The Antarctic Peninsula and its nearby islands are considered to have the mildest living conditions in Antarctica. Bellingshausen Station's climate is strongly influenced by the surrounding ocean.[4] Under the Köppen system, it is one of the few locations in Antarctica classified as a tundra climate rather than an ice cap climate.[5] Variation in temperatures are small with the coldest month, July, averaging −6.5 °C (20.3 °F) and 1.5 °C (34.7 °F) in the warmest month.[6] With only 591.2 hours of sunshine per year, the weather is often unsettled and cloudy throughout the year with precipitation in the form of snow, rain and drizzle occurring often.[4] On average, 729 mm (28.7 in) of precipitation falls per year.[4]
Climate data for Bellingshausen Station (1968–2014)
Source: Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute[6]
Gallery
Trinity Church at Bellingshausen
Interior of Trinity Church
Bellingshausen in 2012
Bellingshausen in January 1985
Bellingshausen at night
In popular culture
On January 21, 2014, American tattoo artist Lyle Tuttle set up an impromptu tattoo station in a scientist's guesthouse where he tattooed his signature tattoo—his autograph—on project assistant/tattoo historian Dr. Anna Felicity Friedman, making him the first person to tattoo on all seven continents.[7][8]