EXPEDITION UPDATE:
Antarctica Peninsula - Dec. 25

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ANTARCTICA!




New Photos posted below 12:39 pm EST
by Students on Ice Headquarters

(Some of the team out at sunset - Christmas Eve)

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Posted at 8:55 am EST
by Students on Ice Headquarters

Good morning! We received a satellite phone call from Geoff late last night after their spectacular Elephant Island landings yesterday.


(Elephant Seals)

"We had a great landing at Deception Island yesterday. We found a Leopard Seal at the far end of the beach! I have never seen that before. It seemed healthy but I sense it was not feeling 100%. Many of the students joined the Antarctic Swim Team today jumping into the freezing cold ocean - we will send you pictures of that today if we are able - before warming up in the geothernally heated "beach pool" that we made on Whaler's Bay beach. Then we sailed up to Hannah Point. The conditions were flat calm so we were able to do a double landing at the Chinstrap rookery, and over at the Elephant Seal wallow. There were at least 75 Elephant seals there - the most I have seen in many years - and they were very healthy and happy, burping away as Elephant seals do. And we saw two macaroni penguins within the Chinstrap colony. The highlights and surprises just kept on coming... because we then saw a Leopard seal catch and eat a penguin just out from our landing site. Some of the students got a close up from the Zodiacs.


(Chinstrap carefully examines a sleeping Leopard seal!)

We are now sailing south towards the Gerlache Strait and are heading to Danco island for tomorrow morning. The weather seems to be improving dramatically with the sun finally emerging and flat calm seas. Our next three days down in the southern Gerlache region and down the Lemaire Channel should be quite spectacular. All the students are on the lookout for whales, and that will be a priority for us in the days to come.


(Spot the Macaroni among the chinstraps!)

In between landings today, we had a lecture by Eric on 'Ice Caps' and Glaciers. Tonight the students are looking forward to a presentation by Bill Lishman about his career working with birds, and then we're showing the movie inspired by his life's story: 'Fly Away Home.'

Our Holiday Celebrations will include a special Christmas dinner, and maybe some tobagganing at Neko Harbour. And of course we hope Santa Claus will find us!


(Christmas Eve sunset)

STUDENT JOURNALS!

Denisse Delgadillo - Student

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

This adventure to Antarctica is amazing. I have seen some of the most beautiful places on earth. I still am trying to soak in everything that I have seen. Right now our ship is stationed at Danco Island. We just finished climbing a huge hill of snow. It was so tiring, but it was worth it in the end. Mariella, Astley, and I slid down when we were heading back to the ship. I have learned something new everyday including information on penguins (Chinstrap, Weddell, Macaroni and Gentoo), on seals (Leopard, Weddell and Crabeater) and various other sea birds. I have visited many places in Antarctica including Elephant, Danger, Paulet, Deception, Livington, and Danco Islands. I have also been zodiac cruising. I love the Zodiacs; they take us to our destination. This experience is so amazing.  I do not know what else I can say to express what I am experiencing. Hope everybody has a great Christmas. See you soon. I also just wanted to tell the people whom I know that I love them and miss them.  

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Helaine and Jack Greenberg – Adult Expedtioners

Dear family and friends,

We are fine in Antarctica. The weather is sunny today, and we are on the Antarctic Peninsula. This is like being in another world or another planet. Everything is gorgeous. There are lots of small icebergs outside. We have seen a huge iceberg and many penguins living all over a small island.  We have also seen many other animals like birds and a few seals. It is not as cold as you would think, and we are dressed well.

The students are great and interested, and the people are very nice.

Lots of love, 

Helaine and Jack Greenberg

"Scobie Claus" and his little helper Santiago

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Brian and Kellie Scott – Adult Expeditioners

Merry Christmas from Antarctica!  We have had many awesome experiences in the past few days.  Yesterday we began the day with a stop at Deception Island. Our zodiacs were greeted by three curious chinstrap penguins.  We set out across the beach to check out the deserted whaling station.  We also got to climb up a peak called Neptune’s Window for stunning views of the entire island.  On the way back to the zodiacs, some seals were spotted on the beach.  The first one was a leopard seal.  We speculated that the leopard seal was not in very good condition because it is rare for them to be seen on land.  We watched as two chinstrap penguins walked up to the seal and sniffed it.  Normally, the seal would have eaten those penguins.  There was also a Weddell seal and a baby Weddell seal on the beach.   Before heading back to the ship, it was time to join the Antarctic swim team!  We stripped down to our swim suits and headed out to the cold water of the bay for a quick dip and then headed back to the water heated by the volcano beneath our feet. 

After lunch, we made two stops on Hannah Point on Livingston Island.  We saw colonies of Gentoo and chinstrap penguins.  Right in the middle of those penguins was a pair of macaroni penguins.  You could tell them apart by the colourful feathers sticking out from their head.   They were the only two on the island.  From there we headed across the bay to visit some elephant seals.  The seals were huge, and we could hear their presence before we could see them.  They were constantly belching and farting.  Otherwise their main activity was sleeping.  After dinner we waited for Christmas.  When midnight struck, it was still light out!

This morning, we visited Danco Island and hiked to the top of an ice cap.  There were nesting gentoo penguins taking advantage of the stunning views of icebergs.  You could see the highways the penguins had made through the snow on their path from their nests to the sea.  Our ship was surrounded by various sizes, shapes, and colors of icebergs.  The silence was filled with the crackling noise of calving glaciers.  It sounded like thunder.  Two crabeater seals have just been spotted in front of the ship.  We are lifting our anchor now to head to Andvord Bay and Neko Harbor.  Everyone is out on deck looking for whales. 

We send all of our love to our friends and family in Iowa and Wisconsin.  I hope Santa visited you!

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Livio Jimenez - Student

The ship has dropped anchor during the night, and we woke up in the most beautiful scenery yet. The scenery gets more and more beautiful every day as we head south. We are surrounded by bits of ice that glow with the suns help. The hills are surrounding us as well. They are covered in snow.

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Valerie Perez – Student

Merry Christmas everyone! Gosh, can you believe its Christmas already. Well it has been a great Christmas - No need to dream of a white Christmas. I don’t think any other Christmas can top this one!

Today we visited Danco Island where we climbed a mountain. I have never sweated so much in my life!  I seriously wanted to cry because of how gorgeous it was. It’s amazing how God can create such jaw dropping scenery! He is the artist of the year! Today is such a beautiful day, the snow is white and bright and you can finally see all the mountains and the icebergs. The icebergs are so amazing, all of them with different structures and different sizes. The beauty of Antarctica seriously just leaves you in awe.

Merry Christmas Momma and Daddy, Adam, Kaitlyn and Alfred, I love you all so much, and I hope you guys don’t miss me too much. I bet the house is silent! If I see Santa passing by from the South Pole, I will let you know.  I love you Alfred. Merry Christmas everybody!

Love Always, Your Princess (your 5 point star)

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Astley Robinson - Student

It's Christmas!  This is the first Christmas I have ever been away from home, and seems like a stepping-stone to me becoming independent. I hope my mother and older sister are holding up since I usually spend Christmas with them, but I know they support me and my decision to come on this expedition to Antarctica.  My love for my family has grown so much since I went on this expedition, and I cannot wait to just bask in their wonderful presences when I return home.

Christmas here on the Polar Star, our ship, has been absolutely wonderful so far.  We spent the morning doing a somewhat difficult hike up a mountain on Danco Island in the snow! It was one of the more challenging excursions. Every time I took a step the snow would swallow up my leg all the way past my knee! After one of these monstrous steps my boots got stuck deep in knee high snow and needed three people to dig it out! Yet, the most magnificent site of my life overshadows my surrender to the unpredictable climb.  It was just then that the sun hit the snow-capped mountains, and the scenery looks like it was out of a dream.  The mountains looked delicate and calm despite their enormous size, relentless depth, and unpredictability. On the way down I had some real fun, sliding, rolling, and belly flopping down the mountain instead of walking. It was a moment when you felt out-of-control, and it felt freeing.

In the afternoon we went on a zodiac cruise, which is riding around in rafts, to get a closer view of the wildlife and scenery. We saw examples of compressed ice, icebergs, glaciers, and we even saw an injured Crabeater Seal, which is heartbreaking, but survival of the fittest is realized.  Like seals on icebergs, we sat out on the deck of the ship in tee shirts and shorts enjoying the hot suns rays! The sun is hot down here in this part of Antarctica because the ozone layer is thin.

I hope all my friends and family are having a white Christmas in the states and is thinking of me. I still need your blessing. I want to thank my mother and brother and sisters for helping this trip come true for me, and I would like to thank my friends for supporting me.  I want to send a shout-out to my mother, my brother Andrew, my sisters Ann, Becky, Andree, Sarahn, Aquinas High School, and all those who sponsored me on this trip.

Thanks and Merry Christmas (and Hanukah and Kwanza).

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Andy Diaz - Student                                         

Hi, I just hope everyone is doing well.   I’m seeing a lot of cool things.  I also hope everyone is having a great Christmas and a good New Year.  Judy and Rob, you both are cool bosses, and I hope you both are having a good X-MESS!

P.S.    Have a wonderful Christmas!

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John Paydo - Chaperone

Hello Everyone!  I would like to wish all of my family and friends a Merry Christmas!  We just hiked to the top of a mountain (Danco Island) overlooking a gorgeous bay filled with hundreds of icebergs. We had to make our own path up so it was a bit tough at times.  Just as you got your footing, you fell into the snow.  Today was our first day of sun so it was beautiful!  Words can’t describe this experience.  I miss my family so much on this day, but I’m thinking of all of you!  I hope everyone is doing well!  Christmas greetings!!

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Kelsey Payne - Student

Merry Christmas!  So far, today has been an incredible Christmas Day!  This morning we woke to a beautiful bay full of icebergs, surrounded by towering mountains capped with pure white snow.  After breakfast we did our first landing on Danco Island and did a huge climb.  Merry Christmas!!

He’s making a list and checking it twice!

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Mariella Paulino - Student

Hello fellow readers--MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have to say that these past few days have been extremely hectic. Although I do miss home terribly, I would honestly do anything to be able to stay here for just a bit longer, if not permanently.  Antarctica, my fellow adventurers and our leaders have become a part of my routine, a part of my life. I have never been good at giving anything up, so I don’t know how I will learn to deal with life once I go back to my boring old life.  I love every new adventure here, the rush, the cold, the thrill, and the sense of becoming part of something that not many get to experience.  The thought that I am living this myself never fails to leave me dumbfounded.

Stay tuned for more!