All for a Weddell Seal?

“It is worthy to record, too, that we have seen no living thing, not even a moss or lichen; all that we did find, far inland amongst the moraine heaps, was the skeleton of a Weddell seal, and how that came there is beyond guessing. It is certainly a valley of the dead; even the great glacier which once pushed through it has withered away” (Captain Robert F. Scott, 1903).


~I’ll have traveled 10,000 miles from home, all for the skeleton of a Weddell seal? Surely Captain Scott must have been mistaken…

While the McMurdo Dry Valleys may appear lifeless to our human eyes, a closer look would reveal otherwise. This cold desert ecosystem is home to a unique set of microorganisms, which have adapted and learned to survive in one of the harshest environments on our planet! Over the next two months, I too will be adapting to life in the Dry Valleys, and investigating life in the extreme! Keep checking back, and I’ll keep you updated on my southerly adventures.