Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 19:26:52 +0000 From: "Coronesi, Stephanie" Subject: Message 19 16:15 (2002.01.30) 56 Degrees 12.591' South Latitude 64 Degrees 35.566' West Longitude (Back in the Drake!) Air Temp: 7.1 Degrees C SST (Sea Surface Temperature): 5.193 C Wind Speed: 16 knots 260 Air Pressure: 1006.2 mBar Hey there! So, this Drake crossing has been insanely peaceful, knock on all sorts of wood. We had much rougher days in the Bellingshausen! We're making great time because the weather's been so cooperative, and as long as we can correctly time our pick-up with the pilot for the navigation of the Straits of Magellan, we should be arriving in Punta Arenas sooner than expected. We already have our reservation made for the end of cruise dinner on Friday night, then Rich and I fly out on Saturday. We have a day or so to explore Santiago, Chile on the way back to New York, but this time next week I'll be back home. Thinking about this experience drawing to a close definitely evokes some mixed emotions. I cannot WAIT to see family, friends, dog, cats, bird, etc. but I have to say that it's been a very peaceful existence down here. I boarded the ship a month ago, put my wallet in a drawer and forgot about it. I looked at it the other day and it was weird to see money, driver's license, etc. There are things that are so important to life back on land that just aren't as essential down here. This trip has provided me with a much-needed renewed perspective of what's really important in the big picture, and I really hope to hang on to that clarity to some degree once I've returned to "the real world." The real world, which is filled with all you lovely people, so it'll all turn out okay, I know. ;) So, back to my beautiful Sunday at Palmer Station! We arrived at Palmer at about 7AM and started unloading equipment by 8AM. By afternoon there was time for exploring, and twelve of us headed out via zodiac (those black inflatable motor boats) to Torgerson Island, an Adelie penguin rookery just across from Palmer Station. The island is divided into two areas by green flags. The area to the right of the flags is a "penguins only" zone, but the area to the left is free for human exploration, provided that the humans go to every length to ensure minimal disturbance to the penguins in the area. This means that quiet picture taking from a distance is acceptable, yelling "Here pengy pengy!!!!" while chasing them with a video camera is not. There were still plenty of the little guys on the penguin/human side of the island, so there was easy observation and no shortage of great photo opportunities. The penguin chicks are pretty big this time of year, though they are still covered with their dark gray baby down. They spend their time in nurseries, with groups of chicks being watched by several adult penguins while the other adults go out to sea for food. (See attached picture!) The adults have to be on constant watch to protect the babies from Skuas, large flying birds whose staple food is penguin chicks. When the chicks are smaller the Skuas can just carry them off. As they get bigger the Skuas adapt to a strategy of harassment, isolation and attack. I saw many adult Adelies chasing the Skuas away from the nurseries, yelling and flapping their wings wildly. I also saw quite a few Adelie chicks chasing the adults around, yelling for more food. (The adults regurgitate the food for the young. Yum!) Though the island was abuzz with penguins, one of the birders told us that it was maybe a quarter of the amount of birds that have formerly inhabited the island. This has been the snowiest season on record and the snow affects the penguins' habitat and breeding success rate. There is some concern that the Adelies will keep moving south and eventually abandon the area altogether (and there is also speculation about Gentoo penguins eventually moving in as they might be better at adapting to the conditions). We got to spend an hour on the island before we headed back to Palmer and the docked Gould for our group cruise photo. I'd love to send the picture to you, but by the time we got it small enough to send you wouldn't be able to pick anyone out. It will definitely make it up on the website when we get back though. We had a great pizza dinner in the lounge at Palmer, then seven of us headed out for another zodiac ride around the surrounding islands. Hugh did a great job of piloting us through the ice chunks to take in some amazing views. Loudwater Cove was pretty choked with ice, but the gorgeous close-up of the glacier was definitely worth the bumpy ride. On our way back we went by the wreck of an Argentine cruise ship which ran aground about twelve years ago. You can still see the hull poking out of the water at low tide, and after all this time the oil is still totally visible on the water. The smell of the oil is also pretty overwhelming. All 350 passengers were rescued via zodiac and brought to Palmer Station where they stayed for a week waiting for another ship to come and pick them up. Can you imagine, a base that was equipped for maybe 35 people suddenly being packed full with 350 people for a whole week??? Can you also imaging that several formal letters of complaint were later written to the National Science Foundation regarding the quality of the food? ;) After our second zodiac trip of the day we headed in to the lounge to spend the rest of the evening talking and dancing with our friends who were staying on at Palmer. It was a wonderful time with one of the most beautiful sunsets that I've ever seen. We went back to get some sleep on the ship, then awoke early Monday morning to spend our last bit of time at Palmer and say our goodbyes. We stood up on the 02 deck and waved at our friends on land. Crazy, wonderful Heidi suddenly showed up with a bugle and blew us a salute from below. Who knew she could play a bugle? :) As we pulled away about five people on land suddenly pulled off their coats and heavy stuff and jumped into the water, in the traditional Palmer "farewell" polar plunge. It definitely brought some levity to a bittersweet situation. So here we are now, blazing our way back home, making record time. Tomorrow I'll tell you about our gorgeous trip through the Gerlache, one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful places on earth. Until tomorrow! --Steph (Miss C! ;)