After a wonderful time discovering the flora, fauna and geography of the Antarctic Peninsula we spent two days at sea travelling to the island of South Georgia.
The two days at sea were the first and only rough weather we experienced on the cruise. The spray from some of the waves even went past our window which was halfway up the side of the ship. Many guests and a few of the crew were ill but no one seriously so. We were regularly reminded to walk around the ship with one hand for the ship and one for self. This meant that the planned activities could continue as planned. As explained in an earlier post, this was not a regular cruise ship but an expedition ship which was one which mixed fun, learning and discovering in a relaxed atmosphere. There was always something to keep body and brain busy.
Instead of going on expeditions we had other learning experiences. We watched a documentary called “Continent 7 – Science of Survival” which told us of how researchers all rush to collect the last data of a season and before winter sets in. Later, we went to a workshop on sailing knots. It was great fun as we all tried to make perfect knots and some of us made anything but perfection. After this some guests went out on deck to make observations on the clouds.
In the evening there was another documentary, “BBC Natural World: Snow Animals”. This was most fascinating story of how charismatic animals use different strategies to thrive and survive the harsh Antarctic winter.
On the 2nd day there were two compulsory briefings on South Georgia, each briefing for half of the guests. In this briefing, Isabel explained exactly what we could and couldn’t do on the island. There was a time when there were dogs, rats and other animals on the island which caused a lot of damage to both the vegetation and to the seals and penguins. The researchers and government employees have worked extremely hard to eradicate all foreign animals, especially the rats, allowing the seals, penguins and albatrosses breed and grow safely. Besides the removal and destruction of the rogue animals, the island has been cleaned biologically and all visitors’ external clothing and boots must be thoroughly cleaned before going to and after leaving the island.
Over and above these 2 compulsory briefings we could again watch 2 documentaries – Antarctica: Race to Escape describing all that the researchers had to do to ensure that their work was completed and that everything had been packed away for the winter months and Giants of the Deep Blue which told of pre-historic giants which roamed the deep seas. The evening lecture was by Dr Tim Gerber whose lecture, entitled “Penguins: Living in Two Worlds”, described how penguins in the Antarctic have evolved to live in water to feed and on land to breed.
Every evening the Expedition leader, Isabel, did a debriefing of the day and told us of the plans for the following day. Then, 2 or 3 of the scientists would tell us a small snippet of their research and discoveries. It was so amazing to learn how much they did, and it was not all in Antarctica.
While all this was happening there were musical interludes – classical and contemporary. No time for sitting on a deckchair reading a book. Sea days on this cruise were not long and boring.
Daily Vikings for the 2 days
In the first one we learnt of Edith “Jackie” Maslin, Antarctica’s first female explorer. She went on a date with Norwegian, Finn Ronne, in 1942, they married in 1944 and in 1947 he went on the last privately funded expedition to Antarctica. He asked her to accompany him and she agreed on condition another woman also went. Jennie Darlington, wife of the expedition’s chief pilot agreed to go as well. Jackie’s main task was to record and write up the dispatches for the North American Newspaper Alliance, one of their sponsors. This was the first Antarctic expedition which put a woman on the map as a working member of an Antarctic voyage. Jackie also maintained a daily log of the team’s accomplishments and this information was used in Finn’s book. She also documented the discovery and mapping of the last unidentified coastline in the Weddell Sea. Finne named this Edith Ronne Land and it is now called the Ronne Ice Shelf. Jackie and Jennie Darlington were the first women to over winter in Antarctica and the first to spend a year there. She went back another 15 times and wrote a book in 2004 called “Antarctica’s First Lady”.
Our animal for today was once again a bird, the Blue-Eyed Antarctic Shag, a smart and industrious bird. It is also known as the Blue-eyed Cormorant and is the only cormorant found in Antarctica, mainly on the Peninsula. From a distance they resemble penguins, being black and white, but up close the bright blue skin around their eyes and the tuft of hair above the beak distinguished them. They feed on crustaceans, snails, slugs and squid hunting in large groups called rafts. They also dive in groups to depths of 300ft frightening the fish and so sending them to the surface.
On the second sea day, the lead story told us about South Georgia. It is an island situated in the South Atlantic Ocean northeast of Antarctica and east-southeast of The Falklands. It is very mountainous with the central ridge rising to 2 935m (9 629ft) and the northern coastline is indented with bays and fjords which serve as harbours. It has abundant wildlife and is a breeding ground for penguins and fur seals and has been called the Antarctic Oasis. It is a British Territory, along with the Sandwich Islands, and has been cleared of all non-indigenous flora and fauna and it is kept scrupulously clean to prevent any contamination. Visitors to the island must wear clothing and boots which have been through biosecurity before and after visiting. The only inhabitants are a small number of scientists and support personnel to maintain British Antarctic Survey stations at Grytviken on King Edward Point and at Bird Island off the northwest tip of the island. The most well-known person who had been here, and is buried on the island, is the explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Again, the nature life story was that of a bird, the peregrine falcon, the world’s fastest bird or animal. It can travel more than 200mph (320kmh) when doing a high-speed dive. The average length of these birds is 14-19ins (36-49cm), with the females being larger than the males. They have blue, gray or black wings which are white on the underside. They prefer to nest on high, rocky cliffs near the shore, giving them proximity to their prey which ranges from small mammals, rodents and insects to almost any kind of bird. They are very clever birds and highly trainable, making them widely used in the sport of falconry. Peregrines were close to extinction in the 1960s due to the use of pesticides. Thankfully, over the next 30 years, breeding programmes and reintroduction efforts allowed their numbers to flourish once more. They can be found all the way down from the Arctic to The Falklands making their name “peregrine” very apt as it means pilgrim.
