A biologist for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has spoken of the surreal reality of being on the only Covid-19 free continent on Earth.
Marine biologist Nadescha Zwerschke has spent 16 months at the Rothera Research Station for the BAS studying the effect of climate change on marine food systems.
Antarctica is currently the only continent to escape the spread of the deadly coronavirus and screening has been in place for arrivals since February.
Multiple countries have research stations on the vast ice-bound landmass which is about to enter the brutal winter months.
Rothera lies on the Antarctic Peninsula more than 800 miles from the tip of South America and roughly the same distance to London as Perth, Australia.
Nadescha, 34, said she and her colleagues at the base are communicating, much like the rest of the world, from a place of isolation.
She said: “World events seem very surreal when you’re so far away.
“Most of us have been in daily contact with friends and family and BAS is keeping us informed about what is happening.
“We also have access to the internet and social media, and there is a daily newspaper with the main news.
“There is currently no coronavirus in Antarctica and BAS has a number of precautionary measures in place to keep Antarctica and its stations virus free.
“Screening began in early February with people coming into Antarctica screened for coronavirus symptoms. If they had exhibited symptoms, they would be required to quarantine for 14 days.”
Nadescha said the global drop in CO2 caused by the lockdown response to the virus could be visible to future scientists measuring ice cores from Antarctica.
She said: “The reduction in CO2 and other greenhouse gases has been too recent and too short to show any lasting impact on climatic conditions in the Antarctic.
“But maybe in 100 years scientists will take an ice core in Antarctica and find really low levels of CO2 in ice formed during this year.”
Nadescha said working in Antarctica has meant she and her colleagues have had to adapt to isolation a long time before the outbreak of Covid-19.
She said: “Isolation in Antarctica is a bit different to the current isolation at home.
“Although we are isolated from the rest of the world, there were still 23 people on station during the winter season and I was lucky enough to be part of a brilliant team where everybody got on really well and spent a lot of time together.
“So obviously, when we were not working, we came up with several different ways of how to spend our time together including a table tennis tournament to celebrate Wimbledon, and a darts competition over Skype with other research stations.
“We also organised a casino night with Monopoly money which got quite competitive.”
