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Antarctica: Exploring Far From Home, Part 2

Fall 2006 Newsletter

My trip to Antarctica began with lost luggage and extended air trips, stopping first in Miami, Buenos Aires and finally Ushuaia. Our ship departed from this small, picturesque town at the southernmost tip of Argentina.

Surrounded by snow-capped mountains on a warm summer-like day, we left on the ship MV Polar Star, a Norwegian icebreaker. As we made our way out to the open sea, one thing became abundantly clear: there are no oil refineries here, no barges, no towns or cities, no other ships, no people — total isolation among the glaciers and mountains, all in a setting of crystal blue-green water.

Rising 1000 feet above sea level, Steeple Jason in the West Falkland Islands was our first stop. This is home to the world's largest Black-browed Albatross colony (in excess of 100,000 pairs). The 1,952 acre site is an uninhabited nature reserve owned and managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York, an organization that helps to preserve outstanding wildlife habitat in fifty-two countries.

The early morning walk to the albatross colony seemed to take hours. Much of the terrain was in wildflowers and mustard-colored lichen. Finally, a huge expanse of bird life revealed itself between the water's edge and elevated clumps of tussock grass. The dark eyes of the albatross are a standout. Accented with a smoky grey eyebrow, the eye appears smudged in the most artistic of handiwork. The bill is a bright yellow-peach and the wingspan measures eight feet.

The densely packed colony contains substantial nests composed of mud and grass, spherical in shape and elevated, each containing a pale grey nestling fed by regurgitation of stomach oil. With extreme care, the large-billed parent tenderly feeds and grooms the downy chick. Most of the adults were parenting, but some were in various stages of courtship — bowing and scraping, bill rubbing and wing stretching. Albatrosses mate for life and can live as long as fifty years.

Great numbers of penguins reside along the shores of the southern oceans. We observed eight species, including one lone Emperor, a juvenile on an ice pack. Certain islands are home to different species. One of the largest King Penguin colonies is located on Salisbury Plain in South Georgia, a group of approximately 150,000 pairs.

All trips to land are made in “zodiacs,” large rubber rafts holding ten to twelve people. The penguins are a curious bunch, unafraid of humans. As we approached the land, they gathered in large groups. I refer to them as a “welcoming committee,” and as we came ashore, they sang in a manner that resembles blowing into a pocket comb covered with wax paper. The sound is nasal and trumpet-like.

The nesting colonies are usually away from shore, on a plateau or in a place set apart. This is the area of incubation where the precious single egg is exchanged from one parent to the other parent. After a two week period, the incubating parent returns to the sea to fatten up. It will be fifty-four days until the egg hatches.

The whole process is a carefully orchestrated team effort. Those of you who saw the film March of the Penguins are familiar with the ritual. The advantage the King Penguins have over the Emperor Penguins in the movie is warmer temperatures, averaging thirty-six to forty degrees in summer.

The nesting area is situated on a high expanse of ground, and there is a constant parade of penguins coming and going to the nest site. They follow one another in an orderly fashion, looking like an expanded version of the seven dwarfs marching off to work, those returning from the sea on the far side of the beach and those going to sea on the shore side. The beach is composed of black sand, leftover remnants of volcanic activity.

Penguins are not at all clumsy on land, but in the water they are dynamite swimmers, porpoising in groups in pursuit of their daily diet of fish. They are delightful little characters, curious and highly sociable. But they are always in the company of predators: fur seals, elephant seals, skuas and giant southern petrels.

Antarctica is governed by the Antarctica Treaty System as a natural reserve dedicated to peace and science. Forty-three nations participate. The United States maintains three permanent research stations on the continent, and our group was privileged to visit Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula (64-46 S, 64-03 W). My trip began in late December and extended through the end of January. It was summer in the Antarctic and never got completely dark. The sun often set by midnight, but by 3 a.m. the sky was pink with dawn.

—Barbara Baird