2017.01.31 Antarctica Day 1 - The Palmer Archipelago

Antarctica is the only continent without a permanent human population. Phsycally Antarctica is a continent, the fifth largest. Sprawling across the South Pole and covering the most southerly latitudes, its northernmost point on the mainland is about 63 degrees south. The land area covers nearly 12 million square km (4.59 million square miles). All but 0.4 percent of the land is covered in a thick cloak of glacial ice, with only a few small ice free areas, wand spiky peaks protruding through the glaze.

Biologically, the boundaries of Antarctica extend far beyond the coasts of the continent, and its ecosystems are intrinsically linked to the Southern Ocean. The seas surrounding the land mass isolate the continent from the rest of the world’s oceans and keep its temperature low. Located between 56 degrees south and 60 degrees south is the Antarctic Convergence, a fluctuating line where the cold waters of the Southern Ocean meet but do not mingle with the relatively warm waters of the subantartic. This the northern limit of biological Antarctica. Many marine organisms are confined to one side of this barrier or the other.

Politically, Antarctica is covered by an international agreement, the Antarctic Treaty System, which includes all land south of 60 degrees south. The treaty governs the actions of the people visiting Antarctica, providing the code of conduct that aims to protect the continents environment and wildlife.

We sailed through this area for the whole day. It was about 7 AM that we were woken to the sound of our commentator telling us what we were seeing. It is absolutely amazing. We do not know what we expected, but this was not it. All over are icebergs and glaciers. We were able to see humpback whales, crab eater penguins (they do not eat crabs, but their teeth look like the claws of crabs), and fur seals all day long. During the day we took on a group of researchers from Palmer Station, which is one of three US research stations on Antarctica. They did a great presentation for us during the day. The US program is managed by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The manager of the station said that there were three goals that the followed. One, to understand Antarctica; two, to understand the role Antarctica plays in global systems; and third, the use of Antarctica as a platform for science.

I will start out with the humpback whales.

These pictures are of a glacier with an avalanche.

Here is a sampling of some of the scenery we saw.

Lastly the wildlife for this day – Crabeater Seals. They really do not eat crabs, they eat krill, and no other seal is so specialized for consuming just tone type of food. Where most mammals have molars for chewing or cutting food, crabeater seals have molars that are highly modified for filtering food from the water. Each tooth has at least four lobes, and when the mouth is closed the upper and lower teeth mesh to form a sieve that traps krill while water is expelled. They are the most common seal in the world, yet few people see them because they inhabit the pack ice zone of Antarctica. Leopard seals and killer whales prey on crabeater seals, particularly young seals in their first year.