Tuesday, January 03
Antarctica

Antarctica - A full day of Zodiac landings, cruises and educational activities. We hope to make visits to Port Lockroy, Gerlache Strait and the Melchior Islands. At Port Lockroy, an old British Antarctic Base, we have the chance to actually send letters and postcards home from Antarctica!

JOURNALS for Tuesday (Updated 11:00 pm EST)

Geoff Green

Good evening to all! It is hard to put days like today into words. Superlatives can never do justice...which I suppose is part of the magic here in the frozen continent. This morning after breakfast we sailed down
the Lemaire Channel and into the Penola Strait where we anchored next to Pleneau Island. It was an overcast day today, which was nice, since many of us got a bit sunburned yesterday! The Zodiacs were quickly lowered and off we went on a Zodiac cruise amongst hundreds of grounded icebergs. It was like cruising around in an Iceberg gallery or garden. Every shape imaginable, different colours...and on several icebergs we discovered small groups of Crabeater seals. For more that 90 minutes our five trusty Zodiacs wove in and out of the icy maze of these magnificent sculptures of Nature. It is moments like these when Antarctic really reminds you that Mother Nature is in control. And if there is one main message or mission of Students on Ice, it is the need to instill a greater understanding and respect for our natural world, and to reconnect with Nature. Antarctica shows us and teaches us of this around every corner...

During lunch we sailed further south towards the Yalour Islands where we visited our first Adelie penguin colony. It was a great place for the students to spread out and explore. We discovered lots of lichens and mosses, and even some small fresh water pools teaming with the smallest life in Antarctica, little midges and spiders! To complete the day we visited the Ukraine Research station called Vernadsky. We were met with a warm and friendly reception by the resident scientists who took us on a tour of their station. Vernadsky is a station that specializes in atmospheric research, including the study of the Ozone hole over the Antarctic. The students had the opportunity to visit the many labs and get a sense of life at a research base. Also, nearby was Wordie House, an old British research hut we visited which is now maintained as an historic site.

In between landings, one of our education team members, Bill Lishman, gave a presentation to the students about his inspiring life work. Bill is best known through the feature film, "Fly Away Home" which was based on his life and work teaching geese how to migrate. He trained them to fly behind is ultralight plane. I'm sure most of you have seen this wonderful film, if not you should go and rent it! Bill is a special person who has followed his dreams and passions. As a sculptor, inventor, artist, environmentalist, film maker and much more, Bill is an inspiration to all, and the students loved his talk today.

Besides the wonderful lectures and workshops given by our incredible education team, each day is sprinkled with impromptu educational moments, intergenerational sharing and story-telling, inspiring moments, and so much more. It is really beautiful to see it all happening. Forinstance, last night Fritz (our glacialogist) dug a snow pit on the top of a glacier to show the students some of his research techniques. Tonight Fred stood at Wordie House and interpreted in detail including about Wordie himself who he knew. This evening after dinner, Diz led the group in a discussion about the highlights of the expedition so far, and getting the students to share their experiences with each other. It was great to hear the comments and stories from the students, and to begin to see how the Antarctic and the overall experience is beginning to have its impact. From breakfast through to bedtime, the days seem to be weeks, each filled with overwhelming experiences that will take weeks, months and possibly years to completely digest. In the next few days, the education program will start putting a larger emphasis on youth engagement and environmental issues (such as Climate Change) and actions/solutions.

This evening we made the decision to continue further south. Our present position is - 65'36 South and 64'49 West. We are going to attempt to reach the Antarctic Circle tomorrow!! Already this is a new furthest south record for Students on Ice! Just like for the early explorers, the unknown factor which will dictate our progress over the next 12 hours is the ice. At the moment, we are sailing through some iceberg infested waters, but our Captain and mates are doing a stellar job of ice navigation. Stay tuned...

To all parents...you can be proud of your kids. I'm sure you already are. They are really a special group...they are happy, healthy and having the experience of a lifetime!

Until tomorrow... Geoff

Cheryl Horton

My journal entry yesterday was not saved properly (by me) so it is enclosed in today's journal entry date.

Another beautiful day in Antarctica!!! We had some rough seas last night---I enjoyed watching the spray come over the ship!!! And all "that rock and rolling" made it a joy to sleep. Today we had a landing at Cuverville where we were able to see a Gentoo penguin nesting colony.spectacular scenery!!! We then went on a zodiac cruise where we saw crabeater seals, Menke whales, and even saw a leopard seal. The leopard seal is the terror of the Antarctic waters for the seals and penguins. Leopard seals have killed people also---snorklers (3) and one person kayaking!!! After lunch we went to Danko Island where we hiked to the top alongside gentoo penguin rookeries.it was a rather steep climb on fairly deep snow. The sun was out, so it was a very warm climb. The waters are filled with spectacular icebergs. The water is so clear, that you can see not only the rocks on the bottom but watch the penguins swimming under water. We have another landing today, at Neko Harbor.will sit now and have a hot cup of tea.will try to write later today. Miss you!!!!!!

In Neko Harbour we went on land and walked up to the edge of a beautiful glacier.with many small grounded icebergs and remains of icebergs on the beach. We then climbed the glacier (on a safe side) and slid down the steep snow covered slope.even I did this. And that was not all, we then cruised by zodiac by icebergs and "bergy bits" of ice before getting back on ship. Today we went on a zodiac cruise through an iceberg garden. Really quite beautiful!!! We were able to disembark onto an actual iceberg for a bit of a walk. We saw crabeater seals, and my first sighting of Adelie penguins. We are surrounded by glaciers and icebergs. The scenery is literally breathtaking.you can't believe just how gorgeous it is here. It is worth a trip to experience. This morning before our zodiac trip, we sailed through a very narrow channel (500 meters across).LeMaire Channel. We went to an adelie rookery on Yalour Island. The scenery from the island was again breathtaking. We were surrounded by glaciers, mountains, and icebergs far too numerous to count. The adelie penguins were so much fun to watch. They had chicks. They have their nests in groups high up on the island. There was much deep snow, and often to facilitate their moving from place to place, these penguins would flop on their chests and slide along---pushing themselves with their feet and slowing their descent with burying their head/beak into the snow. We will be had a third landing today at Vernaksky Station which is a research station run by Ukranians. It was really interesting.and we also were able to visit one of the original British research stations (it is now an international historical site). Four to five people would spend 2.5 years in an 18 foot wide hut.really great to see this. It is colder today---more than it has been up to this point. We will be heading back up north within the next day, but of course stopping at interesting points along the way. More later. Cheryl

Sophie Breton
Continent Antarctique

Bonjour tout le monde,

Pas le temps d'écrire beaucoup ce matin, nous partons bientôt pour la journée. Juste pour vous dire que c'est hier qu'à pris tout son sens le titre de la chanson "the sound of silence". J'imagine que l'on peut retrouver le même silence dans une chambre d'isolation, sauf qu'ici, c'est entourée de montagnes, de neige, de glace et d'eau à perte de vue que j'ai entendu le silence absolu. C'était grandiose!!

Aujourd'hui nous allons visiter une ancienne base de recherche Britannique qui a été vendue 1$ aux Ukrainiens (la vente est plus facile pour se débarasser d'une base que l'on ne veut plus, sinon ça coûte des millions pour désinfecter l'endroit!!). Je dois partir, je vous en raconterai plus tout à l'heure.

À bientôt,

Sophie Breton

Emily Armstrong

Ahoy from Antarctica's Southern Ocean! Another jam-packed day is coming to an end, with supper just around the corner. Today started off with a chilly zodiac cruise through "Iceberg Fest". We were able to see lots of Crabeater seals lounging on the ice, posing for us. After lunch, (complete with build-your-own sundaes!), we headed for Yalour Islands- home to our first Adelie penguins! We discovered that one of them had managed to find its way into a zodiac; he seemed a bit surprised to find himself there! Back at the ship there was a flurry of postcard-writing in preparation for our next landing at Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian Research Base. We got a quick tour there, checked out the gift shop, sent off our postcards, then climbed back in the zodiacs for a trip over to Wordie House. After a quick peek in there, we came back to our ship via an insane zodiac ride! Unfortunately the weather today was a bit on the grey and drizzly side, compared to yesterday' s sunshine. Speaking of yesterday- it was a big day! At Cuverville Island I witnessed the hatching of a Gentoo chick! Alright.all I actually saw was a tiny beak poke out of its egg and wiggle around a bit.but still very exciting! Well, time for another amazing meal! More news in the days to come.

Note to friends and family: Salut! Hope everyone is well and had a happy New Year's. Remembered to check the messages on the sat phone today for the first time in about 4 or 5 days, and we had fun reading the 11 messages waiting for us; thanks guys! Always good to be filled in on what's going on back north! Hope everyone had a good first day of school.ugh! It's definitely going to be a strange adjustment to head back to normal (and boring, in comparison) life in Hinton. Fortunately we have another week or so to enjoy; see you all soon!

Peggy Armstrong

Hello everyone, back in Alberta and Newfoundland. Too busy, and too much new and exciting, to miss anyone, if that's okay with you! Lots of Zodiac time-what a great toy! Our first Adelies today! Got all the birds that we have seen so far down pat, and looking for some new ones. Still plenty of RDF, like in Nfld., (rain, drizzle and fog!) We are about to Zodiac in to a Ukrainian over-wintering research station! We'll see if they are all loopy yet. Thanks to all the people that supported our doing this trip. I can see that it will only whet our appetite for more exploring soon. We were laughing today at the forlorn look on the faces of the Adelies with no chicks in their rock nest, and thinking that it will soon be Brad and I!

As the boat rocks down the strait, I am deciding on my strategy for the return Drake. Not great with this rocking yet., but who cares!

P. Armstrong

South Rolling

South we roll - small swells and bergs
Sometimes we stare with a loss for words
The blue of ice floes, glaciers and bits
Where here the history of explorers sits

Landscape little changed in the cycle of time
Landscape desolate yet beautifully fine
Tells us of a nature with powerful spirit
Voices of the past - soft - can you hear it?

Where again shall we seek to grasp this feeling
Where will go when the nature needs healing
Remembering today is our memory of gold
To compare with now on, an experience to hold!

Dr Brad

Alison Paul

Penguins, penguins, penguins!

Counting off the species to date:
Magellenic
Rock hopper
Macaroni
Chin-strap
Gentoo
Adelie

Not that I'm bragging or anything - but three of these are life birds for me. How far can I tempt the fates by asking for a stray, lost Emperor to be wandering around on some beach we pass or to be passing by on an errant ice-floe?

Little did I know when I took a little course through the Royal Ontario Museum a couple of years ago that I would be hooked into counting species of birds that I've seen in my life - thanks Mark and Glenn for the new addiction!

This place just gets better and better - even in the cold, pouring rain hours go by before you know it. Staring at one bird on one nest with two chicks can occupy a half hour of your life. But what a half-hour! Every thing about penguin behaviour from mating rituals to pair bonding and chick rearing is evident in front of your very eyes.

Two visits is not enough, I am finding myself planning for the third in my mind already.

Orla Osborne

Just had our first excursion of the day, an amazing zodiac cruise around the Pleneau Islands after sailing our way through the narrow Lemaire channel.

So many icebergs around, with the most amazing blue cracks in them and lots of lazy crab eater seals lolling on the tops snoozing away.

To finish off the cruise we all jumped aboard an iceberg for a bit then headed back to the ship for some lunch.

Kathryn Jordan

Wow today was the first time I actually shed a tear. I was writing a postcard home and I started to think of how sad I was New Year's day without my family. As much as I'm enjoying things here, I truly miss my family and friends. You are all probably wondering how the food is here and it's actually pretty good, except for nights when the choice is either seafood or lamb and veal. Here one of the chaperones calls me "Principesa" (Princess) because the first few days I wouldn't eat because I didn't like anything. The name also came about because I wouldn't eat anything that had the smell, taste, or even had mushrooms in the vicinity of my food. Out of spite, they brought out a plate of mushrooms, not nice.

All day I have had a killer headache, and not to mention every time I think of all the homework assignments I have to get done before I go back to school, it gets worse. Believe it or not, there is no time to get any work done though, it's always one landing at island after another, or a lecture to attend. Something's always happening, but when I get a chance to sneak a nap I take that chance. I try my best to keep up with the journals because I don't find the chance to write in my own journal. For example right now I have to go get dressed for the 3rd landing of the day, so that'll be all my journal writing for today. Big Hugs and Kisses,Love,

Kathryn

P.S. - I totally forgot to mention (Don't be scared mom), but I got the opportunity to get off the zodiac boat that we were on and walk on an iceberg with the whole group. At first I was hesitant, but hey if I was brave enough to swim in the Antarctic, then a little iceberg won't hurt.