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The
Journal
Christmas in
Antarctica
December 24 and December 25
This will be a Christmas I will never forget.
As I peered out the porthole of my stateroom at dawn on December
24, Christmas Eve morning, the song "White Christmas"
popped into my head. Towering mountains of pristine snow, icy
glaciers dropping down into an emerald sea, jagged blue-tinted
ice floes bobbing on the ocean surface appeared in circle of my
porthole.
It was Christmas Eve day,
and the experiences I had over next two days would remain
indelibly imprinted in my memory. This is undoubtedly the
most extraordinary Christmas environment I could have ever
imagined.
On December 24 an
announcement came over the speakers announcing the day's plan.
We would board zodiac boats in small groups and land
at the black rocky beaches we could see about two miles away.
This landing spot was the home of a big penguin rookery---
the nesting spot of adelie, magellanic, and chin strap
penguins-and we would see up close and very personal, 14,000
penguins that day.
We had arrived in the South
Shetland Islands overnight. Southeast of Cape Horn, the
southernmost point of South America, the islands are off the tip
of the Antarctic Peninsula. Finally, we had our southern
destination: the Antarctic Peninsula and two of the South
Shetland Islands, King George and Deception Island. Both
islands had penguins nesting in the thousands.
The Shetland Islands
are mountainous, snow-and ice covered, and uninhabited except
for a number of scientific research stations manned by many
nations, including the U.S. Antarctica is the fifth
largest continent-larger than the U.S. and is 99.6% covered with
perpetual ice. The valleys are extremely dry-in some places
there's been no precipitation for two million years, and the ice
in Antarctica can be almost three miles deep! The lowest
temperature ever recorded there was -132 degrees, and winds up
to 200 mph have been recorded. In other words, we
didn't go there expecting easy landings.
Ownership of the islands
remains disputed. In 1962 the archipelago was made a part
of the British Antarctic Territory, but Chile and Argentina
dispute this claim.
However, we Ocean Explorer troops
are not as interested in political rivalries as in the
wildlife to be. Our mission to Antarctic waters had
one goal: to see the spectacular wildlife, including the
penguins, whales and seals. We were not disappointed.
We were forewarned that the
weather is very unpredictable and that we might very
encounter a sudden storm, with high winds whipping
the sea. If so, any zodiac landing would be called off as it had
the afternoon before.
But the Gods were with us.
I sat in my long johns, jeans,
waterproof pants, three layers of socks, and polartec jacket
keeping me warm under my REI rainproof jacket that has numerous
pockets to hold the little I needed for an
"expedition" landing-gloves, hat, binoculars, and
camera. I was wearing the ship's boots meant for landing in
water.
At 10:30 a.m. the sea was choppy
but bearable. We boarded one of eight zodiacs, 14 to a boat on
an all day schedule allowing only 100 at a time to land at
King George Island in a cove where a Polish Research
Station is located. The reason we were landing there
was that this is a spot where 14,000 penguins live.
We landed. And what a
spectacular sight it was. Adelie and chinstrap penguins
were everywhere, and elephant seals were sleeping
nearby. The penguins are not the least afraid of people.
They hopped along the black rocky beach headed toward water from
the hillsides above. Ever curious, they stopped to
stare at us almost as we did them. W were warned to
step carefully and never interfere with the path of the penguins
to the sea.
I never knew what
delightful creatures these little guys in their fancy tuxedo
suits are. They waddle along and hop sure-footdly from
rock heading toward the sea. They are so unafraid,
curious and amusing that it's like watching a Charlie Chaplin
imitation of penguins. And there were 14,000 of them in this
rookery, gathered close together on the hillside above the
beach, waddling alone or in small groups over the black
sand, jumping into the waves and emerging every so often for a
breath of air. I'll never see a penguin again without smiling at
their antics and being amazed at their sweet personalities.
Christmas Day with the Penguins
Returning from our penguin
watch yesterday, we were treated to another amazing sight-four
southern right whales in a pod came close by the ship and
we watched as they spouted a number of times.
I thought we had experienced the
highlight of our Antarctic\expedition yesterday, but Christmas
Day's adventure proved me wrong. Again, we were organized
in groups of 12 or 14 to a boat, and the sea water aquamarine
beautiful, with sun caused shimmering waves to turn to silver.
The sea was tranquil this morning and getting into the zodiac
was not as frightening for most people. The zodiac crew is
skillful at holding your arms, using the seaman's grip. Lowering
you into the boat and saying, "sit" with authority;.
New do as they tell us. And head out toward
Deception Island to a quiescent volcano that last erupted in
199l. It was an awesome sight, with one part of the
volcano having blown off allowing some access into the caldera
at times. But our interest went to the 50,000 pairs
of nesting penguins covering the hillsides and lining the
beaches, and swimming in the sea around us everywhere!
What a once-in-a-lifetime (for me) experience.
It was remarkable, with the sun
and sea and white icy glacial mountains surrounding us as we
made our way to Deception Island. I'll always remember
this Christmas as the most unusual I have ever had.
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