Wednesday, January 04
Antarctica

Antarctica- Today is a full day of landings and activities! By now the beauty and wonder of Antarctica will have cast its spell over us. We hope to try and explore some new areas today at the southernmost point of our expedition, close to the Antarctic Circle.

JOURNALS for Wednesday (Updated 12:00 pm EST)

Geoff Green

It has been an exciting morning to say the very least. Late last night as we sailed south we entered into some heavy pack ice. At times we were stopped in our tracks. But our Captain and our great expedition vessel (Quark Expedition's Akademik Shokalsky) easily pushed her way through. However, at 3:30am we met our match. A giant sheet of fast ice which extended from shore to shore lay in our path. We broke our way about 50 meters into the ice and that was that. Once again Mother Nature was in control and we accepted that this was as far as we were going to go. It is a new Students on Ice furthest south - 65'56 degrees South! The students awoke to find ice around the ship as far as they could see... There was once suggestion to change the name of our group to "Students Stuck in Ice"! After breakfast we decided to go on a little adventure, so we lowered the gangway and walked off onto the pack ice! For two hours we wandered around our ship in the middle of this vast and awesome landscape. At one point all 52 of our students and staff sat in silence for 10 minutes listening to the tranquility of the Antarctic. All we could hear was the sound of some Antarctic terns flying overhead, and some Crabeater seal breathing in the distance. It was great to see everyone just staring off into the horizon and contemplating the moment in their own ways. Powerful stuff. What is especially amazing and often forgotten is the fact that several of our students never even saw snow before this expedition, and here they are now walking on the frozen Antarctic Ocean!

After some group photos on the ice and lots of laughs and fun, it was time to climb back aboard and start breaking our way north back through the ice. At the moment, all the students are out on deck watching icebergs, seals, mountains and glaciers go by, as we weave and bang our way forward. It is truly just a great day to be alive!!This afternoon we are going searching for whales, and having some lectures and workshops. We also hope to have a BBQ dinner on deck tonight and then go ashore for an evening landing at Petermann Island!

Ice breakingly yours,
Geoff

JOURNALS for Wednesday (Updated 5:30 pm EST)

Geoff Green

Another update from down south. We are having a glorious day. The sun is shining, the seas are calm, the skies are blue, and the whales have come to visit us!! We had several curious Humpback whales around our ship just after lunch. Sharing space and time with whales is always one of the most profound and powerful experiences possible. To get a closer we put the Zodiacs in the water, and for the next hour we cruised within metres of two large Humpbacks. You could hear and feel their blows as they came to the surface. The karma is definitely running on overload right now! A few minutes ago we had a breaching Humpback off the port side. What a day full of awe and wonder. It is truly just a great day to be alive. Pictures to follow this evening!

JOURNALS for Wednesday (Updated 11:30 pm EST)

Andrea Snider

It is one thing to wake up and see snow falling on a lovely summers day; it' s also ok if you wake up and see that you are completely surrounded by pack ice, but it is a totally different story when you wake up to unbroken ice as far as the eye can see.

Well that is what we woke up to this morning; I forgot to mention that the seals seem to like wandering around the ship, leaving an odd looking path of flipper-prints. We have been afforded all of these glorious sights because last night it was decided that the Shokalski would continue to head south, instead of turning north as the plan had dictated. This decision has established a new Students On Ice record as we are currently sitting the farthest south that an SOI expedition has ever endeavored to go. This being said, we will not reach the Antarctic Circle due to ice conditions.

Now that we have reached this point I am sure that some time soon the crew of the Shokalski will set our course for home, or at least the Drake Passage as our time in the Antarctic dwindles.

Meghan Hughes

Each day goes by so fast, its like a blur, our days are so jam packed and we see so much stuff in one day it's amazing. I can't believe its already the ½ way point and we have been away from home for over a week. Life back home seems like a different world. With work and school, you never have any time to get away and look at the scenery. This expedition, although 100% informative, has been such an amazing experience I never want it to end.

Today we woke up and were stuck - we were stuck in ice and everyone got off the ship and walked around! Even though it was really cool seeing the ship move backwards when we started heading north, it made the end seem so close, that was probably the worse feeling in the world. We can' t stay here with the whales, seals, icebergs, or even the penguins and guano. However, with every ending comes a new beginning, and as our journey down south ended (and we went farther than any other Students on Ice expedition), our one up North brought humpback whales.

We spotted the humpback whales right after lunch, and they fluked their tail and were breeching and blowing continuously. After much calling by a couple of people the whales came right up to the ship and everyone had their camera out. Then they disappeared into uncharted waters, so we couldn't follow with the ship; but as flexibility is the key Geoff announced that we'd go out in the zodiacs and follow them. I have never seen so many people rush downstairs, undress and throw clothes on so fast, and then rush back upstairs. I didn't even bother turning my clothes the right way round, my sweatpants were inside out and backwards and so was my shirt.

When everyone was in the zodiacs we followed the whales around, and they got so close to us it was almost as if we could reach out and touch them, and as Fritz said "I've never seen so many cameras pointed at an iceberg before." Everyone had their camera out and were clicking away. It was breathtaking, and indescribable, that was the most amazing feeling seeing them swimming around us. It just shows that nature is the most important thing, and all the materialistic stuff in the real world doesn't even matter. Mother Nature gives everyone the best gifts in the world.

Saying goodbye to the whales was hard, they were so peaceful and so beautiful, and relaxing it was the prettiest sight I have ever seen.

All the lectures, textbooks, or anything we can listen to or read, won't teach you a thing! Its first hand experiences like this that show how important some things really are.

Everyone who is part of SOI - or our new name, adapted this morning SSII(Students Stuck In Ice) - has grown into one big family; we all laugh together, joke together, I can't imagine what life was like without them, or how it will be next week! Everyone is helpful and we can all be as crazy as we want (or in my case as klutzy as I am) and everyone is fine with it, its not about who has the longest hair, or who has the fanciest clothes, it's about the person inside of you, and it's sad that people back home care more about the amount of money in someone's pocket that the heart inside that persons body.

This experience is an eye opener; I can't believe its already half way over, I wish days would turn into years so we'd never have to escape this paradise on ice!

Gabrièle Deslongchamps
Students IN ice

Salut le Québec!

Hier, nous avons changé notre ittinéraire pour continuer notre route encore un peu plus loin vers le sud. Une première pour students on ice! Malheureusement, notre chemin à été court. Ce matin lorsque je me suis reveillée, j'ai realisé que le bateau était pris dans les glaces. Nous avons donc encore changé notre programme de la journée (flexibility is the key) pour descendre du bateau et aller sur la glace! C'était vraiment fantastique!

En après-midi, deux baleines à bosses se sont approchées du bateau. Geoff a donc sortie les zodiacs afin de pouvoir les observer de plus près.de très près!! Un peu plus tard, nous avons eu droit à un excellent souper BBQ sur le pont du bateau!! C'était incroyanble de voir toute cette glace qui nous entourait et de manger dehors au soleil! Il faisait vraiment chaud aujoud' hui (surement beaucoup plus chaud qu'au Québec)!! Demain c'est notre dernière journée complète en Antarctique. Nous avons déjà mis le cap sur le nord. Le temps passe vite.trop vite! On se revoit bientôt!

Sophie Breton

Ne pouvons plus aller plus au Sud!!

Salutations!

La journée d'hier fut excellente. Nous avons eu l'occasion de marcher sur un iceberg, de visiter une station de recherche active, et une ancienne station de recherche devenue site historique! Cette ancienne base, qui appartenait aux Britanniques, fut la toute première station à s' intéresser à la couche d'ozone. C'était hallucinant de voir et d'entendre Fred, un des membres de l'équipe d'éducation qui a 84 ans, nous raconter l' historique et le vécu de cette station.

Aujourd'hui nous sommes arrivés à l'endroit le plus au sud jamais atteint par l'expédition Students on Ice. Le bateau est entouré de glace, j'ai même de la peine à croire que l'on va pouvoir se sortir de cette position! Les phoques qui nous entourent font contraste dans ce désert de neige!

Là-dessus je vous quitte, je vais aller prendre un bon café chaud sur le pont et admirer le paysage.

À bientôt,

Amber Church

Today we reached our farthest point south. The pack ice stopped us just short of the Antarctic Circle.if only we could have reached the horizon we would have made it. It's funny how much meaning we attached to a line on the map. In some ways I'm happy we didn't reach it though, it's nice to leave something to come back for. And it gave us a very unique opportunity: to walk on the pack ice. This became a truly profound experience. We spread out across the ice and sat down in silence and listened. Some of the students said that it was one of the first times that they had ever heard silence. The connection that I felt with my surroundings was overwhelming; Antarctica certainly leaves its mark on a person. I am torn about wanting to share this experience with more people. Part of me wants more people to see this place, so that they truly understand how important its protection is, and the other side of me worries what effect having more people visiting will have; will some of the magic be lost? Karma has shone on us for this whole trip and it continued to hold out today. Two humpback whales traveled with us today and we cruised beside them in the zodiacs. They are so huge and majestic.their tails were as wide as our zodiacs. The sun came out for us for our trip back north, allowing a bar-b-que through the Lemaire Channel and one of our first good chances to reflect on where we have been and where we are going. I think the best way to sum up the emotion running through this boat today is to quote a song written by one of our expedition members, Dave Matyas:

I know eventually I'll have to go home;
I know tomorrow may bring this journey to an end;
I know eventually I'll have to go home;
But not yet, not now.

It is time to go hear some amazing stories from Fred Roots, so I will leave this here. My love to everyone at home.

Hugs and Kisses

Amber

Cheryl Horton

What a morning we had!!!! While you all were fast asleep in your beds at 6 am (9 am here), we were walking on sea ice as far south in Antarctica as we were able to go at 65.55.0220. We awoke to find the ship stopped fast in the ice---she had valiantly tried to get us to the Antarctica Circle.but the ice would not allow us to continue. She had come through pack ice until the ice held her fast!!!! What a sight to greet us so early in the morning---pack ice, solid ice, icebergs, and islands to each side of us covered in glaciers!!!!! We enjoyed some time on the ice. The sounds of the Antarctica---other than the engines of the ship---you could hear the cracking of the glaciers.seals surfacing in the water.and hear the wind whispering past your ears. So while the sailors took the time to do some painting of the hull.we enjoyed the most spectacular scenery that one associates with Antarctica---ice, ice, and more ice. It took a bit of doing, but the ship was able to get itself out of the ice, turn around, and head back north. So we are on our way home!! We spent part of the afternoon on zodiacs following a couple of humpback whales---within one whale length away from them at times!!! We followed for a couple of hours---the day was sunny and the whales friendly. We then watched from the ship many other humpback whales as we journeyed back toward the LeMaire Channel. It was such a beautiful sunny day. We finished our evening by having a picnic lunch on the bow deck---as we journeyed through the LeMaire Channel. Tomorrow will be our last day in Antarctica (before getting back into the Drake Passage)---we start early, as we will be in the zodiacs by 6:30 am. More later. Cheryl

Lucas Alvarez

These past couple of days have been so great and filled with new experiences. I have been so incredibly busy that I didn't even get a chance to write my journal. We started with breakfast as usual. Afterwards, we went through an iceberg garden in the zodiacs. Those massive pieces of ice were just incredible. They were nature's sculptures, perfect in every way. After that, we came to the ship for lunch and a lecture from Bill. He is such an amazing person. He was talking about his different sculptures and about a new project called Students in the Air. After all of that, we went to an adelie penguin colony. They were so cute. I noticed that they were sliding on their bellies more than the other species of penguin. I also noticed that their chicks were much bigger than the chicks of the other colonies. I finally figured out that penguins lift their flaps up when they walk because they need to balance out. After the adelie penguins, we actually went to Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian research base in the Argentine Islands. I got to buy some souvenirs there and I got my passport stamped! The rest of the day went on as usual.

Today I woke up to Geoff's voice telling us that we were in the middle fast ice. We tried to make it below the Antarctic Circle, but we were stopped in our tracks buy a sheet of ice covering our passage. Even our icebreaker ship could not break the thick ice. Although I was disappointed that we didn't get to the Antarctic Circle, we got very close (about 30 miles). I had a lot of fun when we all went down to the ice. We had a long moment of silence in which I reflected on the whole experience. It was incredible to sit there, right at the tip of the ship where the bow met the ice and look at the beauty around me. Afterwards, we got to play around in the snow and take a couple of fun pictures. When we got back to the ship, we watched as the captain maneuvered the ship through the ice. The disappointment quickly turned into excitement and awe when Geoff announced that there were whales near the ship. After about a half-hour, there was an announcement that we were going to follow the whales by zodiac. At that point, everyone ran to their cabins to change. I swear I have never gotten dressed faster in my life. I wanted to make sure that I was on that first zodiac. We were so lucky because the humpback whales were putting a show for us. I was in utter amazement at how these huge animals glide under the water so gracefully. Seeing these whales put things into perspective for me. I now have a deeper appreciation for nature.that thing I get so little of in the concrete jungle I live in (NYC).

So now that I am over the state of shock and awe that I was in, I am writing this journal. I almost need to go to the bow of the ship for an outdoor barbeque that we are going to have. Although it is 7pm, it is still very light outside. I am kind of sad that this amazing adventure is halfway done. It's only been a week, but if feels more like two months. Our days are so jam packed that I can't remember what I did just a day ago. I guess that all good things must come to an end. I think that now, I owe it to Antarctica, and all the experiences it has brought to me that I get more involved in the things that concern her. I also need to get other people aware about this amazing place.

Shout outs go out to my I-LEAD family, my Hayes family, and all of my friends and family. I am doing great and I will write some more tomorrow.

Quinn Runkle

This morning at breakfast I was only joking when I said that we should jump off the bow to play on the pack ice. But in the spirit of the expedition, dreams become reality and when we were called to the lounge Geoff announced that we would by climbing down the gangway today to go on the ice! The Academik Shokalsky was comfortably wedged into a huge piece of pack ice and so we climbed the gangway, as usual, and set out to explore the ice. About 3 feet of frozen water was all that held us from the freezing depths of the Antarctic Ocean. We had a moment of silence where everyone just sat in their own space on the ice, thinking about this fantastic place. Unfortunately, we had to turn around. The pack ice was just too thick and it was time to head north once again.

But then when we got back in from the cold a wonderful smell welcomed us. The cooks here feed us very well! They have a number of options for every meal, normally one fish, one vegetarian, and one meat. It's fantastic!

After lunch, for the first time, we had a while just to hang out, walk around on deck, or write journals. Then suddenly an announcement came on saying that we had two hump-back whales in front of the boat. The crew stopped the boat and everyone stood on the deck in awe of the whales. For some people it was their first time to see a whale and for others they'd seen a million whales but everybody was amazed by their stunning beauty. The humpbacks seemed to be showing off, diving and showing off their tails. Then Geoff came on the announcements again, we were going on a zodiac ride, to find the whales!

I've never seen everyone get their gear on so fast! It was probably only about a couple minutes after the announcement that everyone was bundled up on deck and making their way into the zodiacs. We watched the whales for quite a while, but no one was looking at their watches. Then sadly, we headed back to the ship.

Overall this has been an amazing day, one of many that have passed and one of many yet to come!

Quinn - Overview of the past few days.

Our adventure began in a number of different places and in a number of different ways. All 52 people here have had such a journey to get to this point. Some have been dreaming of this expedition for years and some found out in November. But no matter which path brought us here and which path we' re going to take home, we are here, together, for 17 magical days in a phenomenal place.

You must have noticed that many of these journals are written for one particular day, but I'm writing an overview, shall we call it, of the whole adventure at this half-way point. Last night Diz had us all come into the lounge just to spend time with each other. We told stories and talked about our feeling now compared to our feelings when we first began.

I must say, when I flew from Vancouver to Toronto my body was over flowing with emotions. I was anxious about going so far, excited because I'd waited so long to get to that point and I was mostly just dying to actually get into Toronto!

But then when I was coming down the escalator to the baggage claim in the airport and I saw Diz waving across the room, I knew this expedition was going to be amazing.

And I was right! That first night at dinner everyone just started chatting like old friends that just hadn't seen each other for a while. Through the many hours of flights relationships grew and by the time we were in Ushuaia it seemed as though we'd known each other for a lot longer than two days!

If any of you have ever been to Ushuaia you'll know what I mean when I say that Ushuaia is unlike any place in the whole world (that I know of). We got to spend a while there, doing a hike through mountains and mud, staying the night at the beautiful Los Nires hotel and wandering the city before our ship set sail.

The next two days, on the Academik Shokalsky, we crossed the infamous Drake Passage. Definitely an interesting experience for me! Even with sea-sick medicine and Sea-Bands the sea just didn't let me go on. Sea sickness hit me good and hard, ick, I'm dreading the trip home.

But then. LAND! We had survived the Drake, but what lay ahead?

Waiting on the deck the wind licked at our faces and the sun burned our noses but it didn't matter, we were waiting to board the zodiacs and head out on our first landing! On the deck we were all so excited! Robert's point on Robert's Island, our first destination of many! As the zodiacs arrived on the rocky beach I was in awe. The Gentoos were scurrying up the icy hill and there were elephant seals basking on either end of the beach, I just didn't know what to do! So I took a few steps and settled into pebbles near the seals, just watching them. I took some pictures and turned to find a row of penguins wobbling down to the water.

And then, as if things weren't amazing enough, we had New Year's together! Although it was strange not being at home, and having it light outside (!!!!!) it will be the most amazing New Year's of my life, for sure!

I recently learned a very interesting quote of which I thought would fit here perfectly: May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future. This just seems to be the truth every day. Each evening as I'm falling asleep I think: 'Today was the best day yet, it can't get any better ' (or something along those lines). But each morning the new day amazes me. Whether it's swimming in icy water or sliding down glaciers, each day amazes me and I can't wait until tomorrow!

Jenny Chimbo

This was such an amazing day! It all started in the morning when we went out to the bow and got to see such incredible scenery. Imagine immense mountains covered with snow and all the ice around us. This was so beautiful! The sun was out and that was great. After that we went out of the ship and walked on the pack ice. That was the farthest we went and to be exact we were 65.55.0220 south. Our goal was to get to the Antarctic Circle but unfortunately we were unable to do so due to the weather conditions. The good thing was that we walked on 3 feet ice, yeah in the middle of the Antarctic Ocean! We then had a moment of silence which was a special moment for everyone. I must say that I personally just got to see how beautiful this earth is. This also shows you that Mother Nature is in charge and that it will always be. The only thing you could hear and feel was the wind. You could also perceive the landscape which was just unbelievable. After that we went whale watching and got to see two hump back whales up close. This was so cool! We also saw a lot of seals. We ended our day with a barbecue. Yeah we had a barbecue in the ship, in Antarctica! The food was great and the sun was brighter than ever. This day was great in so many ways and it couldn't have been better!