Jan. 8 (evening)...We begin to appreciate the vastness of the Antarctic. Every channel we enter is more awesome than the last and even the first is more awesome than anything we’ve ever seen before.
Antarctica is the coldest, driest, highest continent on earth. The peninsula receives about 5 cm of snow a year but further inland only 2 cm. That is less than an inch. A ski report would be:” 5 cm of powder and five kilometers of base! “
We landed at Half Moon Bay on Livingston Island. You could smell the penguin rookery before you saw it.
Every student participated in scientific measurements with electronic sensors and computers. We compared the temperatures of sea water and sea ice with those of fresh water. Sea ice forms at -1.9 Celsius but the sea water was even colder because it was constantly churning. Even now we see white caps breaking over the swells.
We are also plotting the Earth’s magnetic field. Subtle changes in the field can mean differences in the numbers of cosmic rays reaching the lower levels of the atmosphere and cloud nucleation.
Just what role does this play in the bigger picture? We’re beginning to recognize how delicate and fragile the climate system is.
We trumped all the “polar swimmers” who dive into Lake Minnetonka on New Year’s Day. All of us dove into the frigid waters of the Antarctic. (Everyone wore swimsuits underneath their explorer gear.) You know, 0 degrees Celsius air never felt so good as when you first get out of the even colder water!
Tomorrow we go through the Gerlache Strait, carving out a path separating islands of the Palmer Archipelago. We’ve seen some whales–right after lunch Minkie Whales were playing on the starboard side of our ship and then a humpback spouted on the port side.
How could we get closer to nature?
Terry Flower
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