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 Good Afternoon ...
Two phone calls this afternoon ...
First, a quick voice message (partly ‘broken up’ because of interference) left by Frances from Chile ...”this is so, so, so amazing ... static ... seals, iceburgs ... static ... whale ... closer ... big ... so, so, so cool ... Merry Christmas.
Then - this second call ... that for sure explained France’s excitiment ...
Polar Star
3.30 pm Christmas Day 2004
We've just received an excited call from Geoff Green. The expedition is having the chance to witness a very rare phenomenon which is unfolding about 100 metres from the ship. A pod of six orcas with both adults and calves is hunting a seal - the pod has one male, a giant being with a 6' dorsal fin, 2-3 females and two calves. The adults are adults are teaching the young orcas how to hunt. The orcas circled the ice-floe where the seal was lying and, using their bodies and fins, made waves to knock the seal into the water. After a while underwater the seal, one of the whales lifted the seal back onto the ice-floe and the process of making waves and dislodging the seal began again. The seal of course, is the worse for wear and Christmas Dinner for the orcas is a sure thing.
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In 1976, National Geographic first reported this style of hunting (and teaching of young) by orcas. Geoff himself has seen this only once before in 64 trips to the ice!! The students are in awe of what is taking place. We spoke with Phil Swarts from Warsaw, Indiana. He said it was amazing to watch. He also let on that that the cheering crews are pretty evenly divided between those pumping for the whales and those pumping for the seal!
Phil paused for a moment to reflected on the rarity - and authencity of the experiences he is having. Seeing the Artarctic Peninsula, the spectacular natural beauty, the chance to hike over Deception Island including scaling a mountain with 1000' elevation. And, to cap it off, a swim/bathe in volcanic hotsprings….. and then updated us, the seal is back in the ocean….
The line was cut off soon after this update - satellite connections can be fleeting even on days as mild and sunny as this one in the Southern Ocean - but not before Dr. Fred Roots came on the line. He is an eminent polar scientist who is a member of the Education Team. "Merry Christmas to all" he said and we're sure he meant the families of everyone on the Polar Star. And, this must include June Roots, his wife, who is currently in Australia - Merry Christmas June!
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More about ORCAS CLICK HERE
Just found this interesting site about the OZONE HOLE and stuff ...
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(Earlier entry below)
Good Morning and Merry Christmas!
Posted: 10:00 am ET
Wow. What a wake-up today. We are in Paradise Bay. 64.53 South, 62.52 West. The sun is shining, blues skies... Mountains blanketed by ice all around. Icebergs and bergy bits scattered over the sea. We are going to be going out in the Zodiacs early this morning just after breakfast to land on the continent.
Happy Holidays to all. We'll be having lots of holiday celebrations and thinking of all our friends and families back home today!
And we'll say hi to the penguins and whales for all of you... Geoff
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Expedition Journals
(Dec 25th)
 Is there a blue addiction? I think that I have developed an addiction to those millions of intricate shades and odd hues of blue that have enveloped our little and at the same time so overwhelming Antarctic world. The routine on the cruise ship has finally set in, even though our full-packed, exhilarating itinerary is far from what one might associate with a dull tourist routine.
Everyday is unique, just like each one of those shades of blue that radiate so brightly from the icebergs that are steadily growing closer. "Why Antarctica?" people back home were asking when I told them about my upcoming journey. "Isn't that expensive, cold, and exhausting?" My answer was simple: Yes, you are very right, but Antarctica is one of the most beautiful landscapes ever to be encountered; an impressive concentration of gigantesque icebergs, looming glaciers, and infinite planes of snow sprinkled with occasional assemblies of penguins or lazy seals basking in the rays of sun which ultimately turn the composition into a winter wonderland.
 Countless wonderful images and thoughts have been stocked "in my back pocket" as Geoff likes to call it, but there was one special occasion which I would like to spend a few words on. Yesterday, after having successfully conquered the notorious summit of the Deception Island mountain range, and while enjoying the precious silence which was induced with a lot of effort from the chaperones, my view swayed over the endless Ice, and all I thought was how dwarflike we humans do seem in this place that is so old and powerful. Just at that moment, a Twix wrapper, in its protrusive colors that stood out brightly from the pure snow, sprang into my view. It was so out of place there, it was completely wrong, it seemed like an ill-meaning strange insect that was misplaced. It had taken only a short inattentiveness, not even a bad intention, but there was already an impact which molested the wholesomeness of this environment. And even though the Ice is old and extraordinary, it does not have the ability to protect itself from these impacts. That Twix wrapper might have remained there forever! What has this triggered in me? It triggered a sudden feeling of protectiveness for this world. Antarctica has opened her heart to us, showed us her penguin chicks crying for food, allowed us to glimpse into the deep crevasses of ancient ice, presented us with a stunning show of an Orca hunt, and has let us marvel at the stunning reflections she imprints into her waters and has even held us welcome to bathe in them. She has done her best to make our stay in her cold house comfortable and I believe that for this hospitality we have to be responsible to protect this wonderful place and all its inhabitants. We have to pay Antarctica our respect by becoming emissaries for her, by carrying her silent voice out into the world and speak up for her safety wherever and whenever we can. Throughout this trip we all have gained an increased perception of the world as a global ecosystem, with the Antarctic representing one of the most vulnerable and fragile of these, and I am sure that we can all use this to care well for the seventh continent in the future.
To my parents, friends, and teachers in Germany: Merry Christmas!
Contributed by: Irene Azzariti Munich, Germany
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Merry Christmas to everyone back in North America! Our trip has been awesome so far. We have traveled so far and seen so much in such a small amount of time. Antarctica is more spectacular than I imagined. Today we woke up to a awesome sight outside of our window. We were surrounded by towering icebergs and the sun was shining on the perfectly white snow. We had sailed into Paradise Bay. We ran on deck to take some pictures of this special Christmas morning. The clouds were thin and added to the perfect scenery. After breakfast we headed out in the Zodiacs to an abandoned Argentine base. We went on a cruise through icebergs and almost perfectly still waters. We approached a seal, which sang for us, and we floated around huge glaciers. After our cruise through this amazingly awesome place, we headed for shore. Here we spotted a Gentoo Penguin rookery and many different types of algae and microorganisms along the shore. After enjoying this scene we climbed up the slippery mountain to overlook the glaciers below. This was a gorgeous sight. We then slid all the way down the mountain, on our life jackets. This was sooooo much fun! Paradise Bay is definitely the most beautiful place we have been so far. And what a place to be on Christmas Day!
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Last night for Christmas Eve we had cookies and hot chocolate and sang carols. This was after a long day of hiking up Deception Island and swimming at Pendulum Cove. A full day of fun! We went to bed tired last night, but woke up this morning with a new excitement, and today is not over yet.
I hope everyone back home is having an awesome Christmas, we sure are having a blast here at the bottom of the world!
Michelle Ward
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Hey Everybody, Merry Christmas. Today has been filled with tons of things to do, that are beyond our beliefs or any in the world. This trip so far as been filled with new friends, new experiences, a new continent, and lots of beef.
Today however has been the best day so far!! We started off with a pajama breakfast and we were all given chocolate initials because we tried to keep some of the Christmas traditions of our families. We then made our first landing for the day at Paradise Bay. This place is amazing, breathtaking, and spectacular which are three words that can not even finish describing it. I first got to go on a zodiac boat ride where we saw all the glaciers and even some people saw seals. Then we landed there on the land and looked at the Gentoo penguins that were so close you could almost touch them. It was amazing we just sat there and watched them feed their young.
After the amazing trip to Paradise Bay we came to the boat for lunch, and everyone was starving for Quesadillas (not from Taco Bell). From then on we have been hanging out in the lounge, watching the icebergs go by. All of a sudden we saw four Orca whales come out of nowhere. Eventually they moved to the other side where they found their lunch, a seal. It was incredible to see this amazing act of nature right in front of our eyes. The seal would not to give up and kept fighting. The whales would gang up on the seal and try and flip the iceberg; it was so cool. The seal could not for obvious reasons battle off, by the end of the fight, five whales.
Today as been great so far, and so has this trip! I will never forget all the friends, experiences, and the whole trip. Thanks again Mom and Dad. Merry Christmas, Mom Dad, Zydeco, and Upper Arlington, Ohio. Miss you everybody.
Love,
Eve Millett
Columbus, Ohio, USA.
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This morning we rolled out of bed stiff from our expedition across Deception Island. Everyone attended breakfast in their PJ's. At breakfast we had to find a seat with our chocolate initial. Most of us successfully found our spot, but others made due with close letters.
Soon after breakfast the Seals group landed at Paradise Bay, while my group, the Penguins, took a Zodiac cruise of the Bay. On the cruise we saw a glacier. The glacier was just reaching the water and broken into square towers. Some of the towers had collapsed towards each other to form arches. After an hour cruise through the ice we landed at Paradise Bay.
At the Bay, some climbed the mountain and enjoyed the slide back down. I watched the Gentoo Penguins keeping their eggs warm and carrying rocks to build their nests. I also made a Snow Chinstrap Penguin.
Eventually we had to leave the beauty of Paradise Bay to head to the base, Port Lockroy. On our way to the base we saw four orca whales. Not only did we get to see them, we got to see them hunt a seal. It was amazing to see the tough seal get knocked off his iceberg and climb back up three times before finally being killed. At Port Lockroy we landed among a penguin rookery. After waiting at a penguin crossing we got to enter the building. I waited in line to buy postcards and stamps. I finally got to send postcards from Antarctica, but it will be awhile until they reach the adressees. Also, at Port Lockroy we saw the base as it looked in the 1950s.
Soon after we got back on the ship we had a surprise visit from Santa (AKA Scobie) on a Zodiac. Well, I am off to the wonderful Christmas dinner with the people from the Port Lockroy base.
Merry Christmas to all! Happy Birthday, Kirsten!
Wildcat
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Merry Christmas to all!!!
After spending Christmas Eve on Deception Island where we were amongst nearly half a million chinstrap penguins and hiked for about four hours over the island and up over a mountain, we arrived at Paradise Bay.
 It surely lived up to its name: words can't describe the beauty of the nature we saw today. We woke up this morning only to open our blinds in our cabins to snow and ice on all four sides as we sat in the harbor. We seemed so minute compared to our surroundings amidst towering glaciers with rocks that are blanketed in up to 12 feet of snow. The water, so calm and blue, reflected the astounding peaks of the glaciers. As we cruised along on our zodiac tours the water was so clear that we saw fifteen to twenty feet below the surface. This uncovered the bottom or in some cases part of the icebergs that floated in the water. To see them above the water was amazing but to see the majority of it that was under the water was astounding. As large as they are above the water, it's unbelievable to think that 5/7 of them are under the water.
There was one glacier in particular that just blew my mind: it was one of the largest and the sun just brightened it right up. There was also a low cloud hovering right in the middle of it almost cutting it in half horizontally. Directly to the left of it the white snow mounded together. It appeared as if there were hundreds of footprints on it, but of course we know this was not the case. It happened to be the leavings of an avalanche off the glacier and was the snow that was left behind that hadn't fallen into the water. Anywhere else in the world it probably would've been a footstep, that's what makes this place so amazing.
 Fletcher told us of how they need to be really careful around here because avalanches happen so much. We actually heard one while on our cruise but it wasn't near to us. We saw many seabirds today and on our way back to the landing we found a seal napping on an iceberg. We bumped a zodiac into the iceberg to try to wake it up and all it did was lift its head briefly and then went back to sleep. This just showed me how little these animals fear us. It's as if we were some other species that lives in a symbiotic relationship with them, rather than a human prey relationship.
Speaking of relationships, we saw a feeding today; not just an ordinary feeding but a rare orca feeding. We were all lounging around on the boat when an announcement came on. Geoff said "Orcas on the port side" and everyone rushed out there to see them. We have been waiting to see them but figured it may never happen. We went out and saw them swimming right for us. There appeared to be three of them. As they crossed to the other side of the boat and so did we. As they headed straight for an iceberg Geoff made yet another announcement, "ok guys, we are about to witness one of the rarest events, a first for SOI, an orca whale feeding." As we watched the whales began to circle a small ice berg which had a seal on it. The seal swayed into the middle of the iceberg for what he thought was safety. They circled him all around and we now spotted four orcas. After using their massive bodies to bump it a few times with no luck they reverted to using their tails. They swam a little bit away and then came at it full force, wrapping the iceberg with the seal on it in water. When the wave died down and our shrills of "ohhh" and "yeah" tapered off, the whales popped their heads out of the water to take a glimpse at the seal that had not budged.
They continued on this quest for quite some time until they got so frustrated. They began popping up out of the water and laying their bodies on the ice, but still no luck. They also tried several more times to splash, it but nothing seemed to be working. The orcas also tried to flip the iceberg over. Through all this the seal actually fell off twice but somehow managed to escape the four whales and leap back up onto the iceberg. The third time appeared to be the charm as one whale grabbed the tired seal by the tail and dragged it off the iceberg. We were sure it was the end of the show. As the orcas began to expand their circle we saw the impossible: that seal jumped back on to the iceberg, but this time not very energetically. You could tell the seal was struggling to survive as it just flopped up on the iceberg and lay there nearly motionless. With a few more blows to the iceberg the seal was dragged off it, and the show had ended.
What a spectacular experience. They keep telling us we are so lucky to have such nice weather, good calm seas on the Drake Passage, and extraordinary events such as yesterday's hike and today's orca experience.
Last night we had some Christmas celebrations which included sharing our traditions and being introduced to some from across the world. Tonight we get to have Christmas dinner and a gift exchange and some other special celebrations here on the Polar Star.
Contributed by Lacy Warner from Rochester, NY USA
$4 per minute to make a phone call
$3 per page to write an e-mail
Experiencing the Antarctic firsthand: priceless. |
