Please forgive the formatting. That is something I still struggle with on the blog.....
December 9
Drake Passage, sunrise 4:51 am, sunset 10:01 pm
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| Securing the piano is a must |
Sidney slept quite well. As usual in a new bed I didn't. In addition there was some 8 meter swell in the middle of the night as we went off the continental shelf. After a rough night for me I didn't want a ton to eat and Sidney was feeling a bit queasy. We went up to breakfast anyway and nibbled a bit. Sidney sat outside to be cool which was really cold... she ate some green apple which helped. Apparently others were sick as well as there were small plastic bags laid over the rails along each corridor.
We met the expedition team and learned their passions. Some like ice, some like whales, some like birds, and others are more generalist.
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| Ponant Themed Dessert |
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| Boots |
At about noon we crossed the convergence where the two oceans meet. It makes an angle from Ushuaia to the south east. The water is warm to the north of this line (maybe 5C) and cold to the south (-1C.)
I took two naps and so did Sidney. That helped big of us a bit. I still struggled off and on. We also got our boots and did our clothes vacuuming. The clothes vacuuming is required to not carry seeds in particular onto Antarctica. We were required to vacuum all zippers, buttons, seams, and pockets of the outer layer and the next layer if the items had ever been worn.
Sidney and I had the only set of two white pairs of boots as we had nearly the smallest feet on the ship. Some of the smaller women's boots are white. We learned how to store the boots, outside the room on the mat by the door. We also learned about washing them before we got on the zodiac to go on land and as we came back onto the ship. Washing before going out protects Antarctica and washing them coming back protects the ship (removes the ever present penguin guano).
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| Sidney and Jack at the pool |
We attended a lecture on penguins. I won't bore you with all the details but I'll provide some interesting facts. Penguins are only found in the Southern Hemisphere as are Albatrosses. There are 18 species of penguin. Penguins received there name from the now extinct Great Auk. That bird was of similar color to the penguin and called "Penguinus Impennis" meaning without flying feathers. We should see Adélie, Gentoo, and Chinstrap on this trip. Any others we see are very lost. Ok I'll stop. I have 7 small pages of notes. 
Emperor penguin feathers are very dense, 10 feathers per square centimeter, 4 times denser than other birds. They have an oil gland that is very important for hydrodynamics and insulation. The birds also release micro bubbles from the feathers to promote hydrodynamics and can dive and then release bubbles to jump 1-2 meters out of the water onto land. 
The penguins create highways between their colonies and the sea. These are their travel paths that they have beaten down the snow in. If we encounter them we are to step over. If we encounter a penguin, it gets the right of way.
One other thing about penguins is that in general they don't like each other. They live together for survival but are always at least a wing length from each other. They will also steal rocks from each other. Only the Emperor and King Penguins hurdle together for warmth. In their large group it could be -30°C outside their huddle and 20°C in the huddle.
The evening held the welcome reception and gala dinner. This dinner held 5 courses, a starter, a cold appetizer, a hot appetizer, the main course and dessert. There was also a sweet treat after dinner. The starter was cold cauliflower curry soup. The cold appetizer for the vegetarian menu which Sidney and I chose was quinoa with avocado. The hot appetizer was gnocchi with Parmesan and death truffle mushrooms. It was amazing. The main course was risotto with asparagus and Parmesan, also amazing. The dessert was chocolate cake Le Ponant. The cake had the Ponant logo on top. Dinner lasted almost two hours and so we crashed immediately after dinner.
The ship has two restaurants, one is on deck 6 and is always a buffet and requires reservations at night. The other is on Deck 2 and is A la carte. No reservations are required. It is a much bigger room.  |
| Champagne on ice |
Spotlight: The Drake Passage and Sir Francis Drake- Most visitors to Antarctica must cross the renowned Drake Passage. Sir Francis Drake discovered this stretch of water in 1578 having sailed through the Strait of Magellan into the pacific and then getting blown far south. The event implied a connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Drake is the shortest crossing between any continent and Antarctica. It is however one of the most feared passages even if the shortest. During the passage we cross the convergence where the cold Antarctic water meets the warmer northern oceans. The water is 5°C above the convergence and 1°C or less below the convergence. 
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| Walking on water (ok frozen water but still) |
Sir Francis Drake was an English sailor going to sea at a young age. He sailed the Pelican, later named the Golden Hind, he made the second circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580. He discovered the Drake passage as described above proving that there was no continent connected to South America.
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| Antarctic Tern landing on Antarctic lichen covered rock |
The wall paper on the ship is almost like stickers. There are two layers that are the same so they can peel off a layer if needed for an immediate fix. If needed then the bottom layer can be peeled off and replaced with another set of double layers. It just needs to be stuck in place and trimmed.
The Antarctic Peninsula, First day to try to land, sunrise 5:29 am, sunset 2:43 am.
We go to the buffet each day for breakfast and lunch. There is fresh fruit and vegetables, cold cuts, smoked salmon, cheese, breads, a spectacular array of desserts and several hot dishes to choose from. It is a lovely variety of choices. 
We had the mandatory Zodiac briefing. We learned how to put on the zodiac life vest, how to get on and off of the zodiac from the boat and from shore, and the safety on the zodiac. We also learned the rules of being on land.
In the late morning we saw a pair of humpbacks, a mom and her approximately 7 month old calf. We saw others father away. We also saw penguins out swimming.
Our first stop is elephant point. 62°35.76' S and 059°30.90' W. Because of the swell, we did not go on land, only on a 40 minute to hour long cruise. It was pretty bumpy, wet and cold. But awesome. So we haven't set foot on Antarctica yet. There was also a touch of snow and we can watch them lower and raise the zodiacs from our room. They are stored on the top deck. We were able to see Elephant Seals and the occasional Leopard Seal. The Leopard Seals are often spotted on the ice along the cruise.
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| Snowy Sheathbill |
The Antarctic ice sheet is the iceberg factory of the southern oceans. There are approximately 300,000 icebergs in the Southern Ocean at any one time. They can range fro. A few meters, called growlers, to tens of meters, calls bergy bits, to kilometers. Also at any time there can be several gigantic icebergs, called tabulars, in excess of 30 miles in length. These icebergs can be 150 feet high and 6 times as deep. The largest iceberg on record was over 31,000 square kilometers sighted in 1956. It was bigger then Belgium.
December 11
Wilhelmina Bay and Paradise Bay, sunrise 5:27 am, sunset 2:46 am
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| Bluest water ever |
Our first stop of the day was intended to be a zodiac cruise at Wilhelmina Bay, 64 degrees 39.67'S and 062 degrees 05.21' W, nicknamed "Whale-Mina Bay" for the large number of humpback whale. We did not see any, mostly because at this time of year the bay was covered in sea ice. The ship broke into it some to test how thick it was and the expedition team went out also to test the ice. The ice was thick enough for us to land and walk around. The ice is at least a meter thick over 400 meters of water.
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| Paradise Bay (we hiked to the top) |
We are in the red group so we were the first to go off today. When we landed there was champagne on ice! It was cool. Because we weren't on land they could take the coolers and champagne out. We saw several gentoo penguins and a few far away seals. It was a nice treat to land on the ice even if we haven't yet set foot on the continent. It was a much shorter ride on the zodiac today and we were actually too hot. I'm learning how to make clothing choices.
My work friends will understand the term "normalization of deviation". It means that what was originally not normal has happened enough that you accept it as normal. This normally happens in a negative way regarding safety, where something unsafe happens enough that it isn't reacted to anymore. Well we have normalized to the beauty here along with jumping penguins and no longer get as excited.
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| Antarctic Tern |
After lunch we really did land in Paradise Bay. Proper ground on the continent, a continental landing, which is a rare occurrence. The best landing places are where there are research stations and you can't land there if they are occupied. In a few weeks the place we landed won't be available anymore.
This officially allowed me to say I have been to all seven continents and it has happened in the last 6 or so years. This is Sidney's 6th leaving her only Asia to go.
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| Paradise Bay |
We got to see nests and the Cormorants bathing and also the penguins porpoising very close to our zodiac. We also saw veins of copper in the rocks and the lichen that grows here.
After we got back to the ship Sidney swam again before dinner. After dinner we sat in the lounge and listened to the pianist for a while. It was a day that could almost not be topped.
Spotlight: Research Stations in Antarctica- Several governments maintain permanent research stations in Antarctica. They are either constructed on rock or permanent ice. Some are staffed year round. 30 countries, all signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, operate summer and year round research stations on the continent. The population of all of the stations in the summer is approximately 4000 and down to 1000 in the winter. There are also approximately 30 field camps established each summer to support specific projects. The first station was established in 1903. Research regarding weather and other sciences was not widely sobered until WWII when the British launched Operation Tabarin in 1943 to establish a presence in Antarctica. Operation Tabarin is the same operation that established Port Lockroy, one of our stops. After WWII there was massive increase in internationally activity in the Antarctic.
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| Port Lockroy |
December 12
Lemaire Channel, Port Charcot, and Peterman, sunrise 5:25 am, sunset 2:49
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| Lemaire Channel |
We made an attempt to go through the Lemaire Channel this morning but it simply wasn't passable yet. Too much sea ice and too many icebergs. So we turned around and headed for our first stop where we took a zodiac tour. 65°03.56' S and 064°01.09' W. we got played with by a Leopard Seal on our cruise and also were able to see Kelp Seals resting on sea ice. There were thousands of penguins swimming around us and amazing amounts of ice. It was a breathtaking site to see some of the icebergs. We spent over an hour on the zodiac looking around at wildlife and ice. The Leopard Seal was the best though. He came right up to the boat to show off his penguin devouring mouth of sharp teeth.
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| Port Lockroy |
Our second stop was at Peterman Landing, 65°03.57' S and 064°01.11' W (yes very near our first stop). This landing was a true water landing where we were glad for the boots. The water was only a foot deep but there were several rocks and opportunities for mis-step. After our landing I chased Sidney and the other young person on the tour, Jack, up the slippery, icy trail to the top of the little peak. Since we were the last group to land the trail was completely packed to ice. Our poles would not even grip. The kids had way more fun than me. The view however was spectacular. You had open water to one side where the ship was and packed sea ice and icebergs on the other side. Plus it was a beautiful day. After chasing the kids I was hungry!
Each short zodiac ride offered a chance to look at ice or birds. The Naturalists do a wonderful job making sure we get to see everything and spend lots of time outside and off ship. However our zodiac ran out of gas maybe 100 yards from the ship. Of course there was a spare tank but it was funny.
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| Cross the Drake in what, a sail boat? |
Jean-Baptiste Charcot was originally going to take his ship, the Français, to the Arctic. However in 1903 news arrived to Europe that Swedish explorer Otto Nordenskjöld and his ship the Antarctic, were missing. Charcot headed south to the Antarctic to search for the missing explorer instead. Thus the French Antarctic expedition was born. The voyage was held as a success for both science and public perception. More than 600 miles of new coastline and islands were surveyed. Maps made from the expedition were still in use 25 years later and a second French expedition surveyed 1250 miles of coastline and territory.
December 13
Port Lockroy and Neko Harbor, sunrise 5:23 am, sunset 2:52 am.
Our first stop today was at Port Lockroy, 64°49.73' S and 063°30.53' W, located on a tiny island in the Palmer archipelago, on Goudier Island between Flag Point and Lécuyer Point. It was discovered by Jean-Baptiste Charcot in 1903 and named after Edmond Lockroy, Secretary of the French Navy.
The site was abandoned in 1962 and surveyed for restoration in 1994. Restoration started in 1996. It is designated as Historic Site and Monument No. 61 under the Antarctic Treaty. Today it is manned 4 months of the year by four people and 1000 penguins. It offers an open museum exhibiting artifacts from the 1950s, a store, and a post office. They also stamp our passports. The 4 part time residents greet ships, monitor the artifacts, monitor the penguins and maintain the facility. Sidney bought a Prison Penguin and a flip book. I bought Christmas Ornaments in the Antarctic Tartan. The Prison Penguin was made by prisoners in England. The Antarctic Tartan is based on nature. The white represents the ice. The thin blue lines represent latitude and longitude. The grey represents rocks and the small amount of orange represents the orange lichen that grows here. The black and white represent penguins and whales. All the proceeds from sales go to the Antarctic Heritage Trust which helps care for and conserve historic buildings and artifacts in Antarctica.
It was another different and nice stop on a lovely day. The weather could not be better. We also were able to see Weddell seals basking in the sun on some of the sea ice as well as cormorant nests and the Arctic Sheathbills.
Icebergs of a certain size are numbered and tracked on satellite. As the numbered iceberg breaks up, again depending on the size, the piece that broke off will have the same number with a different following letter. For example iceberg B15A broke off in 2000 and it was 300 km long and 40 km wide. We went past B15T, the 20th piece of the iceberg and it is still over 10 miles long.
Spotlight: Adélie Penguin - The Adélie Penguin was discovered in 1840 and named after the wife of the man who discovered them. They are mid-sized penguins at 46 to 71 cm high and weigh 3.6 to 6 kg. They have distinctive white rings around their eyes on their all black head. Colonies have declined on the Antarctic Peninsula but they have increased in East Antarctica. They congratulate in large colonies during breeding season some over 250,000 pairs. They breed from October to February and hiked rough nests of stone. They lay two eggs which are incubated for around 32 days and cared for by both parents.
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| Zodiac Cruise |
We were also able to send a few postcards as they run a post office. The mail will get stamped and sent to the Falkland Islands then to London and in to its destination from there.
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| Gentoo |
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| Neko Harbor |
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| Can you see the heart? |
We learned a bit about ice today as well. We watched a lecture on it by one of the naturalists who specializes in ice. He tallied about glaciers and how they form and degrade. He also described ice caps which are glaciers perched on top of mountains. If the ice cap is big enough, greater than 50,000 km2 then it is called an ice sheet. Antarctic and Greenland are covered in ice sheets up to 3 miles thick in places. Floating ice which is still connected to the glacier or ice cap or ice sheet is called an ice shelf. Antarctica has two that are as big as Spain. Some icebergs are also very large, 200 km long and 50 km wide. And they live for a very long time, generally degrading by breaking into smaller pieces versus melting.
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| Injured Adélie Penguin |
We also learned about sea ice and how it forms. It requires cold temperatures and calm seas to form. It is generally flat and can be colored by whatever froze within it, usually krill. The other thing that happens with sea ice is that the slat is forced out of the water as if freezes. Not all of the salt but a good bit. His happens particularly when two pieces meet. The very cold brine is forced downward toward the ocean floor and if the water is shallow enough, the brine stream will freeze anything in that seam and anything on the floor it touches like starfish, etc.
We took a zodiac cruise in the afternoon in Neko Harbor, 64°51.53' S and 062°33.39' W, to look at glaciers and rocks versus animals. It was intended to be a landing but there was still too much ice and another ship was in the place we could land. We did of course see plenty of birds including an injured juvenile Adélie penguin. The penguin had an injury behind its left wing and had no feathers there. It was very thin. It was quite sad but unlikely that it will survive the cold with the exposed skin. We also saw the bad behavior of the Skua as it took food directly from a Terns mouth.
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| Whale Hello |
The activity the kids most enjoyed was trying to lift small pieces of ice into the boat to see there relative weights. The older ice is heavier as most of the air bubbles have been released. Younger ice is lighter with more air. The kids were fishing out piece and basically getting to play in the water.
Spotlight: Adélie Penguin - The Adélie Penguin was discovered in 1840 and named after the wife of the man who discovered them. They are mid-sized penguins at 46 to 71 cm high and weigh 3.6 to 6 kg. They have distinctive white rings around their eyes on their all black head. Colonies have declined on the Antarctic Peninsula but they have increased in East Antarctica. They congratulate in large colonies during breeding season some over 250,000 pairs. They breed from October to February and hiked rough nests of stone. They lay two eggs which are incubated for around 32 days and cared for by both parents.
