, make sure everything’s OK at the station and sort out the turkey, nut roast and trimmings.

“After dinner we will spend the evening enjoying some games including some Christmas darts.”

Captain Will Whatley RRS is master of Sir David Attenborough, who is spending a season at sea.

The 35-year-old hails from Southampton.

“Christmas is in the middle of the operational season in Antarctica so it’s a busy time in terms of work,” he says.

“Usually it is possible for us to take the day off, although some people will still have to work to keep the ship safe and ticking.

“For most, Christmas provides a good break to reflect on the busy Antarctic season on board and the contrasts between life at home and time spent with our ‘work family’ in Antarctica.

“It’s always possible to video chat with family and friends back home with modern-day communications that are so different from years gone by.”

Dr. Nisha Mistry is the ship’s medical officer.

The 32-year-old, from Bradford, said: “It will be my first time at sea so I’m not sure how the day will go – but I’ll be doing my usual hospital checks in the morning.

“Then later I hope to do my favorite thing – which is going out to see icebergs.”

Aaron Harper is Sir David Attenborough’s head chef.

“This Christmas I’ll be working,” says the chef from Harwich, Essex.

“We’ll feed 56 people and we’re doing turkey with all the trimmings.

“A good way to cook Brussels sprouts is with cured bacon, lots of salt and cracked pepper,” she shared.

He will be assisted by Nick Greenwood, the ship’s senior steward.

The 53-year-old, from Grimsby, says: “On Christmas Day I’ll be working helping to prepare the Christmas dinner.

“When I finish work, I’ll have a festive tipple and then come back to my cabin to watch a Christmas movie.”

Rowan Whittle, 45, is a biologist who usually lives in Cambridge.

However, this year, she is one of a small team that has been dropped off by the BAS ship and will spend Christmas in a tent.

“We’re being deployed to King George Island a couple of days before Christmas,” she says.

“Our team of three, Surv Dutta, a geochemist, Andy Moles, a field guide and myself, will spend four weeks camping in search of fossils to understand how Antarctic seafloor ecosystems evolved.

“As our travel time is limited, we will need to work on Christmas Day if the weather permits.

“Hopefully we can finish Christmas day a little early to cook something good with our farm rations.”