After another 30 hours of travelling, I am finally on Isle de Pascua! The 4-hour flight from Santiago, Chile was for the most part over water.  After watching endless blue for hours, it was rather amazing to see a 177square kilometer island pop up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  My first impression of the island is that it’s far more treed than I expected.  While it doesn’t’ have the larger species of it’s past, the area that we landed seemed to be quite lush with moderate sized trees and bushes.  I’m told that the other half of the island will be quite a contrast to this. 

Our flight landed to sunshine, 25 degrees and a tropical breeze off the ocean, talk about polar opposites (pun intended).  The plane dropped off about 2/3rds of its occupants with the rest simply stretching their legs before getting back on to fly to Tahiti.  I am now travelling with another couple from the ship, and a third gentleman will join us tomorrow because our flight was full by the time he booked.  Our Lindblad representative met us with leis and then loaded us into an air-conditioned van for the 15-minute drive to our hotel.  Driving through town we passed fruit stands loaded with tropical fruits and men selling tuna on the side of the street.  The town itself has a very upbeat and bright atmosphere and seems like it would be a lot of fun to wander around in.  Our guide, Ata, tells us that there are between 6 and 7 thousand permanent residents on the island with 40% of them having Rapa Nui blood.  In comparison, there are ~120,000 visitors per year making tourism the primary (and possibly only) economic driver on the island.  Another interesting statistic is that there are approximately 10,000 wild horses on the island.  With no predators on the island their numbers have ballooned and they can be seen everywhere. 

The hotel itself is a set of 19 stand alone cabinas that over look the ocean and one of the Moai sites.  My cabina opens with a view to the ocean and I have an outdoor shower.  I’m feeling very spoiled right now! 

After a bite of lunch and some relaxation time, Ata picked us up and took us to our first Moai site.  There were three different alters at this location and they were framed by breaking waves in the background.  As seems to be common in the last couple of weeks, I was blown away by the enormity of what I was looking at.  As Ata pointed out, these are more than just statues; they are the history of a people.  Ata spent some time explaining the significance of various stone structures, and we had some time to walk and take pictures.  Tomorrow we will meet with the archeologist and hear more about the process of uncovering and interpreting these sites. 

As I sit here, having a hard time believing that this is all real, I can’t help but reflect on my year/life and be incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities that I’ve had.  I have been so fortunate to have been involved in such an great program and met so many amazingly talented people.  2014 has been quite the ride and I can’t wait to see what 2015 has to bring! 

For now, it’s time for me to go and get ready for tonight’s festivities (pictures will have to wait because the internet is too slow).  We are having a dinner here on the patio at the hotel with a number of the other guests, followed by fireworks over the bay.  Wishing everyone a fun and safe New Years!  All the best in 2015.

Oh and a very special Happy Birthday to my favorite 6 year old in the world! 

Shortly after breakfast this morning we were called to the deck to get our first glimpse of the land that makes up the tip of South America.  We were a little ways West of our starting point in the Beagle Channel, which meant that we had to round the infamous Cape Horn, cruising past Chilean coast line.  

The day has been a mellow one, going through pictures, listening to talks and reflecting on the awesome experience that we’ve all just had.  Although my journey is not quite done yet (I’ll be in Easter Island as of December 31st and blogging from there), this first stage of my adventure is definitely coming to a close.  Many of us have talked about the need to get home and decompress before being able to truly grasp the enormity of what we’ve just experienced.  While I feel the same, I’m also aware that I am about to have a second such experience, and I want to do justice to both trips.  Does that mean I need to doubly decompress when I get home? 

Yesterday’s interview with the video chronicler was a good opportunity for me to start the reflection process, as one of the questions that he asked was what was I most surprised about the journey.  I think coming to Antarctica I expected the ice, I expected the vastness, I expected the adorable penguins all over the place.  What I didn’t expect were the people (and of course this is when I can hear my dad chiming in and saying “of course it’s the people, P over T).  I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to share this adventure with so many amazing people; my cabin mates, the naturalists, the crew and the incredibly diverse cross section of guests that are on board the ship.  Although I will be coming home with a wide variety of resources that I can integrate into my lessons/teaching, I think what I will value the most from this whole thing are the connections I’ve made.  It is nice to know that when I’m back at home, that I will only be an email click away from this incredible community and the resources it has to offer. 

Final highlight of this trip was a late in the afternoon call over the loud speaker to say that there were Sei Whales off our bow.  These speedy 15m giants spent a solid 20 minutes feeding in our area.  The water was so clear that you could see them swimming below the surface, which meant that everyone had their cameras pointed in the perfect spot right as they came to the surface… well everyone but me.  I was on one of the top decks when the call came and didn’t have my camera which was on one of the bottom decks.  I didn’t altogether mind though, it was kind of nice to just appreciate them without worrying about whether I got the perfect shot or not. 

Tonight we will dock in Ushuaia and have the evening to explore before our final sleep on the boat.  Tomorrow morning is an early one as we have to catch a plane to Buenos Aires and then after that another to Santiago.  I have 8 hours in a hotel in Santiago and then the morning of the 31st I fly to Easter Island.  I probably won’t post much tomorrow as it’s a travel day, but look for the next set of posts as of the 31st/1st

Hasta Luego 

So I have to start with an apology for not posting last night.  I had every intention of writing my blog post in the evening like every other day, but failed to take into account the effect that the Drake would have on my plans.  Yesterday we said goodbye to continent and hello to the open water and may have forgotten that my seasickness patch takes about 4 hours to kick in.  If you’ve ever been in an airplane that hits an air pocket and looses a little bit of altitude quickly, then you kind of know what the Drake feels like.  Instead just imagine your stomach lurching over and over again.  So basically the idea of looking at a computer screen made me green.  I decided to go to bed and sleep until the medication kicked in.  It was also incredibly nice to have my first full night sleep in quite some time. 

Yesterday morning marked our final shore landing of the trip.  It was definitely a bittersweet moment; great because we were getting to visit Port Lockroy, sad because this was it.  Port Lockroy, originally established as a whaling station then converted into a base by the British during World War II, is now a civilian manned station, complete with a gift shop and post office.  There are four people currently living there, 3 Brits and an American.  Two of them came on board the ship this morning for a shower, hot breakfast and to give us an overview of the island.  He also brought the good news that a number of eggs had hatched on the island so that we’d finally be able to get some good views of baby penguins. 

The group was split in three, and our first stop was the rookery to see a mixture of blue eyed shags and penguins.  There were also a number of whale bones along the shore that made for some great pictures.  Moored in the same harbor was a sailboat and Eric told us that this was often times a starting point for some of the climbing that happened along the peninsula, or skiing that happened on the mountain on the other side of the harbor.  

After about 45 minutes we transferred to the other island that houses the post office and museum.  The museum was fascinating as it was the site of much of the original ionospheric research, from which it was determined that there was a hole in the atmosphere.  The gift shop in the adjoining part of the building seemed a little out of place in Antarctica (kind of like “Chez Monique’s on the West Coast Trail) but we all took the opportunity to buy official Antarctic souvenirs for families and friends.  As soon as our gifts were purchased, it was a rush outside to spend a final few minutes hanging out with the penguins.  The penguins on this island were likely more acclimatized to humans that most others which made for some great photo-ops if you were patient enough to sit until one happened to walk by you.  I have become so used to seeing penguins everywhere I look that it seems so hard to believe that these would be the last that I would see (for now…)

I cut yesterday a little short because I wanted to be able to just enjoy the evening without having to rush upstairs to do my blogging, but I feel that it was so amazing that I have to do a little recap first before I get into today’s adventures.  We had a fabulous dinner of lobster tail appetizer followed by a traditional turkey dinner and champagne for Nichole’s birthday.  It was a great dinner filled with good company and lots of laughs!  That has definitely been a theme of this trip; laughter!  I am so lucky to be travelling with people who like to laugh and have probably been in tears at least a half dozen times each day.   The night only got better as we shifted to the lounge where the “spice boys” serenaded us with a variety of karaoke type songs and all the guests had a great time dancing.  Fortunately the ship was anchored otherwise things could have gotten verrrry interesting. 

This morning we woke up in Neko harbor (one of the places that a glacier cam was set up by James Ballog) and I spent about half an hour in the quiet of the bow of the ship, taking in all of the glaciers and enjoying the near silence.   Taking a moment to reflect in this land of ice and sea was the perfect way to start the day.  

I think it’s been the experience of many guests on board the ship that it seems like each day is the best and you don’t know how they could possibly top it.  And then the next day comes and they find a way.  Well today held true to form and was by far my “highlight moment” for the trip.  Alberto, the undersea dive specialist found me and said that he was going out in a zodiac with the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) if I wanted to join him.  Of course I couldn’t pass up that chance and I strapped a go pro to my chest and headed towards the dive locker.  The zodiac is outfitted with a metal enclosed structure in which all of the computer equipment has to be loaded.  We quickly loaded up the equipment and were ready to head off in search of a good place to launch the ROV.  It can dive to about 1000ft, but it was recommended that we don’t go below ~800ft in case of complications.  

Shortly after we launched the ROV we had an unexpected (well sort of expected) visitor; a Minke Whale decided to come and investigate our boat!!!! He literally swam so close that I could probably stick my hand out and touch him!  And he didn’t just do it once!  For a couple of minutes he just kept circulating each time coming around for a look at us and putting on a show.  Needless to say it was awesome! 

After he had moved on, we also chose to move to a site with a little shallower waters, and started the decent once again.  I got to sit in the “cabin” holding joystick that controls the thrusters down, while Alberto and the zodiac pilot unwound the cable attached to the ROV.  We hit bottom at 79m (but eventually made it down to 81m) and got our first view of the bottom.  Right away we could see sea stars, brittle stars, sea anemones, sponges, tunicates, sea cucumbers and sun stars.  I couldn’t help but think of my students in Canada and I can’t wait for them to see the footage as it’s everything that we’ve been talking about for the last couple of months!   The best part was that Alberto was letting me drive the ROV!  It was by far the best video game I’ve ever played.  My first attempt at controlling it wasn’t so great as I had to learn how to fine tune the movements.  Once I learned that I only needed to move the joystick a small amount, my attempt at getting useable footage was much more successful.  It’s no surprise that the best footage came from Alberto, but I certainly collected some useable stuff.  It was fascinating to see all of the organisms (we also saw shrimp and fish) as well as the color changes that occurred as you moved up through the water column; from inky black near the bottom, to a green created by plankton where light could penetrate and eventually icy blue as we neared the top. 

When we got back to the ship we loaded the footage from both the ROV and the go-pro onto the screen and found that we actually had some useable stuff.  I hung out with Alberto for a while to watch the process but didn’t get to see the finished product until a little bit later and it was FABULOUS!  Definitely something I’m going to be able to use in my classroom and will post once I have reliable Internet.  Alberto may even use it for future expedition to teach people the basic idea of the ROV.   Tonight at the daily recap he presented it to everyone on board and people seemed to really enjoy it!  Obviously I was pleased!  

This afternoon was a landing at Dorian Bay, the site of the landing strip for Port Lockroy.  In addition to the penguin rookery (they are everywhere in Antarctica, you see bare rock and there will be a penguin rookery) there was also a couple of huts.  Both the British one that had been used to wait for airplanes when weather was bad and the Argentinian one were stocked, and the British one could be toured. 

This afternoon felt like the Antarctica that I had imagined.  There was wind and driving snow and visibility was way down.  I was very appreciative of our faux fur collars!  While standing and watching the penguins, I had an opportunity to talk to Stephanie (assistant expedition leader) about the effects of climate change on penguin populations and one particular point she made stands out in my memory as I write this.  Antarctica is a cold dessert and therefor the precipitation levels are typically very low.  As the climate changes there are seeing more days like today where there is precipitation in the form of snow.  Baby penguins start their life with a downy layer of feathers to help keep them warm.  However much like down sleeping bags, as soon as they are wet the feathers loose their ability to retain heat.  She says that as summer goes on, if there are many more days like today that the mortality rate for the babies will be quite high.    

After a dinner once again full of laughter we have retired to the lounge and are now watching South 80, a film made from the footage that Frank Hurley took during the time that that the Shakelton expedition was marooned, first in the Weddell sea and then on Elephant Island.  The fact that all the men, let alone the video footage survived is an absolute miracle. 

Happy Boxing day everyone!  

Christmas morning started early with an announcement that we were going to soon be entering the Lemaire Channel.  In the last couple of days many boats have had to turn around in the 7mile channel due to the heavy ice, but not our ship!  Built for icebreaking she did great, plus it seemed that maybe there was less ice today.  The scene was made perfect by a little sprinkling of snow, and the constant chorus of "Merry Christmas".  

I wasn’t sure how I would feel being away from family on Christmas morning, and as much as I miss them, the picture Steph sent of Lily and Cooper (niece and nephew) in their penguin pajamas, and the card from my parents made the miles not seem so far.  We were also able to manage a very sketchy facetime conversation as they were opening presents! 

I’m going to keep this particular blog short because I want to be able to focus on all the activities going on around here.  It’s Nichole’s birthday so we’re going to surprise her with a bottle of champagne and a stuffed penguin over dinner.  We started her off with a card this morning to make the day seem a little more special (which may not seem like much to you, but when you’re a long way across the world it’s a nice touch of home). 

This morning we made landing at a rookery that had all three types of brush tail penguins; Gentoo, Adele, and Chinstrap.  There were two penguin firsts today.  Our first spotting of Adelie and our first baby penguins!!!  I didn’t have quite enough zoom to actually get a good picture, but I have someone who is going to send me one and I'll post it another time.  So far I’ve been opting for hikes but this time I just wandered at the rookery spending my time with the penguins. I figured this was a perfect way to spend Christmas morning.

The afternoon was all about ice and seals.  We have been travelling south all day and have officially hit the Southern most latitude of any ship this year.  We spent hours mesmerized by the ice flowing by the ship, listening to the thuds and cracks as the ship plower through.  Thanks to all of the tips I’ve been receiving I’m actually created some pictures that I’m pleased with (Papa, you’d be proud!) 

Well it’s time for a lecture by Ed Stump and I don’t want to miss it!  Hope everyone has a great turkey dinner!  Merry Christmas! I'll think of you as I'm enjoying the music of our on board band the "Explorer Spice Boys 

Today’s theme is whales.  Killer whales, humpback whales, and whale-of-a-tale type stories. 

At 4:15am we were woken by the disembodied voice over the speaker in our room telling us that there were killer whales off of our port side.  I almost didn’t go down because I had only gotten to bed at 2:30 after finishing the blog and the DER.  The temptation to role over and go to sleep was strong, but it was the first good whale sighting and I wouldn’t forgive myself if I missed.  I rolled out of bed, threw on a sweater and headed out with my camera.  If I had been worried about what I looked like, all I had to do was look around at the others and realize I was fine!  There was a mish mash of robes, penguin pajamas, bright orange jackets and sweaters all huddled around the front of the ship, trying to get a good picture while half asleep.  Most of us had forgotten gloves in our haste to get upstairs and so it was a game to see how long you could last out in the cold.  At first the pod of Type A (large) killer whales was far off our bow, but after a time they swam directly up to our boat and surfaced numerous times not 20 feet away from us!  The challenge was predicting where they were going to come up next!  When I could no longer feel my fingers (I lasted about 35 minutes) before heading back down to our cabin to try and sleep for another couple of hours. 

Our first expedition of the day took us to a landing site at Orne Harbour.  We had 1000 ft (silly American’s using feet not meters) walk up to a ridgeline that gave us an amazing view Francis Mountain on one side and glacier on the other.  The glacier is actually one that is being monitored by cameras (placed by James Ballog of Chasing Ice).  Our mentor naturalists, Eric Guth, aka Ice Man is actually helping out with this project and was hoping to be able to fix a solar panel that had been blown off by the extreme winds in the area, and there was a chance that I could go with!  Unfortunately there wasn’t a zodiac available, but at least I can say I’ve seen that glacier with my own eyes!  At the top there was also a penguin colony so we spent about an hour getting a variety of pictures and watching penguins.  The best part about this whole experience was that I did it all in snow pants and a t-shirt!  It was better than spring skiing!  The temperature was probably around 10C today and with the reflection off of the snow it felt even warmer.  Although I put sunscreen on and wore glasses, I still managed to get a burn.  Only on the back of my right hand though, who remembers to put sunscreen on the backs of their hand! I have found that my favorite way to get off of any incline in Antarctica is just to sit down and slide.  This one was the best one yet and I felt like I was shooting down a luge.  The trick was to stop before you went straight into the water… don’t worry mom, I was safe.

At lunch, an announcement was made that it was going to be calm enough at Cuverville Island to be able to kayak as well as have a POLAR PLUNGE at 5:00! 

We were in a group that spent 1 hour at Cuverville Island and then did our kayaking.  At Cuverville we were given the choice of staying by the water and checking out the largest Gentoo rookery in Antarctica, or hiking up to the peak of the island (1000ft which is the highest one we’ll have a chance to hike up on this trip).  Is there any question of which one I chose?  We had exactly one hour before we had to be back at the zodiac so we kept a pretty good pace up a steep switchback trail.  We were rewarded at the top by 360 degree views of the area, including the ridge that we had just come from.  Again this hike was done in a t-shirt, only putting on my jacket to protect my arms from the sun on the ways down.  Too bad my right hand didn’t get that same sun protection.  Again, the descent was sitting down and sliding our way to the bottom, just in time to catch the zodiac back to where our kayaks were waiting.  

I partnered up with Nichole and we head off to check out the bergs that were floating around the island.  We were warned to stay away from glaciers and large bergs, and that rule was quickly reinforced by a berg breaking up near the place where we were boarding the kayaks and causing a big ripple of water to move towards us.  We kept our distance, but kept our eyes peeled for any calving events (when a chunk of the glacier breaks off… not talking about cows here).  We heard the thundering cracks repeatedly, but I’ve still yet to see the actual calving process.  We did however spot some Type B killer whales swimming along the other side of the channel!  We lost them for a while, but then they reemerged just off the bow of the boat as we were coming in.  I couldn’t help but think how jealous my dad would be if he were here right now. 

But there was no time to dwell on that; it was off to our room to put on swimsuits!  It was time for the dreaded polar plunge.  For my outfit, I decided to go with the flannel penguin shorts that Megan made me.  They were perfect!  Thank you Megan.  I'll post pictures when I get them. 

We were one of the last groups to go so we got to watch everyone come back from the platform on which it was being held.  I would say it was a pretty even split of people who thought it was the coldest thing they’d every experienced, and people who thought it was amazing and wanted to do it again.   When it was our turn, the four of us, Nichole, Mariam, Nina and I, all jumped together.  I was smart and chose the inside spot closest to the platform.  The shock of the cold water is instantaneous and it feels like a million pin pricks.  My only two thoughts were “it’s sure taking a long time to swim to the top” and “grab Lisa’s hand because she’ll pull you out”!  And just like that it was done.  A few seconds later I was wrapped in a big towel, sipping on hot chocolate with an bit of something special and pepperminty in it to help warm us up.   Although I had no desire to do it again at that very moment, I definitely enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to jump into 1degree water!

The polar plunge was the perfect activity for Christmas Eve. The music, the excitement over our bravery, the “special” hot chocolate all worked to create a festive mood.  This extended into dinner (which was a special Swedish smorgasbord, complete with meatballs, pickled cabbage and pickled herring) and the evening activity (a showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas).  Of course, not to be forgotten, the humpback whales decided to put on a couple of displays for us, completing this whale themed day.   It’s neat to see families here spending the evening drinking wine and playing games.  Even though I miss my family at a time like this, I feel incredibly fortunate to be travelling with some pretty amazing people who have quickly begun to feel like family.  This will definitely be a Christmas to remember and I’ve decided that my official Christmas present to myself will be being in bed by 11pm so that I get a full 8 hours of sleep, a true Christmas miracle. That is, unless I wake up earlier to watch as we pass through the Lemare channel.  Knowing myself, that seems like a pretty likely thing, so I’ll probably have to settle for 7.   

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from the Great White Continent!  I will be thinking of you all tomorrow. 

Side note:

I am writing this as we cruise down a channel and I can’t tell you how many bergs we’ve passed with anywhere from one to a dozen penguins just hanging out on top.  This is actually becoming commonplace, to the point where I no longer jump for my camera every time I see it.  I think I’m becoming a little bit spoiled.  

Before I get into today’s blog I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who have posted comments or emailed me to say that you’re reading the blog.  Even though I can’t respond right now, it’s definitely motivating me to keep writing despite the fact that this is usually happening at midnight after an action pact day!  (this is also why there are some grammatical errors… I’ll fix them when I get home).  Tonight we were charged with writing up the Daily Expedition Report (DER) that will be sent out by Lindblad so my own blog will be fairly similar since it’s now 1:15am and we’ve just finished our writing!

We awoke this morning to the sounds of something scrapping and crunching along the sides of the ship.  We opened our porthole and found that the sea was a soup of “bergy bits”.  During the night we had made our way into Cierva Cove. 

I quickly dressed and started off my day with a coffee in the bridge.  There were only two other people there and enjoyed those few minutes of quiet, looking out at the mountains, glaciers and icebergs that surrounded us.  

We had a quick breakfast and then headed back to our cabins to prepare ourselves for our first zodiac tour around this bay.  I jumped into a boat with the two other Fellows, a family, our naturalist guide, Gabriella, and Patrick, the videographer who is charged with making promotional videos for the GTF program.  He wanted to get footage of us doing “teacher-y” kinds of things. 

The zodiac tours were our first chance to get up close and personal with ice and I was instantly struck by how dynamic it all was!  While I’m aware that glaciers flow, I guess I’ve never really stopped to think about the fluidity of ice in general.  In no way were sitting and watching a stationary structure.  First there were the currents and movements of the slush and bergy bits, moving and shifting through the bay.  While the larger bergs appeared to be more stationary, they too were alive with the crackling of internal air bubbles popping under pressure, and it is this popping that leads to the circular holes that could be seen by the water line of many.  Then there was the color!  It ranged from your traditional white along a spectrum towards vibrant blues.  Not what I was expecting at all! 

Within minutes of being on the zodiac a call came over the radio to say that a leopard seal had been spotted on one of the ice pieces.  While he lay motionless on the ice for the most part, he did give us a good yawn and visual of his gnarly tricuspid teeth specialized for filtering out krill which makes up 60% of his diet.  The cherry on top of this outing, was a little zodiac motoring towards us with a flag that read Hot Chocolate.  Hot chocolate delivery in the middle of the icy ocean is the way to go! 

After an hour or so we re-boarded the ship in order to let the next group get a turn on the zodiacs.  By moving up to the very top deck of the ship we were able to get a different vantage point on the ice we had just been looking up at.  We also had the opportunity to play around with the Ricoh Theta and get some pretty amazing 360-degree pictures of the area. After our morning excursion we listened to a presentation on ice and glaciers, which served to enrich our earlier experiences with the ice. 

We arrived at Enterprise Island, and found that the conditions were too choppy for our original plan of kayaking so instead we went out on zodiacs again.  It was definitely a wet and wild ride, especially towards the end, but it was worth it for the view of the shipwreck. 

Prior to dinner we treated to a number of different presentations in the lounge.  The National Geographic photographer on board spoke about using photos to tell a story, using her experiences in Alaska as an example.  This was followed by two of the naturalists on board teaching us more about Antarctic seals.  They encouraged us to become citizen scientists by providing them with our images of leopard seals that might be used for identification.  During the daily recap, they also surprised us with an extra excursion planned for the later in the evening. 

Orne Harbor held our first Gentoo penguin colony and marks are official first steps on the peninsula (it’s all been islands prior to now).  I chose the hike option which was a mile  1000 feet up to the top of Spigot Peak.  It was nice to have to work a bit to get to the top and was rewarded with spectacular vistas, including Antarctica’s version of a summer sunset (that said, it’s 1:15am and it’s still fairly bright outside and sunrise is scheduled for 2:15).  Other people chose not to go all the way to the top and instead sat by the “penguin highways” watching them go to and from the rookery and the ocean.  The best part though was definitely the ride down.  Again, bag strapped to the chest, head first and on my back is the best way to get down a hill in Antarctica! 

TERRA FIRMA!!!  Today started off with a buzz of excitement. During the night we had passed through the convergence, meaning that we were truly in Antarctic waters.  Today would be the day when all of these people who have been waiting and planning for such a long time would finally touch their feet to Antarctica soil, or maybe I should say Antarctic Ice.  

The change was evident not only by the excitement, but by the fact that we're now seeing icebergs on a regular basis as we sit and eat our meals or walk around the boat.  

Before we could leave for shore we had to first listen to a mandatory debriefing about the protocols while on shore.  These protocols have been establish by IAATO in order to help conserve Antarctica and make sure it remains relatively untouched.  These protocols are quite similar to the Leave No Trace Principles but with some interesting differences.  When I discuss LNT with my students we talk about the fact that it’s better to sit on a rock than it is on plant matter that can be damaged.  However here in Antarctica you don’t want to step on plants (all two species of them) OR rocks because rocks are what house the lichens and are nesting sites for penguins.  Speaking of penguins.  Probably the most frequent question I heard before I left was “Can you bring me back a penguin”.  I now have an answer for you.  No.  Unless you want to do my year of jail time and pay my $25,000 fine.  We aren’t even allowed to approach them by any more than 15feet.   There are actually people who troll facebook and other social media sites looking for evidence of people getting too close to Antarctic wildlife and they will prosecute you if they find you!  That said, penguins can’t read and so if they choose to break the law, there’s nothing you can do about it.  

In my ecotourism class we also talked about the importance of not bringing along any hitchhikers (seeds, eggs etc) along with us into other terrains.  This is another aspect of the protocols, so after the debriefing we had to take any of our equipment that we would be using on land and have it vacuumed and decontaminated.   I think I was the only one taking pictures of it, but it was nice to see something I teach my students put into practice on the other side of the world.  

Then the moment we had all been waiting for arrived… penguins!  Tons of them.  We were cruising along through the English Straight when someone pointed out a group of them flying through the water.  Everyone made mad dashes for cameras in order to put our newly learned camera skills to use.  I didn’t get a great picture of this group but then another and another appeared.  We saw upwards of a dozen groups of 10-20 penguins making their way to shore.  I guess I had expected to see some penguins in the open water, but not this many!  And then if that wasn’t enough the humpback whales decide to put on a show, breaching multiple times before showing us their tales as they dove down deeper to feed.  According to the sonar on the boat there were krill balls below us, which is likely what was attracting them.  As we were standing out on the bow, chatting about whales, I learned form Andy (Canadian naturalist, obviously he’s cool) that the Killer Whales in this area are genetically distinct from those found in BC waters.  They believe that the last time they interbred was around 750,000 years ago!  

At Half Moon Island the group had two options on shore.  Go directly to the rookery (where penguins are nesting) or to do a 4mile hike around the island and then end up at the rookery.  Bet you can’t guess which one I chose… After two days at sea and multiple days of travel I was definitely ready to stretch my legs and of course chose the hike.  Perfect choice.  We started by climbing to the top of the hill and getting a great view of the harbor as well as saw moss, lichen and the only grass in Antarctica.  Botany goals for this trip have a officially been met!  To avoid hiking all the way down we simple strapped our bags to our stomachs, rolled onto our backs and slid head first down the hill.  Tobogganing goals for this trip have officially been met. 

As we came around the far side of the island we ran into a couple of Weddell seals hanging out on the snow.  While Weddell seals are great divers (they have much higher hemoglobin concentrations in the blood allowing them to carry a lot more oxygen) they have small jaws and therefore aren’t able to defend themselves in the same was as leopard or elephant seals.  This is why we found a group of them sleeping on the snow where they are away from predators.   When they leave this spot you can barely tell they were there because the blubber does such a good job of insulating them that they don’t even melt the snow beneath them.  The seals were adorable and made very good photo subjects, doing all sorts of poses for us.  

After a quick clean up it was time for the Captain’s Reception and recap from the day.  It was interrupted by some squeals and pointing and we once again had whales off of our port side.  Lots of them!   It was also announced that we’d have a bonus stop this evening after dinner at Deception Island.   The bay itself is actually the caldera of an ACTIVE volcano!  The side of it had collapsed filling the caldera with water and creating a crescent shape bay, basically imagine a croissant shaped island.  It formerly housed a whaling station and now is an occasional research station, and apparently up until 3 years ago had a hot spot that would warm the waters around the inner edge of the caldera.  They used to dig pits in the sand and allow them to fill with water and create hot tubs, but it’s no longer allowed as it doesn’t really fit with the whole leave no trace thing!  One shore we could see the remnants of the old whaling station, including some row boats, tanks to hold the rendered oil and outbuildings.  Eric (naturalist) told us a story about a girl who had tried to hide out on this island during an earlier expedition so that she could attempt to live there for a year.  She basically spent the day sneaking supplies from the boat and then hiding so that the ship would leave without her.  Fortunately someone noticed and they went back to get her, but even as they were driving the zodiac towards the ship she jumped overboard trying to get back.  Not surprisingly she was on watch the rest of the way back to Ushuaia.  I think he said this happened ~15 years ago, but still crazy to believe that anyone could think they could survive an Antarctic winter with a couple of supplies stolen from a boat. 

Well I best be wrapping up it's midnight and twilight but I need to get some sleep.  Couple of more landings tomorrow and possibly some kayaking. 

Hope you’re all having a great start to your Christmas holidays! 

Ok, so apparently I seem to like to tempt fate, and fate seems to win each time.  You’d think that I would learn.  Last night I was saying to a couple of ship mates that I thought it would be kind of neat to experience the Drake at its worst; a sort of rite of passage.  You can probably see where this is heading…

We officially entered the Drake Passage just I was hitting publish on my blog entry last night.  There was a distinct increase in the size of the swells and the amount of motion you felt in the boat.  I slept like a baby.  I got up feeling fine, had a shower, sat down on my bed and that’s when it hit me.  The overwhelming urge to vomit… and this is a calm Drake!  The nice thing was that once that was out of the way I felt much better and I was still able to participate in most of the activities planned for today.   That said, I’m keeping this blog post a little shorter today because I feel a tiny bit queasy still and I want to get a full night sleep for once because tomorrow we make landfall and I want to be ready! 

Because today was entirely at sea, the agenda today was made up of a variety of presentations.  Attendance was lower at these as the toll of the Drake kept a number of people in their cabins.   First meeting of the day was an introduction of the Lindblad and National Geographic teams as well as a quick introduction of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow program.  There is nothing like trying to walk a straight line to the microphone when the sea is tossing you around.  This was followed by a photography talk and break out sessions to work on individual types of camera.  I’m not going to get into too much detail here, but plan to write a more lengthy post at the end of the trip about the photography tips I’ve learned. 

I may have taken a 2.5 hour nap this afternoon.  Which meant that I missed the bird photography lesson, but I’m sure I’ll have lots of opportunities to work on that in the coming days.  I did wake up in time for the talk on “Krill and Penguins: Life in a Changing World”.  Rudolpho, the naturalists presenting this topic, spent many years working for the WWF and now is active in PEW.  He spoke to us about the importance of Krill in the Antarctic Food web, as they supply nutrition to countless other species in the oceans surrounding the continent.  However Krill populations are under pressure due to two primary factors, climate change and fishing (they are used by pharmacology for omega 3 fatty acids).  It is difficult to determine which factor is having a greater impact, but are working with scientific models to help them predict.  The problem is also compounded by not having proper data for other species that would in turn be affected by declining Krill numbers, including the Chinstrap penguin (who we will likely be meeting tomorrow).

At dinner I sat with a couple of guests on board the ship, including Australian Mary who was having her 60th birthday!   This trip was her present to herself and so it was quite a festive dinner complete with champagne and cake. I am getting spoiled! The guests on board this ship are just about as fascinating as the voyage itself.  Everyone comes from such diverse backgrounds and I’m really enjoying just sitting and listening to their stories.  Most of them are very well travelled and I definitely have a couple of more places to add to my list.

After dinner Nichole and I made the decision that if we were in our cabin that we should just leave the door open so that it was easier for people to stop in and visit us.  This paid off when Rudolpho stopped by and pulled up a chair for a chat.  We spoke more about the Krill and fisheries and regulation by the CCAMLR.  He’s agreed to do a video interview with Nichole and I about his roles and responsibilities so that we can use it as a resource in our classrooms.

Not many pictures today… I’ll make up for it tomorrow.  Time for bed, sunrise tomorrow is 3:27am! 

What a day, what a day.  I am typing tonight’s post while sitting in the library on the uppermost deck of the ship as we sail towards the Drake Passage.  The only word to describe this exact moment is surreal.  As I try to focus on my computer screen, my eyes keep being drawn back towards the snow capped coastal mountains that make up the end of the Andes Chain.  In the background I am listening to the sound of new friends introducing themselves and singing the song to light the Menorah in the adjoining room.  Again. Surreal. I feel so incredibly honored to be here and experiencing all of this.

Today started early!  I think the next few weeks will be fuelled by coffee and very little sleep.  After a 4:45am breakfast buffet we were loaded onto busses and driven to the regional airport a few minutes away.   Despite the early, or maybe I should say late hour, there were countless people up and about, on their way home from last night’s party.  It’s true what they say about going out in Argentina.   We were handed tickets, walked through security and within 15 minutes were boarding our plane. I could get very used to this! Best part of the flight was definitely getting off though.  Not because it was a bad flight but because we got to see Tom and Tyler (two other fellows who had done the expedition before us) through the glass.  We were able to have a quick conversation and took a few “group photos” through the glass before being whisked off to our awaiting busses. 

Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world, is located in the province of Terra del Fuego, in the region of Patagonia.  Apparently it actually started off as a penal colony, much like Australia, earning it the nickname “Argentinian Siberia”.  You can still see the narrow train tracks that would have taken the prisoners back and forth to their work.  

Warning… I’m going to geek out in this next few paragraphs… bear with me!

We learned a lot about the ecology of the area during our hour-long bus ride to the Parque Nacional, where we would have lunch and a catamaran cruise.  So much of it was applicable to our Science 10 curriculum (yes, even when I’m gone I think about it a little bit).  The soil in the area is relatively young considering the last glacial retreat was only about 15,000 years ago.  Due to this and the cool year round temperatures (range is 0C in winter and 10C in summer, moderated because it’s surrounded by water) the soil is thin and there are relatively low levels of bacteria resulting in slow decomposition rates.  A single tree can take upwards of 70-80 years to rot! Fungus ends up playing a bigger role in this process, which was evident by the hundreds of trees covered by tumors and parasitic mushrooms. 
 

Continuing with the ecology theme, I also learned a Canadian connection to the region.  Apparently the only two mammals that are native to the area are the guanaco (relative of the llama) and the red fox.  In 1836, the local government decided to introduce Canadian Beavers, keeping them protected until the 70’s at which point they hoped a large enough colony would have been established to begin hunting them for their pelts.  Once again, the moderate temperatures of the area had other ideas, and the beaver’s pelts never thickened the way they did in Canada so there was no market for them.  To compound the problem, there are no natural predators for the beavers, therefore, their numbers have ballooned and they are considered an invasive species.  The result is that we saw countless stumps and beaver lodges in the area.  

When the road could go no further, and I do mean no further… we went as far South as motorized vehicles could take us… we disembarked from the busses and walked a few minutes to our awaiting catamaran.  After yet another delicious meal we motored down the Beagle Channel, stopping to take pictures of sea lions, cormorants, terns, albatross and even a few gulls.  As I looked around in awe of this beautiful scenery I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Darwin’s mind when he first visited this place in his role as the naturalist upon the HMS Beagle.  Was he as impressed by the mountains rising out of the sea?  Did he recognize the path cut by the glaciers as they retreated thousands of years before? To be able to follow in any of his footsteps is a Biologists dream come true.  

 Ok, Biology moment is done.  On to the ship. Everyone was full of excitement as we finally stepped foot on the ship that many have been dreaming about for years.  So many of the people I have spoken to started planning this trip 3, 4 and 5 years ago.  We settled into our rooms we did the usual safety drills and briefings before dinner. I won’t go on about the food because this blog entry is already long enough, but it’s a good thing there are a lot of stairs for me to be going up and down.  The staff is amazing and we’ve been made to feel a part of their family already.  I feel like there’s so much I can learn from these people and I can’t wait to soak it all in.  Even while unpacking my suitcase I got to listen to two naturalists having a conversation about arctic krill right outside my door.  Which brings me back to this moment and that word… surreal! 

Although the Drake is relatively calm right now according to the reports, I’m excited to see what she has in store for us when I wake up tomorrow morning.  My sea sickness patch is in place behind my ear… bring it on!

Quote of the day: “There are sunny moments not sunny days” our naturalists giving a rather poetic description to the fact that there are only 40 sunny days here a year