Scientists prep for fieldwork on Australia’s most remote island

On a remote island in the middle of the Southern Ocean, expeditioners must brave 25 to 180 km/h winds, frigid temperatures and elephant seals beneath an almost 3,000 m high active volcano, in a 1-in-20 year opportunity to collect…data. 

It all sounds like an episode of Australian Survivor, right? While the SAEF team does boast Kaelan Lockhart, runner-up on the most recent season of the show, we also have eleven other brave, clever and prepared scientists about to join the Australian Antarctic Program’s expedition to Heard Island and the McDonald Islands.

Survival is one thing. But opportunities to complete fieldwork on these islands don’t come around often. So, expeditioners must be trained, practised and ready so that no data or opportunity is left behind.

This is part of SAEF’s commitment to delivering information to help understand and manage this extraordinary Australian environment and secure the scientific workforce of the future as part of the Australian Antarctic Program. So, what’s involved in preparing for an expedition like this? 

Boat-testing ROVs

Two scientists, Vincent Free and Kaelan Lockhart, are planning to use ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) from IRBs (inflatable rescue boats) to search for aliens (invasive species) around Heard Island’s Atlas Cove. 

Their two chosen ROV models—the Ice-o-pod v1 and the FIFISH E-GO—need just as much practice to operate, as they do to say out loud. 

So, in late July, the team from SAEF joined the watercraft team from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) for a day of training around the North West Bay in Hobart. This enabled both teams to practise using equipment and familiarise themselves with procedures ahead of the voyage. 

The watercraft team was able to test their safety and operating procedures, while the science team practiced using their ROVS from the boat, testing things such as collecting visual imagery and samples. 

Entering the drone zone

Meanwhile, scientists Dr Julian Galvez, Arthur Platel and Dr Juan Sandino joined the AAD’s expedition drone team on a trip to the Great Lake in central Tasmania for training in drone operations. This team plans to use drones to create maps of the island’s vegetation to support Australia’s monitoring and conservation management efforts.

We don’t want to drone on about it, but Heard Island is very windy, and this makes it challenging to fly drones.

The Great Lake has similar weather conditions to those on the islands, making it a safe stand-in to complete flying practice. It also gave the SAEF team the opportunity to learn the AAD’s drone operation procedures on various levels of eyesight and landscape visibility ahead of the expedition.

An unexpected benefit of the training was a few lessons in being resilient and resourceful. Staying in an off-grid house, the team encountered frozen pipes, clogged toilets and limited solar-power for lighting and internet. These unanticipated challenges ended up being great training for overcoming the “A factor” in a remote location.  

Helicopter training

When you’re taking a shipload of scientists and crew to Australia’s most remote island, one has to prepare for every eventuality. To do so, every SAEF expeditioner receives a range of training, such as Wilderness First Aid training. 

Since helicopters will be used to get scientists to different parts of the island, each SAEF expeditioner must complete helicopter underwater escape training. 

It sounds a little Mission Impossible, but unlike in the movies, helicopters fill up with water very quickly so it’s useful to channel your inner Tom Cruise for a day to learn key survival skills.

PhD candidate Madison Farrant recently completed her training through ERGT. She was taught how to push out the helicopter windows and how to move around upside down if your first exit is blocked and you need to find another way out. She also learnt about survival skills in a rescue boat and how to get winched up into a helicopter. 

Hopefully, these are skills no one will need to put to use, but we can all rest easier knowing they have them. With a little under a week until the first voyage departs, the team is getting closer and closer to departure. 

The Heard Island and McDonald Islands expedition is being delivered by the Australian Antarctic Division in collaboration with partners including Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), Serco, the Bureau of Meteorology, the University of Tasmania, the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Department of Defence, the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, Australian Border Force and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority.