A brrrr-illiant flag designed by pupils at a Derby school has been chosen from hundreds of entries to fly proudly outside the globally-important Halley VI Research Station in the Antarctic.
The colourful flag, which features penguins drawn by pupils at The Bemrose School, in Uttoxeter Road, will take pride of place at the front of the Halley VI Research Station and the Lifetime of Halley (LoH) site where temperatures can get as low as -60C.
The facility is operated by the British Antarctic Survey and monitors the earth, atmosphere and space weather. It is built on a floating ice shelf and the flag has been taken to the Southern Hemisphere by Jonathan Witherstone; electronics engineer with the British Antarctic Survey.
The competition was run in conjunction with the UK Polar Network and Jodie Powers (Head of Humanities) organised for Key Stage 3 pupils at The Bemrose School to submit their entries.
She said: “The competition was organised to celebrate Antarctica Day, which is an international holiday held on December 1 every year to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959. The Treaty was signed by 12 countries and officially designated Antarctica as a continent of scientific research.
“The winning entries were selected and sent off to Antarctica where we received the news, just before Christmas, that our entries had been successful, which is fantastic.
“Our pupils have shown a huge interest in learning about Antarctica and this news has made them keen to learn more.
“We have had a great time learning all about the Lifetime of Halley site, which is a GPS station that accurately measures the Brunt Ice Shelf and its movement. The team of four who are out there – Emma, a glaciologist who looks at data coming in and out of the facility; Vicki, a field guide who is making sure we are safe and is an expert at digging holes, and electronic engineers DJ and Jonathan who make sure the instruments and tech are running as they should – use snowmobiles to travel across the Antarctic.
“The equipment they use has a very accurate GPS with its antenna sending data back to the LoH site where there is a solar panel and wind turbine that charges the batteries in the equipment. They bury the batteries so that they don’t get too cold. It’s fascinating.”
The Brunt Ice Shelf was in the news earlier this year when an iceberg around the size of Greater London broke off due to a natural process called ‘calving’. The Halley VI Research Station was unaffected, and the process wasn’t due to climate change, but scientists are monitoring the situation carefully.
This story was written and shared on behalf of the Bemrose School by Kerry Ganly. Can we share your news and get you in the headlines too? Find out how we can help by getting in touch
