- Expedition Map for Snow Hill Island Safari
Khlebnikov is parked in the ice edge of the Weddell Sea, a 20 minute helicopter ride from the Snow Hill Island Emperor Penguin rookery. The first visit to the rookery in 2009 occurred in -16C temperatures. When I visit the rookery in late November, I can expect the same temperatures.
That’s a balmy -16C. I spent four weeks earlier this year in -30C windchill in the city. I always have difficulty convincing people that a visit to Antarctica or even the North Pole is warmer than Canada in January.
Snow Hill is above the Antarctic Circle - take a look at the map to the right. But it is sufficiently close that the region experiences 18 to 20 hours of daylight during the austral (southern hemisphere) spring and summer. All that light warms the place in comparison to the dark of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
After my visit to Snow Hill in 2009, Khlebnikov will sail 2 more times to Snow Hill in 2010. They are End of an Era cruises. The first departure will have SeaWorld’s Animal Ambassador Julie Scardina aboard as special guest. The second will have Peter Fretwell, from the British Antarctic Survey. He is the man who used satellite imaging and penguin poo to identify 10 new Emperor Penguin colonies. I am not making this up!
