Through my eyes

living my life without regrets

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Taking the Antarctic Dream Part 2.

The next day, was March 2; we got up at 5.00 AM to hike up the glacier for a view of a sunrise at Neko Harbor. The sun was not out that day, but the view was spectacular, none-the-less.
We stomped through snow in a zigzag pattern to reach the ridge, but the scenery was worth it.

We had our regular routine of Breakfast at 7.30, lunch at 12.30, and coffee at 16.00 with dinner at 19.30.

The routine was broken again with an outing at 11.00 AM to visit the rookery of, again Gentoo Penguins, on Wiencke Island
and a landing at Port Lockroy Station in Dorian Bay. Carol and I passed on the walk through ankle deep melt waters and over slippery rocks to see more Gentoo Penguins and were shuttled directly to the Lockroy Station. This is a fun spot and right up my alley.

The British had a weather and research station for the Ionosphere here until 1962.
Today this spot still has some basic weather reports to send but it serves more as a museum. During the summer months four volunteers ‘man’ this
station but serve mainly as tour guides for the many ships that visit. The volunteers this year were four women; three British and one German woman. This station has an active, British Post Office.
I bought stamps and dropped some cards in the box; let’s see how long it takes before they arrive in NJ.

The bickering as to who ‘owns’ this speck of land was sometimes even comical. Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom, the three Nations, all laid ‘claim’ to this spot on the Antarctic Peninsula. Erecting national symbols, depositing written claims, facing each other with verbal claims for this Port is all part of the history here. After all was said and done, after they had their dinners to discuss it among each other no country won. The Antarctic Treaty superseded any claims and since 1958 all claims by any Nation have been shelved.

Today you can buy stickers, sweaters and maps in the summer from this British Museum.
In the winter this place serves as an Emergency Shelter if need be. The whalers, expeditions of the past, Antarctic flight pioneers, scientists and politians are gone, only their memories remain. The new, modern research today has been taken over by the Ukrainian Research Station some 50Km South at Vernadsky.

During Lunch our ship passed through the narrow Le Maire Channel.
An optical illusion makes the entrance even smaller than it really is.
It looked like we were fitting the ship through the eye of a needle.
Rock walls on both sides of the channel reached far up into the sky. This section reminded me of a narrow fjord passage. Our old icebreaker slid through fast ice, chunks banging against the hull sending drum sounds throughout the ship.
We were lucky we did not have the denser pack ice, which would have been impossible to cross. Winter seems to be closing in; the ice is defiantly starting to form in certain spots already.

For the afternoon, the Antarctic Dream scheduled Zodiac tours, drive by’s, of the icebergs a bit further south. After a long wait amidships, we finally stepped out in rough seas at 17.30 to the Zodiacs. Carol and I were among the first to climb on board. As soon as we stepped off the wobbly gangway, which was not even installed properly, we got swamped by a huge wave. We were soaking wet. Our Zodiac was just about 20 meters from the ship when the whole operation was cancelled. We had to return to the Mother Ship immediately. Carol and I were dripping from head to toe, covered in ice cold seawater. “Everybody back to their cabins, please”: came the PA announcements. Safety first!

Yes, the trip was rescheduled a bit later again but Carol and I passed on this tour as our gloves were very wet inside. Yet the people that returned had a great time among the icebergs. Even so, at the very end, the winds picked up again and large waves doused some folks returning in the Zodiacs pretty well. I missed this trip.
I guess I was too angry at the visible incompetence when we tried the first time to get into the zodiacs. Well, my loss!

The following day we had to get up really early again. Announcements came through the PA system at 5 AM. The First Zodiacs left at 5.30 AM. Our destination was the caldera of a not so active volcano.
One side of the crater, years ago, opened up to the ocean and most of the center of the volcano was flooded with sea water. This set up made for a perfect landing spot in a much protected harbor. Deception Island, as it is called, contains very dark brown volcanic rocks and ash.

We climbed the sides of the crater and the sight was primitive, primordial.
The very first lichen has barely established a presence. We saw one pair of chin strap penguins but too far away for pictures. Over the ridge was a huge colony of Chinstrap Penguins but we did not go there.
A few Fur Seals sat on the beach, sunning or sleeping. The spot was desolate, forlorn looking.
We marched single file to again see a sunrise; only to be disappointed again by our central star. The sun did not shine.

Along the beach, years ago, some whalers had their boiling station here.
Whales were rendered into oil and the huts, now abandoned and derelict, look lost along the beach.

Not far from those abandoned looking buildings, now a museum, steam rose out of the ground, washed over by the gentle surf. Heat from the magma below rises up to give some warmth and makes a small spot ice free in winter. Very small, yet it is a left over from the volcanic activities that created this Island.

This spot is used to dare passengers to take a swim in the icy waters of the Antarctic Ocean. Some fools took off their clothes, stood in the ice cold wind and dipped into the almost freezing waters (31 Degrees F). Never mind the very small patch of ‘hot’ sand near the water’s edge. The water is like ice water.

I know, because I was one of those fools that had to just try it.

Shivering, but smiling we returned back to the ship for some hot broth.

We had more lectures on mammals, specifically whales, we ate lunch. We waited for the weather to get better before landing at Livingston Island to see Macaroni and Adélie Penguins but it never happened. We had had our last tour visiting the old whaling station and swimming in the Antarctic Ocean.

The weather determines every landing. And the weather always wins in Antarctica. While we, as people, try to master nature, this continent has its own rules. Antarctica is like a fickle woman; changing constantly for no apparent reason. Do something stupid and she will just take you away. Take her away and the earth, as it is now, will not exist.

Antarctica is an ever changing place. So far man has left Antarctica alone, let her do her thing which I think it is the right approach. She still has many secrets, still has spots untouched by man. She still brings the winds to us, still agitates the waters all around the world. She is still the pulse of Mother Earth.

I am glad I could visit but all I ever did was stand on her, just leaving a foot print or two. I really know little about her but I am awestruck by her powers, by her way of creating a different environment that mankind is still trying to comprehend. She will let you visit, but I doubt she will ever let you settle there permanently. I support the Antarctic Treaty; it is a good way for man to live on a continent so different from the rest of this earth.

Taking the Antarctic Dream Part 1.

Our day of departure came not nearly soon enough as a mixture of anticipation and dread had me on edge. Finally, at 4 pm on Feb 25, 2012 we were allowed to board. The ship from the outside looked weather worn but healthy. We walked through Argentinean customs, since officially we were leaving Argentina but the inspection of luggage or passport control was very lax.
After getting on board we were assigned our cabin and the reception clerk kept our passports in storage for future landings in Antarctica. The check-in was efficient enough, the crew all smiles and with the help of a crew member we stowed the one large suitcase we had under the bed in our assigned cabin No. 120, one flight of stairs down from main deck.
Our room had a porthole window to the outside world. The decoration was practical, the facilities clean but showing the signs of age.

The ship itself was a converted ice breaker built in 1960 in Amsterdam for the Chilean Navy. It has since been refurbished twice. Double hulled, 83 meters (274 feet) long, 12 meters (39 feet) wide, with a draft of 4.6 meters (15 feet), it flew the flag of Panama. Total Capacity was for 84 passengers and we had 76 on board plus crew members, expedition crew (who also gave lectures) and a physician. The ship could run at 10 to 12 knots (15 miles per hour) all day using a diesel electric engine. Most of the crew was from Chile which is also the headquarters of the owners. The ship was sound, albeit its age of over 50 years showed, never mind the revamps it had.

At 6 pm more or less, we set sail and the first thing we had on board was the mandatory Emergency Drill.
A roll call ensured all passengers attended. Donning our life vests we went to our stations and the evacuation procedure was explained. This whole exercise was a serious matter to the crew. Safety was their main concern.

After an introduction of themselves and a Welcome speech from the Captain and First Officers,
a complimentary glass of champagne was given to us along with some particulars such as meal times, timing of the excursions, length of time to reach our destinations, etc. we settled in.

We chugged along the Beagle Channel towards the open sea which we reached during the night. I slept well that first night, even though the ship rocked and the cabin had an odd damp smell to it. I could hear the bilge pump kick in and the propeller shaft noise was loud and banging someplace against some metal. Sleeping through it all was good. Carol was not that lucky, her sensitive hearing kept her awake most of the night. Only adding earplugs helped her find some needed rest around 3 am.

At 7:30 am, the theme music from Star Wars on the PA system with an announcement of breakfast at 8 am got us started on day two.
We were on the open sea, the ship rolling from side to side and bobbing up and down all at the same time. Looking out the windows in the dining room area we saw nothing but ocean and just a hint of white caps but the weather was really not that bad.

Sure it was cold if you stepped out on deck to take some pictures and the wind blew fairly hard but it really was a ´quiet´ ride. We spent this first day just hanging around, taking in the newness of our surroundings, broken up with a lecture on Seabirds at 10 am and at 3:00 we saw the first installment of the BBC movie series “The Frozen Planet” that would be continued throughout our trip. We met some of the people during breakfast and they were truly an International mix. We had Swedes, Argentineans, Spanish, German, Swiss, Dutch, Belgians, New Zealanders, Brits, Estonians, Americans, Canadians, French and more, but I cannot recall them right now.

One of the first questions is always, “What country do you come from”? On the first day, another of the main questions was “What did you pay for this trip”? And wow, was I in for a surprise. All prices were dependent on what cabin one slept in and the prices varied tremendously. Remember we paid US Dollars 3990 each. Here are the prices other passengers paid. The Belgian guy paid Euro 16500 each (21,780 US $). Yes, you read right, but he did have a large cabin with 6 or 7 windows. The Dutch paid something like 8000 Euro for each person. Etc. Some others paid as low as 5000 Euros but we met not one person who paid as little as Carol and I did. We all ate the same food, attended the same outings, had access to the same places like anyone else and were treated by the crew the same way. We only slept in different rooms.

The oldest passenger on the cruise was a gentleman from Barcelona, Spain at age 83 who never left the ship. The youngest passenger was maybe 24 or so. It was a mix of people, the most common language spoken was Spanish followed by English. Well, while the passengers spoke good English the Expedition Crew seemed to have problems with the English language. Although it was not as bad as I feared, it was still bad enough to miss some of the PA announcements or some parts of the lectures.

Our lectures were Antarctic specific, pointing out birds we might see, mammals we might encounter, or explaining life in the sea below us. Some history was explained but was not very detailed.
Sir Ernest Shackleton was the most talked about explorer on our voyage. He was part of Scott’s Discovery Expedition that reached the South Pole in 1911. Scott was 35 days behind Amundsen so was not the first to the Pole. Shackleton became ill with scurvy so returned to England early but the rest of the team did not make it back from Antarctica. Shackleton’s later near disaster in 1914-15 in attempting to cross the continent took center stage during our journey. The main bird discussed was the penguin. The bird everybody wanted to see was the Wandering Albatross because of its huge wing span of three and a half meters.

All lectures were interesting albeit with proper, fluid English it would have been much better.

We sailed through day one, heading due south.

Day 2 gave us some taste of what the sea around us could be like. When I say taste, it was more of a tease, because the roughness of the seas on a scale from 1 to 12 reached a meager 4. Yet some people got ill from just this little increase in motion on our ship. The mood was anxious and the question arose as if from little kids, “Are we there yet”?

It takes a good 48 hours to cross the Drake Passage. We were extremely lucky, we had perfect weather. Hardly any winds to rock the ship, hardly heavy weaves to bounce us around. Sure we had to hold on whenever we walked inside the ship, sure we were even restricted from going outside during heavy rains that made the decks too slippery for walking but all in all it was a good crossing.

Unfortunately, our first Zodiac landings scheduled for day 3 to the Aitcho Islands and another to Astrolabe Island were cancelled due to winds over 30 knots per hour (35 miles hour). Bummer, some folks really got mad at this but safety is the prime concern of the crew.

So we continued on all day until we reached Danco Island on day 4.
Our embarkation into small Zodiacs was well rehearsed and efficient enough. We had to clean and disinfect our rubber boots before and after each Zodiac outing in order to not track guano onto the ship or foreign material onto the land.
We all wore bright orange life vests, we all received a warm orange jacket to wear. My jacket did not fit well; it was too small but I was glad to have it.

We had our first encounter with a colony of Gentoo Penguins.
Phew, you could smell the colony before we even landed on Danco Island. Those not so large birds are the most common penguins in Antarctica. We met only the late bloomers in this colony.
March is the time when the penguins start to return to the sea, having finished their breeding and molting cycle which starts in early November. Yet what we saw was still a huge area of just penguins.

We were instructed to not touch the animals, to not walk too fast or in jerky movements and to not come too close to them. It was ok if they approached us but it was not ok to approach them. The ground around us was still frozen, full of snow in some patches even this late in their summer already.

Most penguins just stood there, literally waiting to grow up. Many of the birds we saw were young birds, their parents out in the water hunting for food.
Many were shedding their downy fluff (molting) to grow feathers. This growth of a new coat takes about 2 weeks and drains the birds of a lot of energy, so standing still (or lying down)
is the best way to conserve their valuable resources. Preening themselves, waiting or even sleeping while exposed to the winds, the cold and us, the gawking tourists, they waited.

It must be a proven way of life for them; Gentoo Penguins as they are today have been around for the last 3 million years. Old Gentoo skeletons from the Gondwana time, believed to be some 50 million years old, have been found. This species has profoundly adapted to life in cold climates. Most come back to the spot they were born, preferring to build their nests on high ground. The nests are built by piling manageable sized rocks to form a dry spot beyond any ice or water that might cool down the eggs or later the chicks. Usually two eggs are laid by the female. Their diet is red krill and small fish so proximity to the ocean is important. But Gentoo have been found to nest a mile or more inland. Walking with their peculiar gait they manage to travel inland, yet once in water they are very fast. They can swim at speeds of between 15 to 40 km/hr. These birds spend most of their lives at sea, only coming to land in order to breed. So we were lucky to see them at all.

We saw many Gentoo while on our ship, fishing in the waters nearby. But now I stand so close to them,
I can see them feed their young, fight for their precious nesting rocks and squabble over the right of way. Naturally cameras click all around me. The stink however permeates our noses, the residue of their lunches or breakfasts having been processed and expelled all over the place really stinks. We step through washes of mostly red guano; we watch raw Nature. We watch the birds in their normal environment.
A look across the bay, across the waters has penguins coming and going on a constant basis. In the water, out of the water, in the water, out of the water, on and on it goes.

The Gentoo waddle slowly to the edge of the ocean but once in the water they turn into small, black and white torpedoes diving for food. The constant chatter of the young calling for food drives the parents on. It is a marvel to behold. None of the birds seem to have any fear of people. Some folks even got attacked or were harmlessly bitten when they came too close to a nest.
The defense of the birds is so ingrained; they peck at anything close to their nest.

Returning to the Mother Ship for a lunch was good but while having lunch the ship moved on and we, right after lunch took a tour around the Bay in the Zodiacs. The purpose was to spot Leopard, Crabeater and Weddel seals in this spot called “Paradise Bay”, known for those species. Naturally we ran into
Humpback Whales instead and saw no seals at all. The whales, a group of maybe four, were close to our Zodiacs and almost within touching distance; simply spectacular.

Back to the Ship for a warm up with a cup of hot chocolate and then out again to visit an outpost of the Chilean Military. This time, while we disembarked, a huge Leopard Seal swam right around and under our Zodiac. This fellow was almost as long as our boat. Aggressive as they are, he tried to bite the propeller just after we stopped. This seal was huge. He was patrolling the shore line waiting for penguins to come close enough to him. Penguins are his main diet and since the Chilean Military station is in between two large rookeries, he had plenty of penguins to chase and eat.

Chile, under the guise of research, stations military personnel to have an established presence should the Antarctic Treaty expire. This way they will keep their territorial claim against Argentina, who has a base not far away from here. The old fight for ‘land’ is a left over from the land disputes between those two countries that created past animosity.

The six men stationed there were happy to see us, the cook on our ship even baked them a cake and gave them some fresh vegetables since those are delicacies on this station far away from the rest of the world. Their tour of duty runs in 6 month intervals and their supplies are normally flown in and dropped from a plane. To see cruise ships, to have them stop for a chat is a treat for the fellows at this base.

For me it was a special treat to visit this spot. This Military base is on the continent of Antarctica, not on an Island. So, these were my first footsteps on Antarctica. Yippee!

Antarctica, Just the Facts Please.

The discovery of a whole continent must have been very exciting years ago. While theories of land here have existed since the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD), who suggested the idea to preserve the symmetry of all known landmasses in the world, it was until 1820 just an idea. It was not a proven fact that land existed so far south.

Sure, James Cook, the famous explorer came within 75 miles of the continent in Jan. 1773 but he did not see land. Cook also predicted there was land when he got as far south as 71º10`S but he could not prove it since he was stopped by a huge ice flow from proceeding.

Only as late as Jan. 27 1820, was land first sighted this far South. The Estonian born, German named, Russian Army officer, Fabian von Bellingshausen, saw land but did not set foot on the continent.

On Feb 7, 1821, John Davis, an American seal hunter was the first to step foot on the mainland of Antarctica. So Antarctica the continent has only been discovered for the last 190 years.

The first expedition to reach the South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He arrived at the Pole in Dec. 1911 followed 35 days later by Robert Falcon Scott who died on his return journey.
Scott was accompanied by Sir Ernest Shackleton who later attempted unsuccessfully to cross Antarctica.

And as James Cook said, it is a country doomed by Nature. Antarctica is doomed to lie under everlasting ice and snow.

The scientific facts of this continent are overwhelming:

• Antarctica is the Earth´s fifth largest Continent. Yes, Australia is much smaller.

• Antarctica has a huge mountain range, the Sentenial Mountains or Ellsworth Mountains. The highest peak, the Vinson Massif is 4892 Meters (16050’) above sea level. Many peaks in this range are in the 4000 Meter (13100’) range.

• Temperatures as low as minus 89 Degrees Celsius (-129F) were recorded in 1983 at the research station of Vostok, 800 Miles (1300 Km) east of the South Pole.

• Wind speeds have reached some 320 Km an hour.

• The ice is up to 5000 Meters (16000 feet) thick. The weight of the ice causes the landmass to be pushed below sea level. The average thickness of ice is 1000 meters.

• 70% of all fresh water of this Planet is frozen ice, resting on the continent of Antarctica.

• In the Southern winter (April to Oct) this giant continent, twice the size of Australia, doubles its size with frozen ice reaching out into the surrounding Oceans. In winter the total area covered by ice in Antarctica is 20 Million Square Miles.

Antarctica is a giant, frozen place. Antarctica is alive, yet so different from my normal perceptions of ´land´.

• Totally surrounded by oceans, Antarctica is the pulse that drives earth´s weather patterns. Looking at our planet from space, having the South Pole in the center of the picture one would see the waters swirling around the continent in a clockwise fashion. One would see that it is approx. 2000 Km from the edge of Antarctica to South Africa, or New Zealand but “only” 1000 Km to the tip of South America. This landmass of South America works like a wedge put in the way of all the waters swirling around Antarctica. The waters near S. America get compressed when they reach the South American coast and the speed of the water currents increases. This compression of the waters creates massive winds, too. Coupled with the mixture of currents and winds, is the meeting spot where the warmer waters of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. This part of ocean, the Drake Passage, is an extremely dangerous and very, very volatile section of ocean waters. The wind changes alone can create mayhem. Combined with the wedging of the currents, the exchange of water temperature, this is a devilish place to navigate.

Icebergs floating in these waters make a passage by ship from S. America to Antarctica even more of an adventure. Icebergs, broken off glaciers can be an extreme hazard to ships. The ice that has been compressed for centuries in glaciers is blue in color because the it is now so hard, lacking any trapped air at all, This place Antarctica, is so strange; it feels like being on a new planet.

Nobody lives permanently on the whole continent. Only scientists, occupying 40 research stations, spread all over the continent, visit on a temporary basis. In the summer months, from late Nov. - early March, there are 46 smaller tourist ship visits worldwide, going back and forth from their harbors to Antarctica bringing about 40,000 tourists for very short, very controlled visits. At least that is what I was told happened in the 2010 to 2011 season.

Some research stations are open even in winter with 1077 scientists braving the long, dark winters here recently. This number increases in summer to 4960 scientists.

On Antarctica, research in atmospheric conditions, in meteorology, in ionosphere soundings, etc. is conducted. This research is essential to our modern communications and to the environmental conditions of planet Earth. We could not have our tech age today without these stations on Antarctica giving us their daily input and doing research for our future.

Antarctica is the least known continent on Earth. Even with our space age discovery methods, some parts have never been touched upon by man. The conditions are hostile to humans, without a protective bubble to live in; we would perish very quickly here.

Due to the signing in 1959 of the Antarctic Treaty by 12 Nations: Britain, South Africa, Belgium, Japan, USA, Norway, France, New Zealand, USSR, Argentina, Australia and Chile, Antarctica south of the 60ºS parallel is protected from procession by any one county.

The treaty explicitly spells out bans for disposal of nuclear wastes, weapon testing and any military activity. After the ratification of this treaty on June 23, 1961 it is now in full force. Additional countries have since signed up to protect this treasure of Mother Earth with its wealth of mineral resources, fresh water and animal life.