Eight months with 17 crewmates and 70,000 TikTok followers. Photo / Matthew Jordan, Antarctica New Zealand
Matthew Jordan might be Antarctica’s biggest internet influencer.
Only about 1000 people spend the long, sunless winter on the continent, so that’s not a huge claim. However, since joining the New Zealand Antarctic programme in 2017 his TikTok clips of life on Scott Base have been reaching the far corners of the globe.
Antarctica’s resident content creator has brought an audience of millions to the ice with his series Things that make sense in Antarctica. He’s documented the unusual habits of penguins, midnight sun, and what might be the most remote game of Pokemon Go, ever recorded.
You wonder what Captain Scott would have made of a high-speed satellite internet link.
His official work as project manager for the Scott Base redevelopment brought him to the ice. This year he joins an 18-man crew on the eight-month winter deployment.
“This is my 8th trip to Antarctica but my first overwinter. It’s the latest I’ve ever been on the ice.”
The seasoned base worker’s first visit was as a tourist.
@mattykjordan Replying to @MipGhost I might be the first person in the world to ever play Pokémon Go in Antarctica. I know other people have teleported here to catch Pokémon, but there’s a chance I might be the first person to actually do it from here. The spawns seem pretty similar to what I could find in New Zealand. I was expecting some cool ice type pokemon but I haven’t found any yet. Cool that we have a pokestop here too so I can top up on Pokéballs. I’m not usually big into video games and mobile games but this seemed like a fun novelty! #antarctica #pokemon #pokemongo #pokemontiktok #pokemoncommunity #pokemonfan #pokemoncards #pokemonpulls #pokemon #gaming #ar #augmentedreality @Pokémon GO @Pokémon Company Int’l @Pokémon/ポケモン【公式】
♬ Pokémon RBGY - Remix - Toni Leys
Originally from Perth, Australia, he was drawn to the ice after a cruise from South America. The construction manager found himself asking, ‘how can I go back?’
This year he will see a side of the continent that no tourists ever see: the six-month period of darkness.
The summer tourist season has long since ended and, since March, most of Jordan’s colleagues have flown back to Christchurch.
“It’s starting to get nice and dark after 5 to 6pm,” he says via satellite phone.
“The last sunset is on the 24th of April, so we’ve got two weeks left of feeling the sun on our faces.”
With the months-long twilight and Ross Island emptied of human traffic, it’s the perfect time to take photos. The night sky has been very active with aurora. Jordan shares his Southern Lights photography with his overwinter mates and growing social media following.
“Photography is what I hope will keep me entertained and see me through winter. I’ve been experimenting with systems that will survive the cold,” he says.
Power and memory cards regularly fail in the harshest environment on the planet.
Jordan recently rigged a camera to run off a car battery, so he could leave it outside to capture a time-lapse of the night sky.
@mattykjordan Normal camera batteries dont last vary long in Antarctica so we need to get creative if were going to capture long duration timelapses. One of the electricians on base helped me to modify my camera to allow it to be powered by an external battery source. This allows the camera to take photos for days, or even weeks! We’re definitely into aurora season at the moment, with the southern lights making an appearance over the base in the last few days. It’s been pretty special! #canon #camera #timelapse #antarctica #aurora #auroraaustralis #auroraborealis #northernlights #southernlights
♬ original sound - Matty Jordan | Antarctica
With lows of -57C expected towards the end of winter and Jordan’s deployment, most things don’t survive long outside the Scott Base buildings. That goes for cameras, equipment - and base workers.
Much of the winter deployment will be spent indoors, except for brief snapshots of the world outside.
Jordan’s project involves adding extra quarters for construction teams, and groundwork for the new base redevelopment. Antarctica New Zealand has to find more temporary space for teams ahead of the arrival of a new prefabricated Scott Base building, which will sail from Timaru to the Ross Sea in 2027.
The small overwinter team share a lot of roles, from research to maintenance and construction. Without a doubt Jordan says the most important is the base chef.
“You want to keep the chef onside. The base canteen is an important place to share stories, catch up and bond. Food brings everyone together.”
Food includes vitamin D supplements to help combat seasonal affective disorder and disorientation from the endless night.
However six months of darkness is a slight exaggeration, he says. With moonlight, white snow-covered landscapes and regular aurora displays, there is always something to photograph.
“It’s a photographer’s paradise,” he says, with the colourful “Golden Hour” twilight lasting for days.
“It’s the kind of light that would normally be a mad dash to capture back home in New Zealand.”
Favourite pictures of the season so far are of the moon over Mt Erebus and the Ross Sea.
With the overwinter crew not leaving until mid-October, there’s plenty of time to perfect his photography.