This picture shows the Victoria Glacier, which is evaporating in the valley, simply stopping half its way down to the sea. The snow in this picture was brought by a storm that dusted the area with a thin layer of snow on the previous day - a very rare event in this area. But even in this hostile environment many different forms of life are flourishing. Fungi, algae, bacteria and other survival specialists have made this area their home. This unique ecosystem is so fragile that it can be destroyed by even the slightest disturbance from the outside. For example, a colony of fungi can take several hundred of years to recover from a simple footprint - there are still visible footprints from Scott's last expedition in 1911. For this reason, the Dry Valleys are a special protected area, and a permit is required to enter, or fly over this area. All waste (human or not) has to be kept in storage containers and eventually flown out to McMurdo.