Day 13

Tuesday, February 24

Posted by Geoff Green, Expedition Leader

Drake Shake!

The Drake is rough today as the team sails north. The sun is shining as the waves crash against the ship, spraying the bridge window. The ship is cruising along, although the weather is slowing their progress.

Morning lectures offered by Santiago (Penguins) and Hans & Pat (Polar Tourism). Although some students are feeling slightly seasick, the majority are attending lectures and looking forward to the afternoon workshops.

Gentoo Penguins

Journal Entry by Kerry MacKay, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

Drake Passage

Well, we are finally back in the Drake passage and getting a fantastic ‘Drake Shake’. People seem generally to be coping better now than when we first crossed the Drake, as we have our sea legs and knew what to expect. It’s still not very pleasant but it certainly adds to the adventure. At times it can even be funny, the way chairs slide across the room even with the people on them, the food sloshes about in the dishes, the rhythmic crash of the ships crockery and of course the animated movements of everyone brave enough to attempt to walk in a relatively straight line. The view out the windows alternates between pure heaving ocean and then the grayish pale sky as the ship rolls spectacularly. It certainly is an exciting part of the journey, if you choose to look at it that way.

            The adventure in the Antarctic is now over and I have had the experience of a lifetime that I shall certainly treasure for the rest of my life. There is just something so special and magical about coming to this isolated continent of snow and ice where the animals do not fear you as they have not been mistreated by humankind. Penguins in particular come over to you and nibble your clothes and take rocks from your hands. Seals, too. My major experience was with a Leopard seal when we were in the Zodiac. The seal took a liking to the bubble stream from the outboard motor, and came unbelievably close to the boat. We were all thinking of the film ‘Jaws’ while we watched excitedly for where the seal would pop up next.

            The ice too has been utterly amazing; I never tire of admiring the beauty of these natural sculptures. We were even lucky enough to see a blue iceberg and a glacier calving! You never believe people when they tell you that the ice sounds like thunder but it really does, every time you hear it you can’t help looking in hope of witnessing another calving.

            Although the adventure is not over yet and there is another 4 days of traveling before I finally get back home, we are now in the wind-up phase of the expedition. I have learned a lot from this experience and gained a new perspective on many areas that I thought I knew my opinions on, not to mention meeting many fantastic people and making new friends. Geoff has told us many times that it will take us many years to process and fully understand what we have experienced and I am only now beginning to believe him. Geoff’s story is of one man’s dream to take students to the polar regions and show us what it is really like and how he fought to make that a reality. I, and I’m sure many other people onboard this ship, would like to carry on this legacy of making dreams realities. My dream is to move humankind towards a fully sustainable way of life that allows us to co-inhabit this planet with the many other incredible species. I am only one person though, but with the team present on the ship and all our home communities that we hope to inspire, this could be the start of a worldwide effort for the better of the planet.

Dr. David Burgess takes an ice core sample

Journal Entry by Susan Nulukie, Kuujjuaq QC, Jaanimmarik

Drake Passage

Hey everyone. We are now in the Drake Passage, the worst passage ever haha. Yesterday was my birthday. It started off with sleeping… I was dreaming that I was in Ushuaia seeing all these people, giant like parade, though not all of them, just some of them. Then I asked the tour guide and she said,

“They are like that when they feel like it.”

 Then there was this band a few blocks away. Kaatu was there and I asked her,

“What band is it?”

She said the name and I said,

“the what?”

“You don’t know them? They’re like the most popular in the world.”

“Nope, never heard of them.”

And then I was hearing

“Happy Birthday to you!  Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Susan,

  Happy Birthday to you!”

and it was Penina, Rosie, Lindsay, Nishtha and Vincent. It was my wake up call! It was nice. Then I went in the shower and when I came out, I saw Penina taking pictures of the door. I checked it out and it was full of drawings:

“Happy birthday, Susan!“ a little penguin was saying,

and all other kinds of things. They’re all so nice. I went to breakfast downstairs and there was a sign saying, “Susan, it’s your 18th birthday today! Hope it will be numinous.” It said numinous because Alex told us the other day if we are writing in our journal and all we could write is numinous, it means something like great and all those words. Then I went in the lounge I found a card that said “Bonne fete, Susan.” I look inside it and it said “Amuse-tu? C’est ton anniversaire aujourd’hui,” and on back it said “de Vincent”. A few hours later we went to our last stop. We did our hike up the mountain and it was fun seeing everyone playing in the snow, taking lot of pictures. On our way up, we saw three little penguin eggs that had been abandoned. I took pictures of them. It was sad coming down from the mountain. I was thinking: my last time climb down a mountain in Antarctica, my last time seeing baby penguins, my last time everything in Antarctica. Well, I made it to the zodiac, surprised I didn’t cry. I already miss Antarctica. This passage is making us miss it more. Oh yeah, and we saw lot of whales yesterday too. What a great birthday present. Then we had a lecture in the conference room all the way downstairs, came upstairs after the lecture, and there was this coolest cake in the lounge. It was blue with big mountains and the M/V Ushuaia, some penguins, icebergs and a seal - the coolest cake I have ever had. Lee made it, the camera girl. So, that was my birthday. I want to say a big THANKS to everyone, especially Penina, Rosie, Nishtha, Lindsay and Vincent. They woke up at 5:45 just so they could decorate. I’m going to miss them A LOT. S,o now we are at Drake Passage. I woke up last night and couldn’t go back to sleep cause I wasn’t use to the shake anymore, but I was able to fall asleep. And then when I woke up I got seasick twice… gross. What ever, I know I’ll be better now because I went to sleep and I feel a lot better. Mom, thanks. I miss you guys but I’ll be there in 6 days.

–Xox- <3 

Students Dan Hammond, Emilie Hebert-Houle and Marianne Mathis on a glacier

Journal Entry by Dan Hammond, London, ON / UWO

Drake Passage - returning to Argentina

“Clink, slide, clank, boom, smash! CRASH!!”

Our first full day in the Drake Passage has been anything but smooth sailing, in fact; we’re proceeding at about 75% of our potential velocity as we venture through yet another “Drake Shake” experience with some of the largest swells I’ve ever seen.  People have been flying across the lounge, professors getting thrown from side to side during their lectures and we ended up with a sandwich dinner because it was impossible for the kitchen to prepare a meal. 

Despite these minor setbacks, our persistent education team still managed to deliver four great education sessions today.  Santiago gave a lecture on Penguins, Pat and Hanz gave a lecture on Antarctic Tourism, Luke and Pat on the Antarctic treaty system, and Marianne on Antarctic Lakes. 

I seem to have acquired my sea legs on the way over here and am handling this like a true sailor.  That being said, I am looking forward to planting my feet on solid ground and arriving in Ushuaia.  We’ve been significantly delayed and are scheduled to arrive in Ushuaia with about a 12 hour delay – around 6pm on Thursday.  Until then, it’s time to wrap up this course work and get ready to make the long venture north!

Student Jason Qaapik Pijamini takes it all in

Journal Entry by Emily Hebert-Houle, UQTR, Trois-Rivières

Drake Passage - returning to Argentina

Vous devriez nous voir la face! On sourit, pour être poli et pour garder le moral, mais ce n’est pas le coeur qui est à la fête!  Ce matin, on se levait après une entrée remarquée dans le Passage de Drake vers 1h00 du matin et une nuit à rouler dans son lit. Matante Suzanne, je pense que ce traitement équivaut aux séances que tu fais à tes patients!! Avec des vagues de 6 à 7 mètres, la gravité de fait sentir quand on se tient  à l’horizontal, mon dos ne s’en porte que mieux.

Le Drake Passage c’est intense. Vraiment la je ne trippe pas tellement. Ce soir, ça va, parce que je suis assise à la même place depuis six heures maintenant et que j’ai étudié pour me changer les idées, mais le matin c’est l’horreur, le ventre vide, les premières minutes de vie sont terribles et la première chose à pénétrer dans l’estomac doit s’accrocher vraiment fort pour continuer son chemin sans retourner sur ses pas. Ce matin c’est mon thé vert qui a échoué. Fiou, mais, bon on prend de grandes respirations, on regarde au large et on dort beaucoup.

C’est le prix à payer pour voir l’Antarctique. Ce matin je disais justement à Marianne dans mon élan de désespoir matinal: «Je crois bien qu’il n’y a que le Drake Passage qui pourra protéger l’Antarctique!».

Dans le mouvement incessant qui nous mélange le cerveau comme un batteur à gâteau, parfois des images de l’Antarctique réapparaissent et donnent un sens à ce périple.  La démarche des manchots, la grâce des baleines à bosse, la splendeur des icebergs, la puissance des glaciers et le mauvais caractère des otaries à fourrures (fur seals). Héhé demain sera mieux, la météo devrait s’adoucir et mon corps sera déjà en mode «brassage». C’est comme une machine à laver, dans le fond, une fois qu’on se fait à l’idée, ce n’est plus qu’une question de perspective. J’espère juste qu’on ne passera pas en mode «essorage».

Bonne nuit à vous, gens sur la terre ferme!

xxx

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