|
------------------------------
EXPEDITION UPDATE
Posted 5:00 pm ET
Hello, good afternoon all! Geoff calling from the Drake Passage - an absolutely beautiful day - sunny, warm, calm. We are being followed by a group of Albatross ... we have a whole handful of students on deck in thier shorts and T-Shirts! We are not quite at the Convergence - there we will encounter some cooler weather. Everyone is ok - a few folks who havn’t quite got there sea-legs yet - but most are doing really, really well. Everyone is in great spirits as we now head toward the Antarctic by sea. We hope to send along some photos tonight ... Our education program is going very well - we’ve had 3 lectures so far .... David Fletcher gave an Introduction to Antarctica; Juliet and Fred spoke about the Southern Ocean and Santiago - all about sea birds.
HELLO from Sharon Querido: sailing across the Drake Passage - amazing, warm - we are on deck in shorts - holding a contest to guess the exact time we will cross the Convergence; as well as a contest about when we will see our first iceburg! Someone is playing a classical guitar on deck - that was purchased in Ushuaia! The Albatross are huge - 6 ft wingspan - pretty cool. The food is also amazing - the cafeteria is more like a high-class restaurant ... our cabins are really nice - it is all so exciting.
PHONE CALL INTURUPTED --- BLACK WHALE SIGHTING!!!! Screeches of excitment in the background! Yee ha!
HELLO from Martin Emmes: weather is great ... we continue to look for whales - everyone just hanging around - a great opportunity to interact with others from all over the world - the UK, Ireland ... it is a very good time to share opinions and learn from each other. Seminars have been quite interesting - everything is great.
--------------------------------
DAILY PROGRAM FROM POLAR STAR:
December 21st, 2004
"Our first teachers are our feet, our hands, and our eyes." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Polar Star: Believe it or not !
It is hard to believe many things that have transpired since leaving our various homes a few short days ago. What may be even harder to swallow (much harder than that fourth chicken leg at Santa Suzanna or various new dishes we have encountered) is that just yesterday we were in Buenos Aires! It seems that so much has happened in the whirlwind of the last 24+ hours that for many of us it is a blur, and exact details may be difficult to recall. For those of you afraid that the magic (some might even call it good karma) that brought us all safely to Ushuaia may be forgotten, the first order of business today is to briefly recount some of the highlights that have transpired since BA.
The final leg in our journey to the tip of South America began yesterday in Buenos Aires at an ungodly hour of 2:30 am. Antony continues to suffer from psychological damage sustained during the not-so-pleasant "waking up process" in which many of his replies were less than enthusiastic-you know who you are. Fortunately, Moe stepped in as a sidekick to assist by mercilessly holding down buzzers to make sure people were up and ready for the flight and beyond.
At the airport, in an expedition first, everyone who was supposed to get on the plane did, so even at 5 am things were looking up!
Through the daze of the tired faces and fuzzy brains, while many passengers slept through the flight and parts of the rest of the day, they were not aware of all the excitement that actually went on. While Dr. Mike slept, Suzanne, Cheryl, and Brent combined efforts to deliver a baby in the cargo of the plane. Before we even left the ground, James from Memphis was outfoxed by his very own scarf which wasn't actually dead, but simply hibernating and attempted to break free from his neck. Superficial injuries were sustained but he is recovering after a rousing dance performance after lunch through the healing power of traditional dance.
Later on in Tierra del Fuego National Park a real fox was sited, as was the terminus of the Pan American Highway. (Sources tell the editors here at the Ice Cap that if we had started walking today to the other end of the highway, it would take ten years.)
Once finally on board the Polar Star our entire expedition crew was united for the first time and the excitement level could be felt by penguins the world over. As the sun moved from Argentina and set into Chile, we sailed down the Beagle Channel expecting to arrive in the Drake passage in the night- while on board we had deep deep sleeps consisting of whales, ice, and everything nice. If the next ten days are anything like the last few hours there may be a mutiny on board so we can remain on the southern seas indefinitely….
~Contributed by A&P
Yesterday's Sightings!
Beagle Channe,l Tierra del Fuego National Park,
Unearthed Wooly Mammoth, Upland Goose,
Giant Petrel, Greater Grebe,
Magellan Penguins, Red Fox
King Cormorant, Four "wild" horses
--------------------------------
EXPEDITION JOURNALS
Tuesday, December 21st
Yesenia Esguerra:
 The adventure has finally begun! We left Ushuaia, Argentina yesterday afternoon. We got a little shopping done before we set sail on the Polar Star. I felt the butterflies in my stomach when I saw the ship waiting for us on the loading dock. It was great coming inside and taking a look at what our home for the next 10 days will look like. Aboard on the ship, made me aware of things I've never seen before. This is the first time I have been completely surrounded by water. I saw land before I went to bed and then I saw water when I woke up. Standing on the dock and just taking in the fresh air and observing the scenery is AMAZING! It's something that is so breathtaking that I can just stand there, be in total silence and have the most wonderful moment. I feel so excited and we haven't reached our destination yet. I can't wait to get to Antarctica; I've heard it's the most beautiful place on earth!
----------------------------
Susanna M.:
 So far this trip has been amazing. Buenos Aires and Ushuaia were so much fun, although today wasn't such a great day. This morning I woke up and during breakfast I began to feel sick. While I was in my dad's room, the doctor, getting a patch to help the sea sickness, I had my finger smashed in the door - VERY painful and added to my stomach ache which wasn't good. But besides that I've been having a lot of fun on the boat with all of the other kids. Each day I meet someone new and all are so nice. Today we saw sightings of whales and different seabirds. They were pretty far away so I don't think that we were able to tell what kind they were. I'm very excited to finally go to Antarctica. I can't wait to see all of the different animals. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like.
--------------------------
Ashley Tufts:
Iqaluit, Nunavut
Canada
What an amazing experience we are having so far aboard the MV Polar Star. The waters in the Drake Passage are supposedly 'calm' but that doesn't seem to be the case for many students who still haven't gotten their 'sea legs'. There are quite a few students who have not been feeling all that great - including me. Well this afternoon I couldn't seem to keep anything down so I sat out on the ship's deck and ended up falling asleep. Well I woke up and had a huge burn covering my face. Ouch, that just proves how strong the sun's rays can be out here in the open sea.
This really is a learning experience whether you are talking to various people about their great and exciting experiences or taking part in the lectures presented by our educational team. Earlier this afternoon, a couple other people and I went up to the ship's bridge and learned a lot about map reading and navigation. Well I think it is best I go now as I'm getting a little queasy and want to make it outside before I lose my stomach contents.
-------------------------
 |
Kelsi Prince:
Hello Everybody!!!!
This is just a quick hello from the MV Polar Star!! At the moment, we are sailing down the Drake Passage, just as we have been for almost the past day. Last night we sailed out of Ushuaia at around 8:00 or so and from there it has been a long journey. Apparently, we have been very lucky for sea conditions because we were told that this is probably the calmest that the sea conditions get. On scale of one to ten…it is said that this is a one! As you may expect, this is not a sheet of glass as we often picture when we hear calm water. The boat shakes back and forth continuously (that started about bed time last night), and it is quite common to lose your balance in the middle of the hallway. My fingers are still crossed that I do not get sick for the remainder of the journey down the Drake Passage. I've been pretty good so far. Call some of us crazy but we tend to think that the shaking and tilting of the boat is quite soothing. However, with that said, there are still a handful of students that still managed to get a little sea sick. Tomorrow we are expecting to see our first iceberg and hopefully some sea ice as we get closer and closer to actual Antarctica. In the late afternoon tomorrow, we are expecting to arrive to Elephant Island. I've got to go but I have to go and take some photos for the website.
Anyways, love you family. You'll most likely be heading to grams and gramps for Christmas soon. Love you lots…have fun. Think about me because I will be thinking of you!!!! I'm having a ton of fun and see you later!!!!!
P.S. Buenos Aires was awesome…it was a huge city! I loved Ushuaia as well…a much smaller town but just as beautiful in its own way!
-----------------------
Vic (Chaperone):
Hi Folks!
What a tremendous day this has been! We are en route for Elephant Island where we hope to make our first landing in what is formally Antarctica. This is the island where Shackleton left his crew while he and several others made for help in an open boat to South Georgia Island.
The weather has been sunny and bright for most of the day, but has taken on a noticeable chill with traces of rain as we move ever closer to the frozen continent. The lectures today during the education sessions focused on: 1) An Introduction to Antarctica, 2) Seabirds of the Southern Continent area,3) The Southern Ocean, 4) Geological Background to Antarctica. Our first whale was spotted today as were numerous birds mentioned in the lecture. A few folks were experiencing some seasickness but as of tonight only one was still under the weather so to speak. We apparently have not been experiencing the Drake Passage at its normal worst which I would say is just perfect.
The students come from a variety of backgrounds, education levels and places in the world. Frances, our Chilean student , who speaks perfect English (learned in school!!!) joined us the day before yesterday just in time for us to celebrate her birthday - cake included! Ashley from our Canadian North found the weather perfect temperature-wise in this part of the world. When I checked the temperature at home it was minus 19 Celsius there - about 19 degrees colder than it was here! Christmas is getting closer. Does Santa come to the Antarctic? Bye for now to Kathy, Abby, Mary, Grant & Ben at the Times.
-------------------------
Marc Thomas:
This morning when I woke I felt a feeling like no other, I was sea sick. When I went to breakfast I went struggling to get to the breakfast room, by the time I got there I was very tired. I ate a bowl of cereal and went back to sleep before the workshop began. When the first workshop began they took attendance, after they had took attendance one kid had got up and began to hurl in front of everybody, at that moment I felt my worst and I ran to my room and laid down. When lunch approached I was really down and went back to sleep until the next workshop. As I spend the next couple of days at sea I will think of the opportunity that was given to me to embark on such an adventure. Hi mom, and family, friends( Erica, Tif, John, Pedro,etc)
-----------------------------
Ellen (Chaperone):
OPA OPA OPA J, this is Vlad and Dan. We are on the ship and so far this has been the most exciting trip and we've come so far. Now we are on the Drake Passage and await a new world ahead of us. During this time, we've been educated about the Antarctic and the seas within. "It's been a day of whales"- Geoff Green. Just a few minutes before, we were playing guitar and singing songs. We are also creating the new single, OPA. Today we've had a couple of lectures about the Antarctic animals, plants, currents, and birds. We're in debriefing right now and we have POD meetings after that. Vlad and I are roommates, not really, but we are best friends. We are learning about global warming and its effect upon currents. "HEY MOM AND DAD"-Vlad. "HEY MOM AND DAD"-Dan. OPA OPA OPA J.
We crossed the Antarctic Convergence about an hour ago…we are truly in Antarctica and will see our first land tomorrow. It has been a fantastic trip so far. Some of the comments that have been made to me really sum up what this is all about. With a huge smile on his sunburned face, Bruce said, "I am learning so much." He has been working with our photography expert, Daniel Ortiz, and volunteered to create a slide show of photos. You should see some of Bruce in this daily report. Emma and Callie came out of the afternoon education session saying, "We can't believe the lectures…they are so interesting." They truly appreciate the incredible expertise available on board. In order to compete in the contest to guess the time that we would cross the Antarctic Convergence, they went to the bridge, got the information they needed, and calculated the time carefully. [Note to Alysia: These girls will contact you re getting involved in the conference.] The highlight of my day today was watching the seabirds following in our wake. Swooping albatross, petrels, and prions were beautiful and graceful. The temperature has been dropping steadily as we go farther south…no more T-shirts and sandals on deck! We hope to make our first shore landing tomorrow afternoon at Elephant Island, the site where Shackleton's men waited for rescue after the Endurance was crushed by the pack ice. We expect to see our first icebergs as well.
Note to parents and others: In case you are wondering about the email silence, none of us have access to email (either incoming or outgoing) on board the ship. We are encouraging people to write journal entries for web site posting. Everyone is having a great time.
--------------------
 |
Carmen Lishman:
(Chaperone)
I had a lot of amazing experiences today, none of which I will forget. The more time I spend with this group the more I think about the future of Antarctica and the world. One student that I sat with at dinner had come down to the meal hall after a day of feeling sick. Looking a little green, and with tears in her eyes she tried to eat. She told me she is a sophomore in high school and when I asked her what she thinks she might do after high school I thought her answer was really neat. She told me that she would like to be a marine biologist. She was given a plush toy octopus when she was young and has been really interested in the octopus ever since. I thought this was really interesting. I didn't know too much about octopus, and I asked her what phylum they belong to out of curiosity. "They're cephalopods," she said. She went on to tell me that they are most closely related to squids and have no bone structure, except for a small part of their body.
It's difficult to articulate the significance I saw in this. I guess it reminded me of the inspiration people derive from the natural world. Regardless of the places we grow up, whether in the city or country, in the US or Canada, Northern or Southern Hemisphere, small pieces of the natural world can transform us and remind us of the power and beauty of nature. I thought this young woman was very intelligent, bright and brave for leaving her family during the holidays. It was particularly a hard day for her because she was feeling so unwell. I smiled to think that her interest in marine biology and the environment originated with a toy octopus. There is so much the staff can learn from the students and this was made very clear to me today.
-----------------------
Katie King:
I woke up really early this morning to the sound of stuff moving around my room. I went back to sleep after realizing it was just the waves picking up. I don't know if it's the rocking of the boat or the anti-seasickness medication, but I'm sleeping very soundly at night. Today a chaperone had to actually come inside my room to get me up because I had not heard her knocking. After breakfast, my roommate and I explored the boat for a while. The Polar Star is nicer than I was expecting. There's a library, a gym, a dining area, a really big lounge that is surrounded by windows, a gift shop, and a bar. The rooms are also pretty good; I'm one of the lucky ones with a comfy double bed. Today we also saw some wildlife. Albatrosses are flying all over the place and we had a whale sighting this morning. We were told tonight that we will probably be able to see Antarctica by tomorrow. As soon as some icebergs start appearing, I want to get some people to go outside with sunglasses and bathing suits, so I can get a photo of all of us "tanning" with icebergs in the background.
--------------------------------
FOR OUR ARMCHAIR EXPEDITIONERS:
The Antarctic Convergence
 The water temperatures of the Southern Ocean are far from uniform. Around 60 degrees South, where the Southern ocean meets the warmer southward flowing waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, is the zone known as the Antarctic Convergence, or Polar Front. The total area of sea within the convergence makes up one tenth of all the world's oceans, and contains the coolest and densest water to be found anywhere.
A portion of this, known as Antarctic Bottom Water, spreads out over the world's ocean floors and causes the temperature of much of the deep ocean to be cooled to less than 2 degrees C. Antarctic Bottom Water is rich in oxygen. The cold moderates much of the earth's climate by counter-balancing the heating effect of the tropics.
Within the boundaries of the Southern Ocean, the east-flowing currents have a complex vertical circulation which draws water rich in nutrients to the surface. These nutrients are the basis for the highly productive nature of the southern seas. As well as being rich in marine life, the Southern Ocean plays a complex role in the formation of weather patterns of the continent.
DRAKE PASSAGE: For an interesting NASA image of the Drake Passage ... CLICK HERE
Albatrosses
 Albatrosses spend most of their lives on the wing, gliding and circling the wind systems. There is believed to be a total of 750,000 breeding pairs of the 13 species of these massive birds. They feed mainly on a diet of squid, and breed on the sub-antarctic islands. The adults share incubation, brooding and feeding of the single chick.
The Wandering Albatross, most famous and largest of the albatrosses, roams the Southern Ocean. They have a wingspan of around 11 to 11.5 feet ( 2.9 -3.45m) and weigh around 18 lbs ( 88.2 kg). Effortlessly soaring on the up-draughts, they seem to stay aloft for days on end. Adults have been recorded flying up to 550 miles per day at speeds of 50 mph, and in a single foraging flight they can cover an incredible 1800 to 9300 miles, a distance greater than the diameter of the earth. In today's world, their main threat is being snared in gill-nets and caught on longline hooks
Other albatross species of the southern oceans include the Royal, similar in size to the Wanderer; the Light-mantled sooty, one of the most beautiful of all birds; and the Gray-headed, the Yellow nosed and the Black-browed albatrosses
------------------------------
|
