EXPEDITION UPDATE
Sunday, December 24
Deception Island, Antarctic Peninsula!
Posted 10:30 am EST by SOI HQ
We received many pictures and student logs just now. At the moment, everyone is filing into the dining room for lunch while the Captain repositions the Polar Star for an afternoon landing at Whaler’s Bay, Deception Island. Geoff reports that there is a lot of snow and fog – but that the temperature is mild, the seas calm and everyone is in superb spirits. This afternoon, they will land at Deception Island and have an Antarctic swim in a thermal pool!
Without further adieu...
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Posted by Anthoula Lelekidis
The Polar Star is currently anchored near the Danger Islands as everyone makes trips in and out of various zodiacs. I was able to be one of the first groups to visit the largest colony of Adelie penguins. There were about one million flightless birds, wobbling from one rock to the next. I was in awe as my eyes continued to see nothing but penguins, skuas, and petrels. The area was tiny enough to create a small environment for the species. Baby penguins were warmly napping in between their parents’ legs as I passed by, shooting countless frames. Without a doubt, my negatives contain a bunch of successful shots. It was almost like the penguins didn’t mind us being there, which made me more comfortable to walk around and photograph the colony. As the days pass by, I can feel myself growing upset. I truly do not want to leave this continent. The students, including myself--as well as the adults--on the ship are some of the luckiest people in the world. For me, Antarctica is the most beautiful part of our planet Earth, hands down. As I sit down in the lounge hanging out with my fellow friends, playing some cards, I look outside the window and see the best view of all. I still can’t seem to believe I am here.
I can’t wait to see you all and show you some prints. Wish you were here Papa! I love you so much!! Take care and please be careful!! See you sooner than later…
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Molly Woodrow - Chaperone
Good morning all. A much better weather day is in store for us today. The scenery is amazing, and the air is wonderful! Everyone seems to be feeling good today. I can tell by the noise level! Love to my husband Kent. Hope everything is well. See you soon, MON!
A small portion of the Antarctic Swim Team – Whalers Bay
****************************** Posted by John Paydo
Imagine waking up to icebergs and penguins surrounding you! That was my morning! We made two landings today … one at Heroine Island and one at Paulina Island! Thousands and thousands Adelie penguins greeted us at both islands! Many of the eggs were hatching so we were able to see baby Adelies. Some eggs were hatched, while others were incubating. I believe on Heroine Island we were told there were 750,000 thousands penguins. We were also lucky to see Weddell Seals. I never in my life could’ve imagined this. Everywhere I look there is an amazing moment occurring! (Amazing smells too …. penguin guano has quite an odor that I will never soon forget!)
On another note, the students that are experiencing this are incredible. Never in my life have I met a more mature, kind, and respectful group of young adults. They are having the time of their lives! Parents….get ready for some spectacular stories! We’ve had a lot of “OH MY GOSH” moments!
Geoff Green, our expedition leader, and Diz Glithero, our education director, are providing the best possible program. Goeff and Diz are delivering a brilliant program. They are amazing people who I’m grateful I’ve met. They truly care about the students on our program and the environment that they are in! Students on Ice is an impressive organization! I’m so proud to be part of this!
Happy Holidays to everyone! I can’t wait to see all of you!
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Posted by Christine Page, Dec. 23
We are anchored in a small bay and went ashore to Danger Island. I am not sure why it is called Danger Island except for the currents of the ocean and rockiness of the land. After a short Zodiac ride, we landed six feet from a Weddell seal – who just raised his head, looked at us, and put his head down again. The island is covered with thousands of Adelie penguins, skuas waiting for a carcass, eggs waiting to hatch or chicks already hatched being fed. The noise and the smell takes getting used to, but the beauty of the scene with all the penguins, birds and seals makes that a minor thing. Watching an adult feeding its young was so beautiful. We are seeing nature at its more elemental here, survival of the fittest, adaptation to the environment and how small we are in the world. In the bay are icebergs floating in a 360 degree pattern with snow falling on the ship.
A shout out to my family and Lakeland Highlands Middle School.
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Valerie Perez:
All I can say is WOW! Its only 10 o’clock A.M and I had the time of my life! At first I wanted to go home because I was extremely home sick but now I want to stay here! No offence Mom and Dad! Don’t even get me started about the wildlife! People who know me good know that I’m head over heels about animals! Mom you don’t understand how beautiful a piece of land can be! I’m so excited! Daddy did you know that only .0001% people in the WORLD get to see the beauty of Antarctica and I’m part of that percent! =)
Alfredo, I was taking pictures of these big fat blubber seals and guess what I named them … fitos! Lol I miss my family: daddy, momma, Enny, Melissa, Markie, Patches, Roxy, Bubba, and Alfredo! But only 8 more days left! Which I hope take forever because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the most of us and I’m just so amazed! Out of all the countries I’ve visited this one is by far the most fantastic. I was always bragging about how great Africa was but Antarctica, it is just breathless. No offense to Africa! It's just the fact that Antarctica is so peaceful - you feel some kind of connection and you don’t know if it’s a spiritual one or what it is. We went to Danger Islands and there are so many penguins! Never have I seen so many! I couldn’t even get a full shot of all of them! The whole island was just covered with penguins! Well, the day has only started and we haven’t even eaten lunch yet and it was just absolutely amazing!
Love Always,
Your Princess Val (your 5 point star)
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Posted by Crayton Bare
How is She
Blank on a map we know
Now a spot will show
A fighting heart of sea
Carved this Antarctic to a degree
Home to creatures that beautify
May become a place untouched to die
Us once apart of nature
Now onlookers trying to do something greater
A blank place from home
Sculpted impressions can never clone
Antarctica has beautiful features but if we don’t care for her she going to disappear and there’s no way we can create another…
Hey family…this place is so wicked, the water is so blue, and the temperatures whack but i cant wait to show you all my pictures love ya tons!
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Posted by Sarah Shackleton
Yesterday we saw our first iceberg!!!!! Jenny and I looked outside her window in her cabin, and we saw little chunks of ice. We assumed that this was the iceberg…little did we know the iceberg that we were talking about was about the size of Bill Gate’s estate. We also saw a lot of petrels, which was amazing. When we arrived at Elephant Island, we were told that we would cruise around the island in little zodiac groups. To quote Ryan, “Everyone basically stampeded to their rooms and was out of there in one minute fully dressed.”
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Posted by Ian Lively
I started for the first landing by boarding the Zodiac and then waiting anxiously until we landed on the island. Once we got closer to the island, both the sight and the smell were incredible. Thousands of Adelié penguins were squawking, running, sleeping, diving, and all the other things that penguins do. As we landed on the shore I saw a Weddell Seal sloping his way into the water and swam his way to wherever. Then I got off the Zodiac, found a dry and guano-free area, and took out my camera. I took several pictures of the penguins on their little highway, which was just as hard to merge on to as a manmade highway. As I made it to the more open area, I saw some more Weddell Seals just chilling on some ice and occasionally rolling to get a better look at the other people who had just landed. I waited to get back across the penguin highway, which was fairly impossible to cross because the penguins had formed a solid stream of themselves. I snapped a couple of pictures of the seals and headed back towards the top. As I made the trip up I passed a lot of nests, some with tiny chicks and eggs. After I passed the main group of nests, I came upon several carcasses, most of which were just bones, but one was still red and had paws. Then I saw the animal that had cleaned the carcasses, the Skua. When I walked by it gave me an odd look almost saying " Who me?" I walked to the end of the island. I took a look around and headed back to the ship to write a journal about what I had just seen.
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Posted by Jenny Deighton
Today is the sixth day of our Antarctica adventure. We woke up this morning in Heroine Island, which is part of the Danger Islands. To get to the island, we had to take the Zodiacs. Only eight to ten people could get in each Zodiac. Once we got to the island, we were given a brief summary of the rules. We were then free to explore and take pictures. The type of penguin we saw was the Adelie penguin. Thousands of pictures were taken of these adorable penguins. We were surrounded by hundreds of penguins! We also got to see Weddell seals. It was so much fun, and we got to stay on the island for about an hour and a half. I am now back on the boat and have some free time…
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Posted by Molly Woodrow
Hello to Reading HS “Men…and Women…of the Woods”
I think Shaf would be proud. Our first landing was last night in a blinding snowstorm on Elephant Island where Shackleton’s men spent four months. How did they possibly endure! The Chileans have erected a monument there to him and his party.
We had our second landing this morning in the Danger Islands, specifically Heroine Island, which is loaded with Adélie penguins and LOTS of guano. What a smell, but what a sight!! At any point some of the 100,000 penguins are either going to or from the water to feed on krill and then return with their bellies full to feed their chicks. We saw lots of chicks, eggs, and some mating, which is unusual this late in the season.
There were also many Skua attacking the chicks and chick eggs and also feeding off penguin carcasses. We found four Weddell seals lying about, barely concerned about our presence.
It is beyond words here….beautiful tabular icebergs and other sights we never get to see.
Merry Christmas to you all!
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Posted by Ryan Simone
Antarctica Antarctica
What is up withcha
Here we be
In the Weddell Sea
Chillin
Just Chillin
Icebergs all up in my grill
Hope there ain’t no oil spill
You know we be hanging up on the deck
I be cold as anything saying what the heck
Snow be blowing EVERYWHERE
And I am with my friends, without a care
The water here looks like kool aid
Blueberry kool aid
Hope there is no wind today
If there is I will stay at bay
Just kidding
Sorry I haven’t called mom and dad
Everyone at home must be really sad
Parker just called me a verbal genius
I agree
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John Paydo
Saturday!
To my sixth grade students at Mayfield Middle School in Mayfield Heights, OH: Yesterday, I found out it is possible to make fire with ice? Can you explain this? I look forward to hearing your ideas on January 3, 2007!
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Brian and Kellie Scott:
Hello to our friends and family in Iowa and Wisconsin. After many days of travel, we arrived in Antarctica yesterday. We woke up to snow and fog with about 30 painted petrels following our boat. It continued to snow all day, which we are told is very unusual here. We spotted our first iceberg around 4:15 p.m. and arrived at Elephant Island around 5:00 p.m. We boarded zodiacs for a closer look at the island. We saw (and smelled) many penguins and a fur seal. We also were able to view the area where the Shackleton crew waited for four months to be rescued ninety years ago.
This morning we woke up to clearer skies and many icebergs surrounding our ship. There were thousands of penguins jumping near our ship. Immediately after breakfast, we boarded zodiacs again for a visit to the Danger Islands. We were immediately greeted by the sounds of a million Adelie penguins. There were also several Weddell seals lying on the beach. We watched as penguins waddled past us on their way to the sea to get food. They would return to their nests to feed their chicks. Many penguins were sitting on nests waiting for their eggs to hatch while many had two chicks in their nests. The parents had to stay on their nests to protect their chicks since skuas (a type of bird) were waiting nearby to steal eggs and chicks. We hope to make another landing this afternoon.
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Posted by Ryan Simone
Antarctica Antarctica
What is up withcha
Here we be
In the Weddell Sea
Chillin
Just Chillin
Icebergs all up in my grill
Hope there ain’t no oil spill
You know we be hanging up on the deck
I be cold as anything saying what the heck
Snow be blowing EVERYWHERE
And I am with my friends, without a care
The water here looks like kool aid
Blueberry kool aid
Hope there is no wind today
If there is I will stay at bay
Just kidding
Sorry I haven’t called mom and dad
Everyone at home must be really sad
Parker just called me a verbal genius
I agree
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Stay tuned for more!
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