“You may have come to see the penguins, but you’ll go away loving the ice.” ~ Eric Guth, Naturalist aboard the National Geographic Explorer
Brown Bluff
This morning my group had the early zodiac ride to go to shore early. We were up at 5:30 and boarded the Zodiacs at 6:30. Outside the ship, penguins were porpoising everywhere. This is a behavior the penguins possess due to several adaptations. Penguins’ bones are heavier than other birds because they aren’t trying to fly in the air. They do not have the air pockets other birds’ bones have, which allows them to dive under water more easily. Penguins propel themselves in the water using their muscles and wings much like other birds flying in the air. Penguins also have short feathers that are packed tightly with down at the base to prevent water from entering their skin. As hard as I tried to capture this porpoise type motion, most of my pictures were not “post worthy.”
Upon arriving, it was evident this was a huge penguin colony. Nesting here are 20,000 pair of Adélie penguins and 500 pair of Gentoo penguins as well as Skuas, snow sheathbills, kelp gulls and giant petrels. The skuas and snowy sheathbills prey on the penguin eggs and young chicks. The naturalists had gone ahead of the group and noticed that some of the nests had chicks born. They were ADORABLE! We say the rock stealing between penguins for their nests as well as the parent regurgitating food for the chicks. We did see a skua carrying a very young chick in its mouth; a prime example of the food chain!
The geology of this area is due to a series of volcanic action in the last million years. The different stages of the eruptions are visible on the steep slopes of the mountain and its brownish black color due to the palagonite with basalt. Large boulders are scattered below the lateral moraines. A glacier is present and leads to a terminal moraine at the waters edge.
Iceberg Alley
A definite highlight of the day was having a close up view of the magnificent tabular icebergs as we cruised north, through the Eastern edge of the Antarctica Peninsula in the Weddell Sea. These large flat, tabletop icebergs are located only in Antarctica. This type of iceberg is an extension of the ice shelf from the continent and is an accumulation of compressed snow and ice, which is floating on the sea. One can’t help but observe in awe, the striations, sculpted formations and striking color patterns of the ice. Normally we see ice as white because all the colors of the spectrum are reflected in the air in the ice, however these large bergs often appear blue because older ice has experienced more pressure, and therefore, has fewer air bubbles. After calving, erosion can cause the stripes of an iceberg to become asymmetrical and produce stunning exteriors. As they move around the seawater by surges of water from the tides, they become sculpted by this action. Many of the pieces we observed were broken off of the B15 iceberg, which broke off the Ross Sea, ice shelf in 2001. This berg continues to break up and the pieces have been names B15A, B15B, B15C etc…
At our nightly recap two things I’d like to share:
- The name penguin actually came from early Antarctic explorers who had observed the Great Auk in the northern region. The genus for penguin is Penguiness, because penguins resembled the Great Auk they named the peculiar bird the penguin. The last pair of Great Auk’s, which had lost their ability to fly, was killed in 1840 off the coast of Iceland, as they were hunted for their meat, eggs, and feathers.
- At Brown Bluff, there is a time-lapse camera set up to observe and study the penguin colonies there. We know the Adélie penguins are dependent on sea ice and therefore, so is their breeding. With an increase in glaciers retreating, rocks, pebbles and stones are increasing for their nest. At this colony, the first penguin arrived on December 10th and it is the males. By October 12th, the population had doubled and by October 21st, the penguins had all arrived. The penguins ARE programmed to come back at the same time. On December 12th, the first chick appears and by February 15, the colony is disbanded. Satellite data has shown in the last 20 years, there has been a 53% increase in these populations with 3.79 million breeding pairs.
This evening, we are beginning our way back through the Drake Passage and predictions are for “Drake Lake.” Please keep your fingers crossed for us! We will arrive in Ushuaia on Friday evening, so I probably won’t post on Friday. I will be spending two days in Buenos Aires and then fly to Santiago to meet Jay. I am hoping to have some time to add more pictures to various posts and compose and post a summary reflection about this expedition. Keep posted for more…
Ship Engineering Department - Engine Room Tour
We were able to tour the Engineering department, which consists of 13 staff members. Interestingly, the ship is like its own city or micro ecosystem floating on the ocean and it must sustain itself. There is an electrician, plumber and other specialized jobs that are critical to keeping all occupants of the ship (150 guests and 107 employees) safe and comfortable. We learned the ship hauls 10,000 cubic meters of fuel in four tanks underneath the ship. Fuel is taken out from each tank at different times, but equal amounts so as to keep the amount in the tanks balanced. This is enough fuel to run the ship for 30 days. The ship is divided into compartments/sections and the electricity, water, air conditioning and or heat is sent out through these compartments. This is in part due to safety reasons, but reminds me of a parallel circuit, also. We were able to see how the water is made potable via reverse osmosis and how the wastewater is treated. There are only certain parts of the ocean this “clean” wastewater can be returned to the ocean. The laundry area has 4 washing machines and dryers as well as ironing tables available. We saw the boiler that produces the heat and the boiler that produces the hot water as well as the work areas of the engineers. By far, the most interesting portion of this tour is the waste management. In a large room, there are several containers for plastic, food waste, paper waste etc… In addition, there is a compactor for cardboard and office paper. One employee’s job is to literally sort the waste. When the ship arrives at the port, it will be taken off. Overall, it is a very impressive and efficient department.
Iceberg Alley - parts of the Larsen ice shelf B-15 broken off in 2001. Unless stated, all photos were taken by Beth Thomas.
Penguin Adaptations
A penguin porpoising through the water. Penguins spend most of their life at sea and are adapted for life in the cold water. Basically, they swim quickly just below the earth's surface and then propel themselves out of the water to take a quick breath and continue swimming.
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Ship Engineering pictures
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