Coronavirus culture shock: Cold hard reality for Antarctic expeditioners frozen out of life under Covid

Returning Antarctic expeditioners with no experience of pandemic life sent videos of how to shop and socialise.

Expeditioner Kyle Williams at Mawson Station. Supplied by Kyle Williams/AAD

Returning Antarctic expeditioners with no experience of life under Covid have been sent videos of how to responsibly shop, drink at pubs and socialise, to soften their “culture shock”.

Australia’s Antarctic Program is going to extraordinary steps to ensure returning expeditioners are prepared psychologically and in practical knowledge to deal with the do’s and don’ts of the ‘new normal’ back home.

“When a number of these expeditioners went south, COVID-19 was not part of our vocabulary – this has happened while they’ve been in Antarctica,” said Maree Riley, organisation psychologist with the Australian Antarctic Division.

“Whilst we’ve all been social distancing, isolating and wearing masks, our expeditioners in Antarctica have been going about their normal daily routine without any real impact.

“So coming home is going to be a real shock, a reverse culture shock. They’re going to have to learn the new rules. About going to the supermarket and standing 1.5m apart, about the fact that we can’t stand in large groups. About the fact that we go to pub and we have to sit down while we’re having a drink; we can’t stand and dance.”

Those 89 expeditioners returning from Antarctica on flights and ships, from November 7, were being briefing on the “psychological and practical” impacts of life under Covid, to help them “reintegrate” with families and friends, and understand what the rest of us had “gone through” in their absence.

Videos sent to expeditioners explain what Covid signage means, how to queue in a safe manner, what those Xs on the ground mean, and the ins and outs of temperature testing.

The 260 outgoing expeditioners, who start to heading down south on November 7, have had to undergo at least one period of 14 day hotel quarantine and three Covid tests.

The usual pre-deployment bonding sessions – vital for small teams heading into isolated, co-dependant station communities – have had to be curtailed due to Covid, replaced by online training and virtual get-togethers.

“In a normal season, we’d be doing station get-togethers, dinners, in here (Hobart’s AAD headquarters) doing face-to-face training, but obviously we can’t do that,” Ms Riley said.

“That’s where our virtual training has been really useful in allowing expeditioners to get to know each other, but also social activities … virtual drinks and opportunities.”

The curtailment of intra-continental flights, due to Covid complications, has forced all 24 expeditioners at Davis station, and some at Mawson station, to extend their stay for another unscheduled summer season.

Science has also been wound back, with a focus on using existing data and maintaining about 19 science projects based largely on remote monitoring of seabirds, weather, climate and sea-ice conditions.

The number of expeditioners for the 2020-21 summer season has been virtually halved from the usual 500 or more, to 260.

Expeditioners heading south were philosophical about the pre-departure 14 day quarantine. “It’s just something that has to be done because of the importance of keeping it (Covid) out of the Antarctic continent,” said Annette Fear, soon-to-be chef at Casey Station.

Incoming Casey Station leader Kyle Williams said building the necessary “camaraderie” prior to departure had been challenging. “It’s quite hard to have the same degree of unity and build that in a virtual environment but that’s the new normal for 2020,” he said.