Pack Ice and Brown Bluff, Antarctic Sound

Moon set...

and sunrise.

Adelie penguins on sea ice.

Stark beauty.

One lone Adelie who wasn't quite sure why we were staring at him.

Pack ice...

and pancake ice.

 Standing on sea ice, or pack ice, with the Expedition in the background.

And getting back in as Brian from Parry Sound holds the Zodiac.

Adelies on a flow in sea ice.

Brown Bluff

Who knows these guys?

Porpoising penguins.

Adelie head on.

Gentoo love.

Saturday, November 9^th.

Antarctica Sound

Yup, woke up to Jonathan making his morning announcement about time (3:30), date, temperature (-5), and weather conditions before wishing us: ‘A very good morning to all’. Up on deck quickly to watch the sunrise and the moon set at about the same time. Had a quick snack before boarding in the Zodiacs to cruise the edge of the pack ice! Absolutely beautiful, blue sky and calm conditions. We had Brian from Parry Sound as our driver. It was amazing to work our way through the ice and see all the different types of it. We saw a few Adelie penguins and a kelp gull. We did a landing and were able to walk on the pack ice! Amazing to think of people like Shackelton who had to traverse this or live on it for periods of time.

When we went back, we had breakfast while the captain relocated us to an anchorage just off Brown Bluff. When we arrived on land, we had about three hours on shore watching the antics of the Gentoo and Adelie penguins. It is really amazing to watch the male Gentoo penguins going out to select a pebble and then bring it back and present it to the female to help in nest building. As we watched we could see some males try to steal from the nests of others and then a squabble would arise. John and I wandered around watching and taking photos and videos. At the end I walked back to the landing location and Jonathan told me that the pack ice was blowing in towards the ship and he thought the captain would want to move on soon. Therefore, I decided to go out for one last Zodiac cruise along the shore. Bismarck took us out among the ice flows and towards a massive tabular iceberg. It must have been 80’ high and a city block long and flat on top. This type of iceberg breaks off glaciers that run out and over the sea. Just before it we saw a small group of Adelies on a piece of ice. Then it was time to head back to the ship. What a wonderful morning.

As soon as we were all aboard the captain raised anchor and we set off. Lunch was served shortly afterwards and then we sat outside for a little bit before the weather changed. We tried to stay out on the upper decks to enjoy the last of the nice sunny weather but the wind was really picking up and we are heading off into an approaching storm. So, we headed inside and relaxed for a bit.

Keith Mountain gave another excellent lecture on ‘Glaciers, Ice Cores and Climate Change’. I have included my notes at the end of this post.

During the daily recap and briefing Jonathan said that this trip has probably historically had the best weather of any Antarctic trip he has ever been on. Then he pointed out that we are heading out into a large storm system as we sail towards the Drake Passage.

After dinner Bruce and I went up to the Polar Bear Lounge for a couple of beer, as John has been laying in bed most of the day as he is not feeling too well. We sat at the bar and had to hang onto our drinks and chairs as the ship is really moving about. I had a good talk with Scobie and then a great chat with Keith. I told him I really enjoyed his lectures and his sense of humour. We got talking about travel and motorcycles. It was great to see most of the GAdventure crew there talking amongst themselves and mingling with us. John, Jonathan, Andrew, Scobie, Keith, Bismarck, were all there, only Marcelo was missing. And Blaise was playing his heart out. Bruce and I packed it in at midnight and the ship was still rocking.

Glaciers, Ice Cores and Climate Change

A lecture by Keith Mountain

Great opening line:  “Your time is short for this sort of tedium but I’m going to make sure you get a good dose of it!”

The melting of the ice of the world is of great human and population concern.

The science is settled – how much evidence do you need?

Climate is a determining agent as to the habitability of our planet.

The big problem is the white of the ice reflects radiant heat back into space. With less ice that heat is absorbed and the temperatures go up which melts more ice, which means less reflection and more absorption. This is why the effects are being felt more at the poles.

Resources are finite and population has increased exponentially – how many people can the planet handle?

Permafrost is melting and releasing huge quantities of methane into the atmosphere.

Then he showed a couple of graphs which he called: ‘Keith Mountain contribution to confusion’.

The changes to the climate caused by disappearing ice include: temperature, precipitation, wind speeds, wind directions, cloudiness, air pressure – because the hydro-logical cycle is a closed system.

(Waves were smashing against the windows and Keith said: ‘Look out the window, it gives a sense of your own mortality’.)

Not only are glaciers ‘cute, good looking and fun’, they are reliable to read if you know how.

Keith was involved in taking core samples from glaciers all over the world.

Global coverage of planet, therefore the statistics are real.

Observations: geologic, botanical, soils, glaciological, marine, models – sometimes regional.

Straight forwardly connected to the climate.

All glaciers are now receding globally.

Getting to the glacier, designing the equipment, drilling, getting the core to site that can maintain the frozen state, are incredibly difficult and expensive.

They can read the core by looking at: volcano eruption debris, pollen, dust, etc. extremely complete.

Core samples goes back in time before people and through 4 ice ages – 850000 years.

Co2 and methane levels are now double of any time in 850000 years.

Problems we have to overcome:

Water, water equality, clean water, availability, lack of water to drive turbines

Anti: politically convenient

Scientific community has not demanded proof from the nay sayers to the opposite of climate change.

Scientific community has not invested in public education to make the public aware.

Change is going to have to be bottom up (ground root from the young and environmentally aware) and will not be top down because of all the lobbying, vested interests and slim chances of the politicians getting re-elected.

Convincing people about climate change is the same as trying to convince people there is no god, and the problem is that you are probably speaking to the same person (especially in the States).