Last week, just before that last of the salad, I was walking from my dorm to the dining hall and noticed a skua sitting in the middle of a pile of salad. I've seen a few skuas attack or at least scare people into dropping their food this summer. These bastard birds have made off with chicken strips and shepherd's pie and even lobster tails on Christmas. But this one may have captured the bounty of the season: some of the last precious leaves of lettuce.
Apples, onions, potatoes and eggs will last for the rest of the winter and we'll have sprouts throughout the dark spell, but we're at the end of everything else fresh. The skuas will even be leaving soon. I have no idea where they go from here. McMurdo is thousands of miles from anything living and edible besides a few seals and penguins. There will be only 143 living things left (besides a few gnats and fruit flies that live in the buildings)....slowly turning into zombies with the darkness that is increasing by the hour.
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