Eerie Week or Mere Coincidence?

By admin
October 30th, 2009 | 8:15 am
An Exclusive Group
An Exclusive Group

It has been an eerie week. Appropriate for Hallowe’en I suppose. You be the judge – has my life been mere coincidence?

Sunday night I was channel surfing. Click, click, click…then bang – an Irish accent and a tiger. I had missed the first two minutes, but found – quite by accident – the broadcast debut of Broken Tail’s Last Journey. This is a documentary that I have been hearing about off and on for 18 months as it was being produced. I had no idea it had been finished and was airing.  Mere coincidence I said.

Then Wednesday night – channel surfing again – I see a familiar face under which was the title Andrew Lambert. It was a documentary about Captain Bligh. Andrew was one of the on-camera subject matter experts. Yep, that is the same Andrew Lambert I wrote about earlier this week – Laughton Professor of Naval History. I watched the program.

Got home last night and was greeted at the door with – “Robert Bateman’s in town on Saturday at a gallery up the street.” That is the same Robert Bateman I’ll be traveling with in two weeks: renowned wildlife artist and environmental activist. He is in my home town on Saturday! Yes, I’m going to drop by and introduce myself. We’ve only spoken on the phone.

Later that evening – I was channel surfing yet again…and who popped up one more time on a completely different program – Andrew Lambert. As the on-camera guru he was drawing parallels between an ancient seige weapon and a tank from WWI.

Mere coincidence? Methinks not – this has been an eerie week!

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Balmy -16C at Snow Hill Island

By admin
October 29th, 2009 | 9:04 am
Expedition Map for Snow Hill Island Safari
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!

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What bugs me about Antarctica.

By admin
October 28th, 2009 | 8:49 am
Antarctic Springtail: Pietro Paola Fanciulli
Antarctic Springtail: Pietro Paola Fanciulli

That ugly fella to the right is a springtail (collembola) – Antarctica’s largest insect. There are 8 species living on the subantarctic islands.  Large is relative – they are 1 to 2 mm long. The nail of my index finger is 10 mm wide.

They may be primitive, but they have adapted to the environment in an amazing manner. They synthesize antifreeze, so their body fluids remain liquid at -35C. That  is equivalent to -31F. No matter which scale you use – that’s mighty cold!

The Antarctic springtail (Cryptopygus antarcticus) is the most common of the 8 species. It eats microfungi and algae. They are food for mites, particularly Gamasellus racovitzai.

Do I hope to encounter either insect or any of their relatives when I’m traveling in Antarctica? Nope…I admit it. I’m a girl when it comes to insects, no matter how small they are! Penguins, birds, whales and seals – that’s what I’ll be on the lookout for.

I’ll eagerly participate in the boot washing and cleaning program to remove all stray seeds and pests. We worry about changing the fragile ecosystems of the Antarctic by introducing foreign flora and fauna.

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Bees, Murder and Mirages

By admin
October 27th, 2009 | 8:30 am
Maurice Cole Tanquary
Maurice Cole Tanquary

Bee boffin, Maurice Cole Tanquary, was a member of the Crocker Land Expedition. Robert Peary claimed to have seen a huge island in 1906, which he named Crocker Land. Backed by the American Museum of Natural History, the American Geographical Society, and the University of Illinois’ Museum of Natural History, the purpose of the 1913 expedition was to confirm the position of the island and investigate its biology, geology and geography. Instead, the expedition confirmed that the island did not exist, led to murder and demonstrated, once again, that ignoring the wisdom of the indigenous people was foolhardy.

The Crocker Land Expedition did some things right…important research was conducted; and  photographs were taken that documented the lives of the indigenous peoples and the habitat through which the expedition traveled. The expedition also confirmed that Arctic conditions could produce vast mirages, called Fata Morgana.

Another consequence was the naming of land features – Tanquary Fiord – was named for Maurice Cole Tanquary, the expeditions’ zoologist. Upon his return from the Arctic, he became the father of modern beekeeping.

Kapitan Khlebnikov returns to Tanquary Fjord for the last time in 2010. On the west coast of Ellesmere Island, chartering a plane or sailing on our icebreaker are the only two ways to reach the breathtaking bay. So special is the location, BBC’s Natural History Unit will be on board that End of an Era cruise to shoot footage for Frozen Planet, the sequel to Planet Earth.

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Happy Scoresby Day!

By admin
October 26th, 2009 | 9:50 am
Kapitan Khlebnikov enters the ice.

Kapitan Khlebnikov enters the ice.

Do you subsribe to our Twitter posts – This Day in Polar History? A polar factoid is sent to my phone every day. Today I was reminded that William Scoresby was born on this day. He was a whaler scientist, who according to Andrew Lambert, knew the Northwest Passage was impassable long before Sir John Franklin began his quest. Had The Powers that Be – John Barrow in particular – listened to Scoresby, a whole lot of men wouldn’t have died.

Khlebnikov will transit the Northwest Passage in 2010, with Andrew Lambert as special guest. I’m sure he will mention the story some time during the transit.

William Scoresby is the man after whom Scoresbysund in Greenland is named. The KK will visit Scoresbysund in 2011 – that will be an End of an Era voyage.

Speaking of End of an Era, as I seem to do a lot these days – the Canadian debut of filmmaker John Murray’s – special guest on Arctic Passage in 2011 – Broken Tail’s Last Journey occured last night on David’ Suzuki’s The Nature of Things.

Have I mentioned that I love my job!

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Another Season of Exploration Underway

By admin
October 25th, 2009 | 5:02 am
Khlebnikov in Whale Bone Alley, Russian Arctic
Khlebnikov in Whale Bone Alley, Russian Arctic

October 23, 2009, our polar-class icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina. The 2009-2010 Antarctic season has begun. Most expedition vessels don’t begin to sail until November, but the Khlebnikov’s icebreaking capabilties means she can venture earlier than other vessels.

If humankind had waited to explore Antarctica until the technology was sufficiently developed, then the great stories of Antarctic exploration would never have been told, many ships would not have been lost and fewer explorers would have died.

Even with technological advancements, expedition travel is still risky.
 
Khlebnikov sails to the most remote locations on the planet; sometimes hundreds of miles from the nearest hospital or rescue center.  Safety then is paramount on our expeditions. So is that frizzon of apprehension that adds spice to every expedition itinerary!

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Wildlife Paradise, South Georgia

By admin
October 23rd, 2009 | 8:54 am
South Georgia, Tom Arban

South Georgia, Tom Arban

I have never been to the island of South Georgia. That situation will be rectified on the icebreaker cruise in November. A bit of a nerd, I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about the island. Last night, it was Frank S. Todd’s book about Antarctic wildlife.

South Georgia is considered an Antarctic island because it lies below the Antarctic Convergence – the biological boundary that separates Antarctica from the rest of the world. The flora and fauna are more diverse than on the continent or on the islands nearer the continent. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard it referred to as a wildlife paradise. I’ll let you know if it deserves that reputation.

If you can’t wait until my report in November, you can click on the photo to the right. You’ll be taken to a video-guide about South Georgia.

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Deviations are possible and likely!

By admin
October 22nd, 2009 | 5:16 am
Otto Nordenskjold

Otto Nordenskjold

When I was in Antarctica last, our Expedition Leader, Olle Carlsson told the story of Otto Nordenskjold and the Swedish South Polar Expedition (1901-1904). The events that unfolded on Snow Hill Island and in the Weddell Sea predated Shackleton’s by a decade and were equally as riveting.

In February 1902, Otto and five members of his expedition established one of the earliest research stations in Antarctica on Snow Hill Island. The scientists were stranded on the island for two winters. The ship sent to resupply the station – Antarctic – was beset and eventually sank,  just like Shackleton’s ship Endurance. The crew took shelter on Paulet Island.

The men on Snow Hill Island did not know what had happened to Antarctic and its crew. Otto had included a back up plan in his preparations – a rendezvous point on Hope Bay. Through a series of coincidences that a century later border on the unbelievable, the men from Paulet Island and from Snow Hill Island met at Hope Bay and were rescued.

I would love to see the remains of Otto’s hut on Snow Hill Island. Although we’ll be near-by, I expect that will be impossible. But you never know. That is what makes expedition cruising so exciting. Unexpected deviations in the itinerary are possible and likely!

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Who was Kapitan Khlebnikov?

By admin
October 21st, 2009 | 4:22 pm
Kapitan Khlebnikov in the Weddell Sea

Kapitan Khlebnikov in the Weddell Sea

Antarctic place names are fascinating to me. I have a copy of Geographic Names of the Antarctic (2nd edition) by the United States Board on Geographic Names. I like to dip into it every now and then. Today I looked up Weddell Sea.

The person credited with the discovery of the Weddell Sea was a Royal Navy Master – James Weddell. What the men who sailed with him in 1823 thought of that we’ll never know. Captain Weddell named the sea that stretches from the Antarctic Peninsula to Cape Norvegia George IV Sea. Seventy-seven years later, Karl Fricker proposed the sea be named in honor of Weddell. His suggestion was universally accepted, hence I will be sailing into the Weddell Sea, not the George IV Sea in November.

Karl Fricker was a German Antarctic historian. An Antarctic glacier has carried his name since 1947. The Falkland Islands Dependencies Surveys (FIDS) made the suggestion.

So who was Kapitan Khlebnikov? The Master mariner spent 32 years navigating the Russian Arctic. His skill as an ice master was recognized by seamen and politicians. He retired in 1969. An island in the Kara Sea in the Northeast Passage and our icebreaker were named in his honor.

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Kapitan Khlebnikov is Quite a Character

By admin
October 20th, 2009 | 4:32 am
Planet Ice, James Martin

Planet Ice, James Martin

Kapitan Khlebnikov is quite a character. You don’t have to take my word for it. In the past few months, three books have been released in which the icebreaker is mentioned. Yes, that ship is a star.

Planet Ice by photographer James Martin will be released this month. I haven’t read the essays or viewed the photos. But it is a book about BIG ICE…so I’ve moved the book to the top of my reading list.

In September, Return to Antarctica by Adrian Raeside was released by Wiley. Adrian dropped by the office during his book tour across Canada. Besides being an internationally syndicated cartoonist, children’s author, and all round nice guy, he is the grandson of one of the members of Scott’s last Antarctic expedition – Sir Charles (Silas) Wright. Adrian’s marvellous book brings to life the nameless faces in Ponting’s photographs.

The Gates of Hell: Sir John Franklin’s Tragic Quest for the North West Passage by Andrew Lambert was released by Yale University Press. Andrew’s book reinterprets the motivations behind the search for the Northwest Passage and makes 19th century Hobart sound like the Athens of the Southern Hemisphere. He writes about the consequences of celebrity worship and how the pursuit of Science can result in tragedy. You can travel with Andrew aboard Kapitan Khlebnikov. He will be the special guest during our Northwest Passage expedition in 2010.

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