As a child, I sat on the floor of my grandmother's house looking through volume after volume of National Geographic. The photos transported me to amazing places filled with plants, animals and people. My imagination filled in the gaps for the words I could not read. I told my grandma I was going to visit those places and then ran out the door pretending to explore. Those memories encouraged me to become a National Geographic Educator in 2020 and that experience led Mark and me to travel on the Class II icebreaker, National Geographic Resolution, bound for Antarctica.
The expedition began in Puentas Arenas, Chile, where we boarded the ship. We travelled north through the Fjords of Patagonia to Torres del Paine before making our way through the Strait of Magellan then south across the Drake Passage. However, rather than a play by play of our trip, I would like to share what we learned on this journey. The Resolution is a ship designed to travel in impossible waters, provide education, and support scientific research. Naturalists and scientists plan the programming and immerse the passengers in detailed knowledge about the environment. Each day provided two separate outings to experience nature up close regardless of the temperature.
The scenery of southern South America is exquisite. Words cannot do it justice. The awe of the Andes and the glacial waters leading to the ocean, while beautiful, are also inhospitable. It is said that early explorers left their homes knowing death to be inevitable as they attempted to circumnavigate the globe. Many wreck ships litter the waters of the Magellan Strait, the Beagle Strait and the Drake Passage due to treacherous weather.
Sea travel to Antarctica from South America requires crossing 600 miles of treacherous water known as the Drake Passage. Named for Sir Francis Drake, a 16th Century English explorer, the Drake Passage is home to some of the world's strongest ocean currents. The currents run strong because the Southern Ocean, encircling Antarctica, has no land to break the strong winds that rush around the continent. Ship crews describe the passage as either the "Drake Shake", when waves can crest over 65 feet, or the "Drake Lake", calm seas of 10 to 20 foot waves. Fortunately, for us, both crossings were of the "Drake Lake" variety.
As South America fell beyond the horizon and Antarctica drew near, the ocean presented sea ice. Sea ice forms when the ocean itself freezes over and is generally only a few feet thick. Antarctic sea ice forms each winter and melts each summer. Closer to the continent the ice grew heavier until we encountered ice bergs. Ice bergs come from glaciers or ice shelves/sheets, otherwise known as land ice. According to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, the Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest mass of ice on the planet. It is much larger than the United States, almost twice the size of Australia and about fifty times the size of the UK. Also known as meteoric ice, the land ice forms when snow is buried and compressed by layers of snow. Some of the ice in Antarctica is thousands of years old and thousands of feet thick.
The untouched ice of Antarctica is mesmerizing. Many scientists studying the area say travelers visit to see the penguins, seals and whales but if they return, they return for the ice.
With that being said, the wildlife is fantastic as well. Penguins dot the landscape in every direction. Antarctica houses seven species of penguin: Adélies, Kings, Chinstraps, Emperors, Gentoos, Macaroni and Rockhoppers. A population of penguins is known as a rookery and a large rookery can exceed a million birds. The smell from these large gatherings can be detected long before seeing the birds.
Penguin eyesight and agility improve in the water. Their unique shape and powerful wing muscles make them extremely quick in the water, often reaching speeds of 25 mph. Their underwater eyesight allows them to catch small krill and fish. Their speed helps them avoid predators such as Leopard seals and Killer whales.
The Antarctic continent is barren, windswept and covered with ice. The surrounding ocean is full of life including 15 species of whale and dolphin. All Antarctic animals spend most of their lives feeding in the nutrient-rich sea. Only seals and penguins venture on land to breed and raise young.
Scientists call Antarctica one of world's most important natural laboratories. The giant ice sheet holds an archive of Earth's climate for almost a
million years. According to the World
Wildlife Federation, up to 5000 scientists and researchers work on the continent annually during the summer months. Antarctica is one of the world's least disturbed but most vulnerable places due to global warming. The ice holds the answers to many scientific questions and it's mysteries are what makes this a truly captivating place.
