We spend the first part of the morning sailing through the French Passage/ Lemaire Channel looking for wild life, and soaking up the beautiful mountains on either side. It is hoped we might see orca. We don't. Bill goes out on deck for a bit. I stay and hang with Judy. She tells me about Una's Tits / Peaks. And she wants a photo. Today's blog is censored for 13 and under. Here are the photos. We had trouble identifying Una's in the background.
I joined in the fun even though I still could not see the peaks. (Nor we yours, Ed.)
Thank goodness for the internet. From Wikipedia: "Una's Peaks, formerly known as Cape Renard Towers, are two towers of basalt, each topped by a cap of ice, guarding the northern entrance to the Lemaire Channel on the Antarctic Peninsula. With the highest summit at 747 metres, the formation has been long colloquially known as "Una's Tits".
Una Spivey was the name of a secretary in the governor's office in Stanley, Falkland Islands who was working for what is now the British Antarctic Survey in 1950. The tallest tower has only been summitted once; this was by a German team in 1999. Apparently these days they are officially known as Una's Peaks.
The glaciers and mountains were breathtaking.
We have a lecture on the history of Antarctica from Ursula, the historian on the ship.
Here are some notes on Antarctic history:
1773 Captain James Cook crosses the Antarctic circle and circumnavigates Antarctica, though he doesn't sight land, deposits of rock seen in icebergs showed that a southern continent exists. His comment - "I make bold to declare that the world will derive no benefit from it".
1819 - 21
Captain Thaddeus Bellingshausen a Russian naval officer in the Vostok and Mirny circumnavigates the Antarctic, first to cross the Antarctic circle since Cook. He made the first sighting of the continent, reaching 69° 21'S, 2° 14'W - describing an "icefield covered with small hillocks." on Jan 28th 1820.
For some considerable time, exactly who and when first set eyes on Antarctica was in dispute as British naval officers, William Smith and Edward Bransfield also saw Antarctica on Jan 30th the same year - followed by American sealer Nathaniel Palmer on Nov 16th. This was the first time a continent had truly been "discovered" (i.e. there weren't any native peoples living there who'd known about it for ages already). All sightings are of the Antarctic Peninsula, the most northerly region of Antarctica.
1821 
February the 7th. 1st known landing on continental Antarctica by American sealer Captain John Davis, though this is not acknowledged by all historians.
In the winter of 1821, for the first time ever a party of men spent a winter in Antarctica. An officer and ten men from a British sealing ship the Lord Melville had to spend the winter on King George Island -part of the South Shetlands group, north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship had been driven offshore and did not return to pick them up again. They were rescued the following summer.
1823
British whaler James Weddell discovers the sea named after him and then reaches the most southerly point at that time 74° 15' S. No one else manages to penetrate the Weddell sea again for 80 years. (The Weddell seal is named after him too.)
1840's Separate British, French and American expeditions establish the status of Antarctica as a continent after sailing along continuous coastline.
In 1840, British naval officer and scientist James Clark Ross takes two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, to within 80 miles of the coast until stopped by a massive ice barrier - now called the Ross Ice Shelf. He also discovers the active volcano that he names after his ship Erebus, and identifies 145 new species of fish (not personally you understand - a scientist on the ship did that bit).
Late 1800's to early 20th century: Many expeditions largely by sealers and whalers to all parts of Antarctica. Mainly marine exploration and exploration of the sub Antarctic islands. They were looking for business opportunities for seals and whales. Trips to the Antarctic:
1898 March Adrien de Gerlache and the crew of the "Belgica" become trapped in pack ice off the Antarctic Peninsula in the first scientific expedition to the continent. They become the first to survive an Antarctic winter (involuntarily!) as their ship drifts with the ice (they didn't enjoy it).
1899 Carsten Borchgrevink leads a British expedition that landed men at Cape Adare and built huts. This was the first time that anyone had wintered on the Antarctic landmass. Believed by some historians to be the first confirmed landing on continental Antarctica.
1901 Captain Scott, UK, leads his first Antarctic expedition to try to reach the South Pole, with Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson. They are forced to turn back two months later having reached 82 degrees south, suffering from snow blindness and scurvy.
Several other publicly and privately sponsored expeditions around this time. By now, these are driven by science, geography and exploration - less by the exploitation of resources such as seals and whales.
1907 - 1909 Ernest Shackleton leads expedition to within 156km / 97mls of the South Pole,turns back after supplies are exhausted.
1909 January, Australian Douglas Mawson reaches the South Magnetic Pole.
1911 December 14th. Norwegian Roald Amundsen leads a five man expedition that reaches the South Pole for the first time.
1912 January 18th. Britain's Captain Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole to discover he has been beaten by Amundsen. All of the five man team (Scott, Bowers, Evans, Oates and Wilson), are to perish on the return journey only 11 miles from supply depot. Bodies are not discovered until November.
December. Douglas Mawson begins his trek across George V Land back to his base at Commonwealth Bay. His two companions had died, and against the odds he makes it home. A new section of coast is discovered and described, and radio is used for the first time in Antarctica.
1915 October. Ernest Shackleton returns to Antarctica in an attempt to complete the first crossing of the continent. The goal is not attained, but one of the greatest adventures of all time follows. Their ship is crushed in the sea ice and a small party sets out for South Georgia and the whaling station. The party is eventually rescued in 1917.
1923 The beginning of large-scale factory ship whaling in the Ross Sea.
1928 Australian Sir Hubert Wilkinsand American Carl Benjamin Eielson are the first to fly over Antarctica around the peninsula region.
1929 Richard E. Byrd and three others - US - become the first to fly over the South Pole.
1935 Lincoln Ellsworth - US - flies across the continent.
Caroline Mikkelsen, Norway, is the first woman to set foot on Antarctica when she accompanies her husband, a whaling captain.
1947 Operation Highjump - US sends the largest ever expedition of over 4700 men, 13 ships and 23 airplanes to Antarctica. Most of the coast is photographed for map making.
1956 US aircraft lands at South Pole. First people there since Scott and his team in 1912.
1st July 1957 - 31st Dec 1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) 12 nations establish over 60 stations in Antarctica. The beginning of international cooperation in Antarctica and the start of the process by which Antarctica becomes "non-national".
The first successful land crossing via the South Pole is led by British geologist Vivian Fuchs with New Zealander Edmund Hillary leading the back up party, over 40 years after Shackleton's expedition set out with the same aim.
1961 Antarctic treaty comes into effect. An agreement initially amongst twelve nations to use Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and suspend territorial claims, by 2019 there are 54 signatories.
1997 Boerge Ousland (Norway) becomes first person to cross Antarctica unsupported. Taking 64 days from Berkner Island to Scott base towing a 180kg (400lb) sled and using skis and a sail.
March 2007 - March 2009 International Polar Year - Actually Spans two years in order that researchers get the opportunity to work in both polar regions or work summer and winter if they wish.
1898 - 1922 is known as the "Heroic Age" of Antarctic exploration. The saying among old Antarctic hands was "For scientific discovery give me Scott, for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen, but when you back's against the wall and there's no hope left, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton".
After the Heroes:
The Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration ended in 1922 with the death of Ernest Shackleton. The main routes to Antarctica had been found and the South Pole had been reached. Aircraft became used increasingly along with steel hulled ice-strengthened ships with more powerful engines capable of pushing through sea ice with less danger of being trapped. Radio was developed and became more reliable. No longer did people need to risk sailing to Antarctica in small wooden ships, not really knowing where they were or what was ahead of them. The risk of enforced winters spent in cramped conditions in an inadequate hut, ice-cave or under an upturned boat, half-starving and eating what passing penguins or seals that can be caught became a thing of the past. Permanent research stations were built which were manned by a mixture of scientists and support workers who were changed over every year or two allowing long-term experiments and environmental monitoring to take place. More was learnt about how to survive in Antarctica and accidents and deaths became rarer.
Today people going to Antarctica are trained in advance of arrival and then receive further training once there on how to deal with the risks and threats from the environment. While the weather still changes plans from time to time, it is possible to plan and carry out ever-more complicated travel and research programmes and expect them to mainly go exactly as planned. Antarctica today has become a place to safely go for a holiday cruise, as a passenger on a liner, or in a small sailing boat. And that is what we are doing.
Shackleton's trip (his ship got stuck in the ice for a year).
Our trip - not the same.
There was also a lecture on glaciers and sea ice which I forgot to go to. Here is the gist of it. From Cool Antarctica:
"Pieces of ice are continuously breaking off from ice shelf, glaciers or other icebergs. They float freely along with the Antarctic currents, with about 90 per cent of their mass below the surface of the water. This gave rise to the popular phrase “the tip of the iceberg”."
"Icebergs are made of freshwater ice and not of frozen sea water. They form from the edge of glaciers when the glacier reaches the sea and either break off in pieces to form an iceberg, or in the case of an ice shelf, begin to float on the sea and then break off from the rest of the glacier as a large slab.
Icebergs are made up of snow that has fallen over many hundreds or even thousands of years. The stripes and different coloured layers in icebergs represent different layers of snowfall and the weather conditions under which the snow fell. If it is very cold then a light open layer with much air included will be formed, this gives a paler or white layer. The darker, bluer layers come from snow fall in relatively warm, maybe even wet conditions when little or no air is trapped in the layer. In addition to this, air is squeezed out of the lower layers of a glacier as more and more snow falls and so the weight of snow builds up."
"There are all kinds of creaking and groaning noises made by the sea ice as it is forced to rub up and down the uneven sides of the berg with the tide. To add to these unsettling sounds are an assortment of creaks, groans and bangs made by the iceberg above water as the sun heats up the surface. The fear is that either a large lump of ice will come tumbling down or worse still, the iceberg becomes unstable and tips up to a new more stable position. This tipping up rarely happens in the winter, more commonly it takes place in warmer summer temperatures, but it is not unknown and if it happens can cause waves and ripples that break up the surface of the sea ice for miles around. Neither of these events are ones that you want to witness while standing on the sea ice surrounding the iceberg!"
This in our daily chronicle about icebergs.
And a lecture on meroplankton from Jane (who we went to dinner with.) She knows her stuff.
This is what I learnt (thanks to Wikipedia too). First, that there is more than one plankton. I had never thought about plankton until Jane gave her inspiring talk on it. Meroplankton is an assemblage of planktonic organisms, which spend a portion of their lives in the benthic region of the ocean. These organisms do not remain as plankton permanently, rather, they are planktonic components in transition, which eventually become larger organisms. Meroplankton can be contrasted with holoplankton, which are planktonic organisms that stay in the pelagic zone as plankton throughout their entire life cycle. After a period of time in the plankton, meroplankton either graduate to the nekton or adopt a benthic lifestyle (benthic means sea floor). Meroplankton consists of larval stages of organisms such as sea urchins, starfish, and crustaceans. Success of meroplankton populations depends on many factors, such as adult fecundity, fertilization success, growth and larval stage duration, behaviour, dispersal, and settlement. Mortality depends on many factors, such as predation, competition, disease, parasites, and physiological stresses. Survival and mortality of meroplankton has a direct effect on adult population numbers of many species.
The larvae of benthic animals are an extremely important part of the meroplankton. It is estimated that 75% of benthic invertebrate types have a planktonic larval stage (which makes them meroplankton!) Each animal may produce millions of eggs per year, yet only one or two will survive to adulthood; most will be eaten before settling to the bottom!
Meroplankton species composition depends on biotic (living factors which influence) e.g., leopard seal, availability of food - and abiotic (non living factors which influence) factors such as tidal, lunar cycles and weather. These determine adult spawning schedules, in turn, determining subsequent meroplankton populations.
Survival rate of meroplankton is critical to successful development of adult organisms. Low survival rates of meroplankton will result in reduction in adult population numbers. One factor which often determines meroplankton survival is larval dispersal. Most species within the meroplankton community rely on ocean currents for dispersal. Currents play a key role in delivering larval organisms to specific settlement locations, where they are able to transition and mature into adult forms. Organisms which do not make it to the right settlement site are unlikely to complete their lifecycle.
Spawning times of many species are timed to maximize food availability at a particular time of year, while minimizing presence of other species which exploit the same food source. Diversity and abundance are depth dependent qualities. Generally, shallow coastal waters contain far greater numbers of meroplankton than deep, open ocean waters. Most abundant regions occur at depths between 0 and 200 meters of the water column, where light penetration is highest. Availability of sunlight allows for proliferation of phytoplankton, which serves as one of the major food sources for meroplankton. Deep oceanic waters show significantly lower abundance than shelf regions, due to poor light penetration.
I found this movement of nitrogen and currents beneath glaciers interesting. There is a lot more going on underneath than you might think.
This map shows glacier ice rate retreating rates. I presume a high number is worse. Anyway it affects the plankton.
The following three pictures are examples of meroplankton.
Larva stage of a spiny lobster.
Icefish larva.
Then on to krill.
And below is a chart of who eats krill in the Antarctica - basically everything.
Krill provide a vital food source for whales, seals, ice fish, and penguins. Krill have the ability to shrink their bodies and undergo long periods of starvation. These adaptations allow them to survive the winter months in the Antarctic. They travel in swarms so dense they can actually be seen from space.
One of the guides said to me Japan and China were starting to catch krill for human consumption. Her concern was there would be a shortage in the Antarctic and this would have a devastating effect on Antarctic wildlife. She thought there should be a 'no hunting of krill for human consumption' law.
Outside the scenery was still stunning.
Then we get to Neko Bay and see more whales. This is a humpback.
As the first zodiacs went out we saw another minke.
Then our landing.
Guess what.
Penguin regurgitated krill in Martin's hand.
Martin and Bill.
Martin and me with a different background.
Skua on the prowl.
Photo shoot time.
This is our expedition leader, Schalk. He was wonderful and has a nice smile here I thought. I asked our guide to get his attention so I could get this photo.
Back to the ship. Bill could be an guide/explorer but his beard needs a bit more bush to be a real one.
And then a briefing for tomorrow on Half Moon Bay and Yankee Harbour. We had put our names down for kayaking again and we were chosen - yay! (Bill will be in the back and I am zipping my mouth. He is the steerer and that is that.)
We had also invited the Captain and his wife for dinner a few nights ago. He lives in New Zealand and we are the only New Zealanders on the ship. You can only ask. We had not heard from him. We guess he has more important people to be with.
Tonight though we have dinner with Kirsty at the outdoor restaurant called The Rocks. Here is Kirsty's bio.
It is a lovely evening. As well as being a super guide, Kirsty is saving Zambian wildlife by working with youth. She is setting up an organisation for youth to be conservation ambassadors - a bit like Outward Bound in New Zealand, but with a call to action in the environment as well. She's another super talent.
We were given bibs because the fish or meat was cooked on hot rocks right in front of us. With the views (and cold) as well, it was a memorable evening.
