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DEL.ICIO.USUGA study abroad: Stepping ashore Antarctica
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eleanor and the UGA finally make it to Antarctica. Check back tomorrow as they begin their serious studies on the continent. To catch up on the story, click here.
“Okay, I’m really going to bed this time,” I told fellow passenger Fraser Maddigan multiple times in the wee hours of this morning. “Oh, but look at that iceberg. I’ll stay until it passes and then go to bed.”
Needless to say, I never kept my word and stayed up iceberg watching until 2 a.m. I visited Alaska this summer and thought the icebergs there were amazing, until now.
The largest one we’ve seen yet was tabular, or table-shaped, berg measuring 1.25 miles long. One this big can last for 10 years before completely melting, according to one of our crewmembers Joe.
After sunset, they are picturesque with the pink and blue sky as a backdrop. Antarctica’s sky is never completely dark during the summer, so all hours of the day provide different lighting on the bergs.
My extended berg watching was even more worthwhile when we spotted the Antarctic Peninsula on the horizon. Despite my energy deprivation, I literally jumped around the bridge with excitement.
Mark it in the logbook: at 9 a.m., I touched the continent of Antarctica. I ensured that I traveled on the first Zodiac, or rubber raft that took us to land, to have the first interaction with the penguins and seals before hundreds of cameras snapped at them.
Landing on Brown Bluff, at the northeast end of the Peninsula, I marveled at the ice-capped, flat-topped mountains soaring above the Adelie penguin colony. The 20,000 pairs of Adelies that breed there annually have the prettiest delivery room I’ve ever seen.
I walked far away from the other passengers, leaned against a boulder and let the penguins carry on their day. The penguins were not disturbed by my presence and waddled within a foot of me. We would stare eye-to-eye for a moment before they would carry on with whatever they were doing.
During lunch we motored to the circular Paulet Island, which was named for American chemist Linus Pauling. Paulet’s colony put Brown Bluff to shame. With 100,000 breeding pairs, nearly the entire 1-mile diameter island was covered. The approximately three-week-old Adelie chicks looked like the brown pompoms I used in kindergarten art class.
The 41 degrees Fahrenheit weather displeased the chicks as they panted and sprawled out on rocks to cool down. They napped perfectly still and we worried that they were dead. Not to worry. As soon as they were hungry, the screeching began.
Too much had been perfect today and the rough was yet to come. When the Zodiacs arrived to retrieve us, 30-40 knot winds began. The wind brought frigid air too, which froze my nose and cheeks, my only exposed skin.
“I’m glad we finally got to see some bad Antarctic weather. I enjoyed feeling like I needed more than a T-shirt,” said Sarah Saville, a junior at Virginia Tech.
The wind created serious waves. Loading people in and out of Zodiacs can be difficult enough on a calm day. So we hiked to the island’s protected side where the waves were smaller. There we loaded 10 per boat to conclude our day.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Antarctica
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By mark
January 3, 2007 5:18 PM | Link to this
SEND some COOL pictures! I wanna see! Thanks , Mark
By Perry McIntyre
January 4, 2007 8:48 AM | Link to this
Echoing the previous sentiment by a fellow UGA alum, am glad to see the university is one of the nation’s leading institutions at exposing current students to the rest of the world and the opportunities that travel provides. Compliments, as well, to the AJC. You could not have picked a better person to chronicle this extraordinary trip than the equally extraordinary, Eleanor Hand. Having worked with her when she edited our school’s yearbook, and coached her on the soccer field, I know her “energy deprivation” was a very temporary state. Keep up the great work, and indeed, send photos!