“This Christmas I will count the penguins in Antarctica”

How do you spend Christmas? While many people will be curled up on the sofa in front of a roaring fire (or at least with the central heating on), consider the hundreds of people working in the Antarctic region surrounded by penguins.

Thousands of miles from home, staff at the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are spending the holidays at five research stations and aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough in Harwich.

Some of them have been sharing their Christmas plans – telling us how they'll be spending the big day.

Derren Fox, 52, is a zoological field assistant at the Sydney Island research station, one of the remote South Orkney Islands, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) from the Antarctic Peninsula.

Originally from Cornwall, he now “lives on a yacht pretty much everywhere”.

“On Christmas Day I will be traveling to the Gurley Peninsula on the southeast coast of the island to conduct almost daily inspections of chinstrap and Adélie penguin colonies to monitor productivity,” he said.

“This may be followed by sledding or building a snowman with some other station members, then returning to base for a traditional Christmas meal, this year cooked by our station leadership, and then possibly falling asleep in front of the traditional Christmas style. Cheesy holiday movie.”

The task of preparing a sumptuous Christmas dinner fell to Sigourney's Station Manager Sarah Clark.

The 42-year-old said she had “moved around all my life… but for the past six years I have lived near Beddgelert in North Wales”.

She added: “Sigourney’s tradition is that the station manager prepares Christmas dinner, so that’s what I do – but at the moment we’re a small team of five,” she said.

“We will have a nice brunch while reading email greetings from all the other Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations.

“Then others might go out and survey some penguins and do some sledding, and I’ll hold down the fort and make sure everything is okay on the station and get the turkey, roasted nuts and sides sorted.

“After dinner we'll spend the evening together enjoying some games, maybe including some Christmas darts.”

Captain Will Whatley is the skipper of the RRS Sir David Attenborough, which is spending the season at sea.

The 35-year-old hails from Southampton.

“Christmas is in the middle of the operational season in Antarctica, so it's a busy time,” he said.

“We usually get a day off, although some people still need to work to keep the ship safe and running.

“For most of us, Christmas on board provides a nice break from the busy Antarctic season, giving us time to reflect on the differences between life at home and our time spent as a 'working family' in Antarctica contrast.

“With modern communications, it's always possible to video chat with family and friends back home, which is a lot different than in the past.”

Dr. Nisha Mistry is the medical officer on the ship.

The 32-year-old, from Bradford, said: “This will be my first time at sea so I’m not quite sure how the day will go but I will have my usual hospital check-up in the morning.

“Then I hope to do what I love most – go out and see icebergs.”

Aaron Harper is Chief Chef aboard Sir David Attenborough.

“I’m going to be working this Christmas,” said the chef from Harwich, Essex.

“We’re feeding 56 people, and we’re cooking turkey and all the trimmings.

“A great way to cook Brussels sprouts is with dry bacon, lots of salt and cracked black pepper,” he shares.

Assisting him will be Nick Greenwood, the ship's senior cabin crew member.

The 53-year-old, from Grimsby, said: “On Christmas Day I will be trying to help prepare Christmas dinner.

“When I’m done working, I’ll have a festive drink and then go back to my cabin and watch a Christmas movie.”

Rowan Whittle, 45, is a paleontologist who usually lives in Cambridge.

This year, however, she is one of a small group sent by the BAS boat to spend Christmas in a tent.

“We will be deployed to King George Island a few days before Christmas,” she said.

“Our team of three, geochemist Saurav Dutta, field guide Andy Moles and myself, will be camping for four weeks looking for fossils to try to understand the Antarctic seafloor ecosystem How it evolved.

“Due to time constraints on our trip, we will need to work on Christmas Day, weather permitting. We will complete camp setup or conduct preliminary surveys of the study area.

“Hopefully we can get it done early on Christmas Day and make something delicious with our field rations.”