South Shetlands & The Antarctic Peninsula 22 Feb 2020 - 14

22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14
Albatros Magazine
A Visual Journey
South Shetlands &
The Antarctic Peninsula
THE OFFICIAL VOYAGE LOG OF

Albatros Magazine: A Visual Journey
Editor-in-Chief:
Layout & Design:
Amanda Dalsgaard
Gaby Pilson & Shelli Ogilvy
Front Cover Image:
Back Cover Image:
Photography Contributors:
Gentoo Family Shayne Mcguire
Elephant seal Sandra Petrowiz
Sandra Petrowitz
Yuri Choufour
Werner Kruse
Renato Granieri
Gaby Pilson
Shannon Jensen
Shayne Mcguire
Phillip Hunter
Amanda Dalsgaard
22 FEB- 2 March 2020 Volume 2, Issue 14

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Voyage
Meet the Team
Day 1: Southward Bound
The Seven Sisters of Szczecin
An Unlikely Antarctic Explorer
Day 2: Rolling Our Way South
Penguins! Fun Facts for the Antarctic Adventurer
Day 3: Our Our Way to Antarctica!
Ice is Nice – Glacier Fun Facts
Whales: Friendly Giants of the Sea
Day 4: Our First Day in Antarctica
The Geological Structure of the Antarctic Peninsula
Day 5: In the Footsteps of Charcot
When and How the Earth Got Cold
Day 6: The White Continent
Fire in the Antarctic
Day 7: The Final Stop Among the South Shetlands
Day 8: Northward Bound
Antarctica: A Continent for Science
A Brief History of the Zodiac
Day 9: The Beagle Channel
King of the Southern Winds
Day 10: Home Again
By the Numbers
A Final Note
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
13
14
15
16
18
19
21
22
25
27
29
30
32
33
34
35

The Voyage
3
The following map traces the approximate route that the M/V Ocean Atlantic took during
our voyage to Antarctica. You can find more information about our day to day activities,
landings, and excursions on the following pages. We hope that this magazine serves as a
reminder of all of the wonderful memories you made while experiencing the Antarctic with.
o
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

4
Shelli Ogilvy
Assistant Expedition
Leader
Samuel Gagnon
Expedition Leader
Barbara Post
Assistant Expedition
Leader
Ted Creek
Zodiac Master
David Reid
Kayak Master
Wan Meng Chieh
Kayak Guide
Isabelle Howells
Equipment Master
Nadine Smith
Shop Manager
Rose Li
Guide
Christophe Gouraud
Lecturer & Guide
Shayne McGuire
Photographer
Amanda Dalsgaard
Lecturer & Guide
Kevin Burke
Lecture & Guide
Ab Steenvoorden
Lecturer & Guide
Lisa Pettenuzzo
Lecturer & Guide
Mariam Pousa
Lecturer & Guide
Christina Langer
First Aid Responder
Marta
Lecturer & Guide
Sanna Kallio
Lecturer & Guide
Chloe Shang
Shop Assistent
Steve Egan
Guest Services
Rashidah Lim
Guide
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

5
Day 1 - Southward Bound
22 February 2020 - Embarkation Day
From all over the world, passengers arrived on the
dock in Ushuaia for a 15:00 embarkation onto the
M/V Ocean Atlantic. Our Antarctic expedition was
finally coming to fruition.
The ship’s doctor all the guest’s by taking body
temperature readings with a small gun shaped
thermometer that he pointed at everyone’s
foreheads. It was a funny way to welcome people,
but we were glad for the precautionary measures
with ‘Corona-virus’ spreading around the world.
One of the expedition guides joked that they were
uploading memories of Antarctica for us and then
going to send us home again! Ha.
After we checked into our rooms and had some
tea, we were given a safety briefing and practiced
an emergency drill. The sound of the seven short
blasts and one long was not to be mistaken. We
gathered at our muster stations for roll call and
learned where the lifeboats are.
We reconvened in the Viking Theatre for a ‘meet
and greet’ with the ship’s Crew and Expedition
Team. Our Expedition Leader, Sam, introduced us
to the Hotel director Oliver, who proudly
introduced his team that would be taking care of
us for the duration of the trip. Following this, was
an introduction of the Expedition Team.
We dinned as the sun set and the glassy Beagle
Channel gave way under us. The farms of the
southernmost residents in South America were
picturesque against the rugged mountains jutting
out seemingly just a stone’s throw away on either
side of the narrow channel. The dining room
buzzed with excitement as we exchanged stories
with our new travel companions answering the
question, “…so what made you want to come to
Antarctica?”
After dinner the warm summer air of the
continent, lured us out onto the decks to watch
the albatross, terns and skuas dance in the ship’s
wake. What a beautiful evening, and the salty
fresh air so calming; such a grand way to wind
down for bed and get a good sleep. Tomorrow will
be an exciting day on the Drake Passage.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

The Seven Sisters of Szczecin
David MacDonald, Lecturer (Geology) & Expedition Guide
6
M/V Ocean Atlantic was launched in 1986 as the last-built of the ‘Shoshtakovich’ class of ice-strengthened
passenger vessels, alongside six sister ships, together known as the “Seven Sisters of Szczecin.
Her original name was Konstantin Chernenko
(Константин Черненко), after the President of the
USSR (1984-1985). She was renamed Russ (Русс) in
1989, and spent much of her life working in the Russian
Far East.
She was purchased by Albatros Expeditions and
completely refitted in 2017. She is now a 200-
passenger expedition vessel and is one of the strongest
polar cruise ships afloat. Here are some fun facts about
the “Seven Sisters”:
• All seven ships were built by Stocnia Szczecinska
shipyard in Szczecin, Poland between 1979-1986
• Main engines: 4 x Skoda Sulzer 6LZ40 total power
12800 kW, giving a maximum speed of 18 knots
• Most of the class have one bow thruster (736 kW)
and one stern thruster (426 kW); however, two
ships, including ours, built in 1986, have two stern
thrusters, each of 426 kW
• Feature Siemens stabilisers for seaworthiness
• Although built as ferries, they have a strengthened
car deck for transport of tanks
• Two of them had diving chambers
• MV Mikhail Sholokov had hull demagnetising
equipment so it could operate in minefields
• All of these ships have been scrapped except ours
and Konstantin Simonov – now Ocean Endeavour
Our ship has had a complex history:
1986-1987 In Baltic traffic, then Vladivostok to
Japan & S Korea
1989 renamed to Russ
1997-1999 In traffic Stockholm-Riga; 2000
Odessa-Haifa; 2002 back to
Vladivostok transporting cars from
Japan
2007 Sold to Sea Ferry Shipping in Majuro
and renamed 2010 to Atlantic;
renovations in Italy and in traffic
Stockholm-Helsinki-St. Petersburg
during summer and laid up (October
2010) in St Petersburg
2012 Sold to ISP in Miami and renamed to
Ocean Atlantic under Marshall
Islands flag
2013 Used as a hotel ship in the German
bight wind farm project
2015-2017 Laid up in Helsingborg and taken to
Gdansk in Poland, where totally
refitted
2017 Chartered to Quark Expeditions
2017-present Chartered to Albatros Expeditions.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

An Unlikely Antarctic Explorer
Gregers Gjersøe – Snowshoe Master & Expedition Guide
In a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, the local
cemetery is home to a rather unassuming grave.
The final resting place of Henry “Chippy” McNish,
one of the survivors of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s
1914 Endurance Expedition, the grave is also a
memorial to one of the most improbable of
Antarctic explorers.
McNish himself was a carpenter onboard the
Endurance, though he didn’t travel alone. During
the expedition, McNish brought along a cat that
followed him around like an overpossessive
wife. Soon enough, the
crew named the cat Mrs. Chippy,
although the expedition quickly
realised that Mrs. Chippy was a
gentleman, not a lady.
Mrs. Chippy was an unusual cat,
though an avid adventurer,
having climbed the Endurance’s
rigging lines on several
occasions. Mrs. Chippy also did
some very provocative strolls
across the roofs of the dogs’ kennels
and even once fell into the frigid water
below. Thankfully, the crew heard her cries and
quickly turned the ship around so they could
pluck her up from the icy cold waters and get her
to safety.
Also onboard the Endurance was a young man -
Perce Blackborow. Perce had travelled to Buenos
Aires looking for new employment, but wasn’t
hired; at 18, his youth and inexperience counted
against him. Somehow, he managed to sneak
aboard the ship, and he hid in a clothing locker
for three days. Eventually, he was discovered,
and Shackleton was furious with him, but was
sent to work in the galley where he became great
friends with Mrs. Chippy.
In January of 1915, the Endurance got trapped in
the Antarctic pack ice. McNish's work prevented
the ship from flooding, but he couldn’t do
anything to stop it from being crushed. The ship
was abandoned and, much to McNish’s despair,
Shackleton ordered Mrs. Chippy to be shot, as
they couldn’t take her on their survival journey.
Now, the group had to make it back to safety. For
months, the expedition drifted through icy
waters until they made it to Elephant Island.
Once at Elephant Island, Shackleton set out
in a 22-foot-long open boat and made
an 800-mile crossing through the
rough waters of the South Atlantic
to South Georgia. McNish was
one of the five men who
accompanied Shackleton,
making improvements to the
boat to make the voyage
possible.
For the next fifteen years, McNish
lived a difficult life in Wellington
before passing away in 1930. He never
forgave Shackleton for shooting Mrs.
Chippy.
Nearly 30 years later, in 1959, the New Zealand
Antarctic Society realised that McNish had been
given a very poor burial in an unmarked grave.
The Society raised funds for a headstone and
even reunited McNish and Mrs. Chippy by adding
a life-sized bronze statue of Mrs. Chippy to the
grave.
Now Karori Cemetery near Wellington is a
pilgrimage site for Antarctic history buffs, who
visit McNish’s grave and see Mrs. Chippy
watching over him once again.
7
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 2 - Rolling Our Way South
23 February 2020 – Drake Passage South
8
A rocking and rolling sea greeted us for our first
full day together onboard the Ocean Atlantic as
she sailed us southwards toward the promise of a
snowy white continent, lost at the edge of the
known world. A lovely breakfast as the skies
lightened, gave us a nutritious beginning for the
events of the day. It was a relaxed yet
adventurous start as many of us were still finding
our sea legs as our ship lurched challengingly
across the Drake Passage.
@ShayneMcguire
Our ornithologist Ab rolled out an entertaining
introduction to the Seabirds of the Southern
Ocean, surprisingly, given the conditions, to a full
house, providing us a great taste of the
encounters we could look forward to with these
feathered friends who accompany us on our
passage to Antarctica. Interest was high and the
theatre full of curious questions about our winged
companions. Time ‘flew’ and before we knew it, it
was time for a mandatory IAATO briefing. After
Expedition leader Sam gave us a preview of some
introductory thoughts and perspectives about
Antarctica and how to be a respectful tourist, we
enjoyed a great lunch put on by our consistently
creative galley team, fueling us for an afternoon of
further activities.
After lunch and a siesta for many of us, Amanda
welcomed those up and about to an excellent
overview of the whales we may encounter in the
region, giving us some important understanding of
the lives and ways of these most engaging
creatures of the seas we were entering.
Throughout the afternoon as the sea state
continued, many of us wandered out on the aft
deck to inspect the view of the wild seas, mingled
with our naturalists and other travelers over tea,
or photographed the many wondrous seabirds
that chaperoned our sea journey.
A sweet snack at tea time flowed into an invitation
to join Shayne for her valuable insights and tips on
photographing in Antarctica. Soon enough, a day
of various briefings, social occasions and
educational presentations brought us to our
official welcome to the journey by the Master of
our vessel and our captain Georgii as he toasted to
an expected successful Expedition ahead. This
toast lead us into a delightful evening meal as we
steamed south towards the horizon. Some
gathered after dining for a screening of Frozen
Planet to fuel dreams of the icy realms ahead.
Late in the night, we would cross the Antarctic
Convergence-the gateway into Antarctica’s unique
biological zone and would soon consider ourselves
embraced by the great white continent.
@ShayneMcguire
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Penguins! Fun Facts for the Antarctic Adventurer
Gaby Pilson, Hiking Master & Expedition Guide
For many of us, the chance to see penguins waddling around in the snowy vastness of Antarctica is the reason
that we came to the White Continent. These charismatic sea birds are a fan-favourite for visitors to Antarctica,
but even cuddly-looking penguins are incredibly well adapted to one of the harshest environments on Earth.
9
1
2
3
4
5
Depending on what book you read, there are 19
species of penguins. If you count all of the
subspecies, there are 25 total varieties of
penguins in the world, however, there are only
four truly Antarctic species of penguins: the
Adélie, Gentoo, Chinstrap, and Emperor. All of
the other penguins in the world live south of the
equator yet north of Antarctica, with the
exception of one species in the Galapagos whose
range barely crosses into the northern
hemisphere.
The largest penguin to have ever lived was the
now-extinct mega penguin, which weighed some
115 kg. These days, the largest penguin is the
Emperor Penguin, which tips the scales at 23 kg.
Alternatively, the smaller gentoo penguin weighs
just 15 kg.
Although they nest, breed, and socialize on land,
penguins rely on the sea for survival. As
swimming and diving birds, penguins are adept
at fishing and must head to the ocean for their
sustenance. Indeed, the deepest diving bird in
the world is the Emperor Penguin, with a
record-breaking dive of 535 meters!
Penguins are amazing swimmers. They spend
much of their day searching for food in the
ocean, particularly for their favourite meal of
krill, squid, and small fish. The fastest swimming
penguin is the Gentoo, which is known to reach
speeds of upwards of 50 kilometres an hour
while zooming through the water.
Penguins are highly social birds, choosing to
nest in large colonies, where they will also raise
their young. Many penguin chicks, after
hatching stay with their parents for a few weeks
to a few months before forming large “crechés,”
many hundreds of individual teenage penguins
in size.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 3 – On Our Way to Antarctica!
24 February 2020 – Drake Passage South
10
Our second day at sea, and already people were
getting used to the motion of the ship through the
waves and were becoming accustomed to life on
the water. Today, we had a few more tasks to
prepare ourselves for our first landing, including a
briefing on how to safely travel in the zodiacs.
Antarctica is a unique environment with a
sensitive ecosystem, that can easily be disturbed
by visitors. Because of this, we take extra
precautions with the equipment that is taken
onshore to check that it doesn’t have any seeds of
vegetation that could cause a nuisance to the local
area. Having made sure our outdoor kit was biosecure,
we piled into the lecture theatre with
plates loaded with tea-time treats and settled in
for Christophe’s presentation about penguins.
For many, seeing penguins will be one of the
highlights of visiting the Antarctic Peninsula, and
for good reason. These charismatic critters are so
at home in this hostile environment and that is
thanks to some of the interesting adaptations that
they have. Christophe talked us through some
remarkable facts about their life cycle, their
hunting habits and their breeding and social lives.
The briefing, which explained the plans of our first
landing, and recap was followed by a delicious
dinner in the Vinland Restaurant. That evening,
our fellow guest on board, Kurt, gave a moving
and inspiring talk to a full house, giving us the
opportunity to learn about the charity he is
involved with that provides education, resources
and nourishing meals to children with disabilities.
.
@ShayneMcguire
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
All photos © Sandra Petrowitz
Volume 2, Issue 14

Ice is Nice – Glacier Fun Facts
Gaby Pilson, Hiking Master & Expedition Guide
Glaciers have, quite literally, shaped our world. Without glaciers, the rolling hills and wide valleys we know
today would look very different, but it turns out that these icy giants have a much longer and more storied
history than many of us would initially suspect. Here are some of the best fun facts about glaciers:
11
1
Not just anything can be a glacier. In fact, there’s
a size requirement that a piece of ice has to
meet to become a glacier. Anything considered a
glacier must be at least 0.1 km 2 (nearly 25 acres)
in area to be worthy of the name. Although
there’s a minimum size requirement to be
considered a glacier, there’s no upper limit to
glacierhood. The longest glacier on earth is the
Lambert Glacier of Antarctica, which measures
out to some 434 km (270 mi) long. The world’s
largest non-polar glacier is the Fedchenko
Glacier of Tajikistan, which measures a
respectable 77km (48mi) long.
© Renato Granieri
2
© Renato Granieri
Glaciers are formed by snowflakes. Although it’s
crazy to think that a tiny snowflake can create
something as large as a glacier, without snow,
glaciers would never exist in the first place. To
form a glacier, massive amounts of snow must
accumulate and persist in a single location all
year long for hundreds, if not thousands of
years. During this time, the individual snowflakes
found in the snowpack change in a process
known as snowflake metamorphosis, where
individual ice grains fuse together and get bigger
and air bubbles get smaller. Once the icepack
builds up enough mass to start flowing downhill,
then, voila! We have a glacier.
3
Glaciers are found all over the world, not just in
the polar regions. While the majority of glaciers
and glacial ice is concentrated in high northern
and southern latitudes, glaciers are found even
near the equator, such as on Mount Kilimanjaro
in Tanzania and in the mountains of Ecuador.
That being said, about half of the world’s
200,000 glaciers are found in one place: Alaska.
There, glaciers cover a whopping 72,500 km 2
(28,000 mi 2 ) of the US state’s total area. That’s a
lot of ice.
© Werner Kruse
4
Glaciers are basically really, really, really slow-moving rivers. To be considered a glacier, a large mass of ice
must be physically moving downhill. This movement downhill is driven by gravity and is the main reason
why glaciers also act as major agents of erosion. Since glaciers move downhill, they often remove and
transport large boulders and chunks of rock, depositing them much further downhill then where they
started.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Drake Passage
Drake Passage
© Sandra Petrowitz © Sandra Petrowitz
Elephant seal
Gentoo chic
© Sandra Petrowitz
© Sandra Petrowitz
Drake Passage
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Whales: Gentle Giants of the Southern Sea
Amanda Dalsgaard – Lecturer (Marine Biology) and Expedition Guide
13
@ P.M.Hunter
When one talks about whales, we must
acknowledge the vast diversity of whales on earth
and the uniqueness of each species. All whales fall
into an order of marine mammals known as
Cetaceans. The scientists who first discovered and
named this order of marine mammals, used the
word cetacean or ‘ceatacea’ from the Greek
‘ketos,’ meaning monster.
Long ago, when whales were first scientifically
observed and recorded, people believed they
were monsters, due to their size. Today, we know
much more about the gentle giants that roam our
planet’s seas, thanks to a number scientific and
technological advances, our knowledge of these
creatures will only continue to grow.
The order Cetacea is divided into two sub-orders,
Odontocete and Mysticeti. Odontocete, meaning
‘toothed-whale’, includes all of the whales and
dolphins with teeth. Mysticeti comes from the
Latin root meaning “mustache”, and includes all of
the whales that have baleen plates instead of
teeth. It’s important to keep these differences in
mind when trying to observe whales from a ship
as this information can help identify cetaceans
from far away.
Interestingly enough, however, toothed whales
have only one blow hole or spout, while baleen
whales have two. Plus, many whales can be
identified from afar using the size and shape of
their spout blow as well. For example, grey whales
tend to have spouts shaped like hearts, while
orcas have low bushy spouts.
Another distinguishing characteristic that sets
these two sub-orders apart is the way that they
communicate. Odontocetes use a method of
communication called echolocation. This is best
described as a series or clicks and precise sounds
that are then reflected back to the animal and
allows the whale to ‘see’ their environment
through noise. It is the same communication style
used by bats in terrestrial ecosystems. Mysticetes
on the other hand, communicate through a variety
of low-frequency songs. These songs have been
described by scientists as being beautiful,
mysterious and sometimes gloomy, with the males
being the most active singers of the Mysticeti clan.
Regardless of the kind of whale you see however,
any encounter with one of these graceful marine
giants, however brief, is sure to be a memorable
experience for years to come.
Since whales are marine mammals, they must
breath air to survive. They do so by breathing at
the water’s surface through their blow holes.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 4 – Our First Day in Antarctica!
25 February 2020 – Damoy Point and Port Lockroy
14
After two full days crossing the Drake Passage, the
bridge officers of the Ocean Atlantic and
passengers alike were glad to at last reach some
calmer waters. Guests were told at the recap the
evening before that early morning, we would be
travelling through the Neumayer Channel –
arguably one of the most scenic and spectacular
channels in all of the peninsula. Shortly after six
am, the early sun was kissing the summits of the
surrounding peaks. The tallest mountain on the
peninsula could just be seen with a pink sunny
summit. Rising to 2826m high, Mount Francais is
often shrouded in cloud and obscured from view.
Those out on deck early were treated to an
amazing morning.
@ShayneMcguire
@ShayneMcguire
Today was also the first chance for the kayaking
program participants to acquaint themselves with
their kayaks and explore the waters and ice in
Dorian Bay near Damoy Point and Jougla Point
near the entrance to Peltier Channel. The weather
was spectacular and by lunchtime everyone had
forgotten about the ‘spicy’ Drake Passage crossing.
During lunch, the Ocean Atlantic re-positioned to
Port Lockroy. The incredible weather stayed with
us as the guests split between visiting the restored
buildings of the early British scientific station on
Goudier Island and embarking on a scenic zodiac
cruise.
The first excursion of the day was at a place called
Damoy Point. A well maintained hut on shore is of
keen interest for anyone visiting. This area was
used as a staging post for the British Antarctic
Survey. On the ice shelf nearby, there is a runway
from which scientists could be flown south to
Rothera Station and beyond without waiting for
the sea ice to clear. A colony of Gentoo penguins
were the first animals seen by many of the happy
guests on board.
@ShayneMcguire
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
@ShayneMcguire
Today, the Bransfield House is used as a museum,
gift shop and post office. When the base was
established. Goudier Island was attached to
nearby Wiencke Island by a glacier, but this has
since retreated sufficiently for the island now to
stand alone in the harbour. A quick but thorough
re-cap featured Sam, Isabelle, Sanna and Ab
before the dinner bell sounded and the dining
room became a boisterous and noisy gathering of
very happy guests and expedition staff. Without
doubt, a spectacular first day in Antarctica!
Volume 2, Issue 14

The Geological Structure of the Antarctic Peninsula
David Macdonald, Lecturer (Geology) & Expedition Guide
This cartoon shows what the Antarctic Peninsula looked like 100 million years ago (mya). The main points to
note are:
• The peninsula was a continuation of the Andes. They were connected until 35 mya
• The peninsula was a volcanic arc from about 200 mya3 until about 25 mya
• Volcanism ended 50 mya in the south and 20 mya off Brabant Island
• Only the South Shetlands Islands have any volcanic activity now
15
There are three main geological domains, each formed of multiple rock units:
1. The basement domain (grey and brown colours) contains sediments scraped off the ocean floor which were
changed by heat and pressure (metamorphosed) in the subduction zone and during folding and
deformation. These metamorphic rocks span a wide range of ages from 299-65 mya. They tend to be older
on the east coast of the peninsula. These rocks are best seen in Paradise Harbour, at the shag colony near
Brown Station.
2. The igneous domain contains rocks crystallised from magma. This includes both plutonic rocks (where the
magma crystallised slowly within the earth’s crust) and volcanic rocks (where the magma was erupted as
lava and ash). Again, the rocks span a wide range of ages from about 210-25 mya, and the younger rocks
tend to be in the west. These are the commonest rocks seen in the Peninsula and are well displayed in the
South Shetland Islands (e.g. Half Moon Island, or Yankee Harbour) or on the peninsula (e.g. Cuverville
Island). Plutonic rocks form Goudier Island at Port Lockroy.
3. The sedimentary domain contains rocks eroded from the volcanic arc and deposited in sedimentary basins,
either on the eastern, Weddell Sea side (in a very large structure called the Larsen Basin), or in smaller
basins to the west (the largest of which is the Fossil Bluff Basin on Alexander Island). Sedimentary rocks are
not seen on most peninsula cruises (unless they visit the area of James Ross Island), although there are
sedimentary rocks with abundant fossils interbedded with volcanic rocks west of Hannah Point, in Walker
Bay.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 5 – In the Footsteps of Charcot
26 February 2020 – Peterman Island and Port Charcot
16
It was an especially early wake up call for an
especially exceptional view. At 6:00 am we rose to
Sam’s voice on the loudspeaker announcing our
transit through the Lemaire Channel. World
famous, and for good reason, this was not an
event to be missed for a bit more sleep, so we
bounced out of bed for a viewing on the bow.
With a few high clouds to offset the orange sky
and the sun rising behind the mountains, we
threaded the needle through the narrow channel.
A rainbow appeared, backdropped by the charcoal
clouds; we couldn’t have asked for a more
beautiful morning.
At lunch there was a barbecue on the back deck
that trumped all other barbeques! What can beat
the sweet smells of summer picnics to be eaten
whilst cruising amongst icebergs?
@ Amanda Dalsgaard
Breakfast was at the usual 7-8 am slot and we
quickly got ready for the morning’s excursion at
Petermann Island. As we approached the shore,
we could see a cross to the left along the beach
commemorating three British researchers that had
perished crossing the sea ice. On the shore, the
red flags led us to a fork in the path with a high
viewpoint over an iceberg-filled bay to the left and
to the right we met our first Adelle colony. Ab was
there to tell us the differences © Sandra Petrowitz between the Adelle
and Gentoo penguins.
@ShayneMcguire
@ShayneMcguire
The afternoon excursion was a landing at Port
Charcot and a cruise through Pleneau Bay- an
iceberg graveyard, where “icebergs go to die”. On
our walk as we crested over the sun cupped
snowfield to the iceberg laden bay at the back, we
came upon many penguins that had been ravaged.
The mystery was, why were they killed and not
eaten?. A mad fur seal was the suspect as they are
the only kind of seal that could move fast enough
to impose such damage on a colony. It was a sad
sight and a disturbing part of nature to witness.
The zodiac cruise amongst the icebergs in Pleneau
Bay was an antithetical contrast with a magical
meander amongst the crystalline shapes melting
out from the large blocks that not long ago were
stranded on the shallow ocean floor.
At 18:00 we had another chance to cross the
Lemaire Channel and this time in the evening light.
We had a group picture taken on the bow of the
ship by Shayne; it will be great to remember all
our new friends that we met on this journey.
The evening ended with Rose’s entertaining
banter over a bingo game and her all too
memorable cue to ring out an emphatic “WOW”
whenever mock amazement is required. For the
duration of the trip, the occasional “WOW” could
be heard ringing out from the dinner tables.
Another amazing day in Antarctica and fun was
enjoyed by all.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Paradise Harbour
Paradise
Harbour
Chinstrap penguins
Paradise Harbour
Neko Harbour
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
All photos © Sandra Petrowltz
Volume 2, Issue 14

When and How the Earth Got Cold
David Macdonald, Lecturer (Geology) & Expedition Guide
The Earth’s climate has two end-member states:
greenhouse and icehouse. In a greenhouse climate,
there are no polar icecaps (although there may be
valley glaciers in high mountain areas) – the climate of
the Cretaceous Period (144-65 million years ago) is a
typical greenhouse. We are currently in an icehouse
climate, since there are icecaps at or near both poles.
Although life on Earth goes back 3.5 billion years, the
main expansion in numbers of species and hence of
easily found fossils occurred 540 million years ago.
During the time from then until now, greenhouse
climates have dominated, with three periods of
icehouse climate, lasting a total of about 100 million
years. Our current icehouse period began abruptly 35
million years ago, with formation of an icecap in
Antarctica. Why did it happen then, and why did it have
such an abrupt beginning?
Water temperature (°C)
Antarctic convergence
October 2019
8
6
4
2
0
54 56 58 60 62 64
Latitude (°S)
18
Figure 2: Temperatures in the Drake Passage from Friday 25
October to Sunday 27 October 2019 as Ocean Atlantic sailed south
across the Antarctic Convergence, where the sea temperature falls
below 4°C.
It was the severing of the link between the Antarctic
Peninsula and Tierra del Fuego that allowed deep cold
water to circulate around the planet at 50-60°S and
thermally isolate Antarctica from the rest of the world.
This situation continues today (Figure 1)
The key area for this was the Drake Passage, which is
the western end of the Scotia Sea (Figure 3). Geological
and geophysical studies of the sea floor show that the
Antarctica-South America link was severed by the
growth of ocean crust, beginning 35 million years ago.
Opening of this deep-water gateway cooled the planet
and turned Antarctica into the white continent.
Figure 1: Thermal structure of the Southern Ocean showing the
position of the Antarctic Convergence (Polar Front) at the junction
of the dark blue and mid blue shading. This is the line of the 4°C
isotherm, where Antarctic surface water plunges below cold
temperate water.
The first, and most important factor was that we had a
polar continent. Antarctica was in roughly its present
position over the South Pole, so would have had
strongly differentiated winters and summers. However,
although the former supercontinent of Gondwana had
largely broken up by then, there was still a land bridge
to South America and Antarctica was still forested,
probably with a migratory fauna. Warm currents bathed
Antarctica’s shores and, 35 million years ago, the
temperature of the Southern Ocean was a relatively
mild 6°C.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Figure 3: The Drake Passage and the Scotia Sea formed from 50
million years ago, when there was slow extension between South
America and the Antarctic Peninsula which stretched the crust and
allowed surface waters to circulate through this former land
bridge. The temperature of the southern Ocean fell from 12°C to
6°C between 50-35 million years ago, then abruptly fell to 0°C
when the deep water gateway of the scotia Sea opened, sundering
the link between Antarctica and South America and allowing
continuous circulation of deep water, thermally isolating
Antarctica.
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 6- The White Continent
27 February 2020 – Paradise Bay and Neko Harbour
19
Waking up knowing that today is the day that we
would land on the Antarctic mainland, we checked
outside of our windows with baited breath to check
if the weather would hold. The luck we have had so
far held strong, and the surface of the water was
mirror calm apart from the ripples left from the ship.
@ShayneMcguire
We sailed into Paradise Harbour and away onto the
zodiacs with the standard full split of half the group
on land and the other half zodiac cruising. This was
with the exception of the kayakers who were
enjoying their forth outing of the voyage.
On the zodiacs, we travelled around the rocky
cliffs covered in beautiful lichens and algae to a
Blue-eyed shag colony with many chicks just
starting to leave their nests and settling on ice
bergs all around. We proceeded into Skontorp
Cove where we had views of the incredible glacier
fronts and witnessed first-hand the power of the
polar icecap through various calving events.
The afternoon brought us another Humpback
whale on our way to Neko Harbour. We took a
narrow channel sailing past the colourfully painted
Chilean base Gonzalez Videla, on our way towards
our afternoon location. At this point, we no longer
believe the expedition team and their dire
warnings that Antarctic weather can be bad as we
can see for miles across this perfect bay. Landing
on a gravel beach we are spoilt with a larger
colony of gentoos either rearing their fluffy chicks
or else trying to conserve energy as they moult
away their last years feathers. Another viewpoint
and some relaxing peace and quiet.
@AmandaDalsgaard
@ShayneMcguire
At the landing site, a set of stairs lead us up and
through the Argentinian ‘Brown Station’, where a
small colony of Gentoo penguins resided and the
expedition team organised a route up to a stunning
viewpoint. Everywhere we looked there were
glaciers, ice and mountains, perfectly reflected in the
mirror that the sea has become. Meanwhile, the
staff told stories of the peculiar situation of the
bases doctor having burned it down after a long year
away from his love.
On the water as well as the normal icebergs the
harbour seems to be filled with tiny wilsons storm
petrels dancing on the surface of the water picking
up tiny krill as they go in a pure masterclass in
precision. To top it off a mother and calf
humpback whale.
Once everyone was back on-board, the outdoor
activities were not quite finished yet Polar plunge
began, and 78 of us having apparently lost our
minds in the sun, deciding to jump from our warm
ship into the icy water.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Port Charcot
@Sandra Petrowitz
Gentoo Chics
@Sandra Petrowitz
@Sandra Petrowitz
Humpback
Crabeater Seal
© Sandra Petrowitz
@ShayneMcguire
@Sandra Petrowitz
Port Charcot
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14
@Sandra Petrowitz

Fire in the Antarctic
Gregers Gjersøe, Snowshoe Master & Expedition Guide
Fire is one of the greatest threats in Antarctica thanks to
the region’s very dry climate, frequent strong winds,
and nearly complete lack of liquid freshwater. Due to
the continent’s isolation with and little possibility of
rescue for weeks or months, a fire in the Antarctic is a
potentially very disastrous event.
Although it is covered in snow and ice, the cold
temperatures of Antarctica make the White Continent
very dry. As it is one of the windiest places on Earth,
there is almost always a strong wind blowing much of
the time, more than strong enough to fan any flames.
As the temperatures across the whole continent of
Antarctica is averaging below freezing, there is unlikely
to be very much liquid water to fight fires. So, the
response to fire is usually to make sure everyone is out
of danger and safe and then stand back and watch it
burn itself out.
Bases in Antarctica are often designed to survive fires
because they are made up of a number of separate
buildings, each with a significant distance between
them. Many bases have emergency supplies stored in a
hut near the base but well away. In these huts, there
are often enough supplies and ample shelter for the
base’s crew to be able to survive a fire or emergency
until help can arrive.
The Argentine Antarctic base and scientific research
station, “Brown Station,” is named after Admiral
William Brown, the father of the Argentine Navy.
21
Located on the Sanaviron Peninsula along Paradise
Harbour’s Danco Coast, from 1951 to 1984 it served as
a permanent research base, though, since then, it is
open only during the summer season.
During its heyday, the station was home to one of the
most complete biology laboratories on the Antarctic
Peninsula, featuring a main house, as well as an
additional building exclusively for scientific research.
This building was equipped with three labs, a
photography workshop, an emergency radio station, an
office and a library.
Unfortunately, Brown Station’s original facilities were
burned down by the station’s doctor on 12 April 1984
after he was ordered to stay on for yet another winter,
despite the original terms of his contract and his desire
to see his fiancé once again. As you can imagine, the
stress of Antarctica’s harsh winter conditions can take
its toll on residents and explorers of the region, driving
them to take extreme measures to get back home.
The doctor simply couldn’t bear to stay on for another
winter and he couldn’t stand the isolation as the days
drew darker. His solution? To force an evacuation of
himself and his colleagues in the only way plausible
manner: by burning the station down.
After the fire, the station’s personnel were rescued by
the USS Hero and taken to United States’ Palmer
Station. Argentina later rebuilt the base, but it is now
only occupied during the summer months. The station’s
doctor was sent to prison for arson and his fiancé
decided to call off the engagement.
© Werner Kruse
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 7- The Final Stop Among the South Shetlands
28 February 2020 – Halfmoon Island and Whalers Bay
22
On our last day of excursions, we were starting to get
used to our routine: an early morning wake up, zodiac
embarkation, landings, and recap, but all of that could
not prepare us for the excitement that the day ahead
would bring. Although we have had very warm
weather in the previous days, today, true Antarctic
conditions appeared with snow and cold ocean wind
on our faces.
Signs of the explosive history of this volcanic caldera
tinge the ice and earth here, giving the landscape a
dark, ashy complexion. Deception Island has a long
human history as well. The harbour was first used by
British and American sealers who used Deception as a
hunting base for fur seals. Over the years the
populations of fur seals were disseminated in the
South Shetland Islands and the sealers moved to new
areas. They were then replaced by the whalers who
arrived in the early 1900’s. Like the sealers, the
whalers used the bay as safe and protected place to
process their catch. By 1912, the Norwegian Hektor
Whaling Company established a permanent land
station to process the whale carcasses more
efficiently. Once whale oil lost its value in the market
place, the whaling station shut-down and was
abandoned in 1931.
@ShayneMcguire
The day began at Halfmoon Island, which is
predominantly inhabited by chinstrap penguins,
forming several colonies throughout the crescentshaped
land. The chicks present were grown and
molting, showing a very fun, slightly awkward, ‘hairstyle’.
We watched as their parents comically popped
onto the rocky shore as they came back to their
colony after feeding out at sea.
Those who were not on land, enjoyed a short Zodiac
cruise around the scenic coastline. The brief
appearance of a shy Minke Whale made us smile,
while we also got the chance to observe some
friendly fur seals pups jumping in and out of the
water.
After a beautiful morning, we embarked back onto
the Ocean Atlantic and sailed along the northern
edge of the Bransfield Strait towards Deception
Island. Onboard, after enjoying another fabulous
lunch in the Vinland Restaurant, many people headed
to the outer decks to experience the dramatic
Neptune’s Bellows- the entrance way to the active
caldera and Deception Island.
@ShayneMcguire
The caldera was particularly rich with life this
afternoon – a marked juxtaposition to the skeletons
of the old Norwegian whaling station rusting on
shore. We also roamed the shores of Deception
Island, dwarfed by the landscape surrounding us; In
awe of the history that had come and gone.
Upon arrival, the initial wind and the swell in the
waters of the Whalers Bay caused some concern, but
our experienced Zodiac drivers felt confident in their
ability to handle the conditions. Luckily enough, the
wind and the swell more or less abated, and we
enjoyed a stunning cruise with a bright sunset over
the caldera’s ridge. We spotted a handful of cheeky
chinstrap penguins walking very close to the fur seals,
while some blue eyed shags watched us from the
cliffs inside the bay before we wrapped up the
afternoon and headed back to the ship.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Molting Chinstrap
Neptune’s Bellows
23
@ShayneMcguire
Half-moon Island
@ShayneMcguire
@ShayneMcguire
Blue-eyed shags
@ShayneMcguire
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Detaille Provisions
Deception Island
Base ¨W¨
@ShayneMcguire
Gentoo
Neumayer Channel
@ShayneMcguire
Leopard Seal
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
@ShayneMcguire
@ShayneMcguire
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 8- Northward Bound
29 Februrary 2020 – Drakes Passage, At Sea
25
Our first day at sea on our way back to Ushuaia
started with the well-known wake-up call by Sam
at 7:45 am. With light winds and a cloudy sky, it
seemed to be a relatively calm day on the Drake
Passage. Breakfast was followed by an informative
lecture by Sanna about the physical natural history
of Antarctica. Sanna shared her knowledge of ice,
rocks and Antarctic glaciers with us all.
@AmandaDalsgaard
Following the lecture, our stretching master and
dance teacher Rashida, offered an invigorating
stretch class in the Bistro. The class was just what
we needed after over a week of enjoying tasty
food prepared by our talented chefs onboard.
Roughly thirty of us left with a big smile and a 45-
minute workout completed.
In the afternoon, Amanda invited us back into the
Viking Theater to learn all about the six different
types of seals that are found in the Southern
Ocean. And before we knew it, it was the most
important time of day again- teatime! The galley
team served a beautiful assortment of cakes,
sandwiches and even ice cream Sundays!
@AmandaDalsgaard
Our daily recap followed and was rather intriguing.
First, Sam told us the story of the Ocean Atlantic
and it´s turbulent history. Being built in Russia in
1986 and launched in 1987, the ship has travelled
as far as the Eastern coast of Russia, where it
served as a ferry to and from Japan. The story
behind cabin no 502 was interesting as well. In the
year 2000, soon after the Russian election,
Vladimir Putin took the Ocean Atlantic on a oneweek
holiday together with his wife and his two
daughters. In 2017, Albatros Expeditions started
running trips on the OA to Antarctica and around
the Arctic regions.
Following the ship’s history, Christoph made us all
laugh during his amusing recap about penguin
poop and the pressure behind the action. Ab, one
of our birders on board, emphasized the
impressive wingspan of the seabirds we have seen
during our trip. To help us visualize the size of
these birds, he used a rope stretched across the
room to exemplify the wingspans of these birds
and left us speechless after seeing the wingspan of
a wandering Albatross. The largest flying bird on
our planet with a wingspan of 3.5 meters!
@AmandaDalsgaard
Shelli wrapped up the recap by revealing the
secrets held within the big, red waterproof bags
that went ashore for every landing. In case of a
rapid weather change where it would be
impossible to get back to the ship, the bags
contain emergency equipment such as food,
emergency blankets and bothy bags (similar to a
parachute that turns into a tent), water bottles
and toilet paper. After dinner, Karaoke provided
all onboard with another successful and
entertaining evening event in the Viking Theatre.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Gentoo & Adelie
@AmandaDalsgaard
Fur Seal
@SandraPetrowitz
Humpbacks
@SandraPetrowitz
@AmandaDalsgaard
Lemaire Channel
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Antarctica: A Continent for Science
David Macdonald, Lecturer (Geology) & Expedition Guide
Until the advent of mass tourism, Antarctica’s tagline was: “A continent for science”.
Antarctica affects the rest of the world in a variety of
ways, so “Antarctic Science” should really be “Global
science that happens in Antarctica”. Although many
early expeditions were purely geographical in scope,
there were some important scientific expeditions in the
late 19 th to early 20 th centuries. In this “Golden Age” of
exploration, there were many scientific contributions
from Antarctica which changed our view of the earth’s
evolution and environment.
27
As a result of these organisations and better logistics,
the rate of scientific discovery soared, and new polarspecific
studies proliferated. Some highlights include:
• 1957-58: The International Geophysical Year (IGY)
was an 18-month collaboration between 67
countries. Antarctica was the focus, with 12 nations
participating. Many new scientific stations were
created and the IGY was a resounding success as it
led directly to the Antarctic Treaty
Indeed, three expeditions brought back proof that
Antarctica once had a warm climate. Scott’s first
expedition (1901-1904) found coal from 250 million
years ago in the Transantarctic Mountains;
Nordenskjӧld’s Swedish Antarctic Expedition found
warm-water fossils on James Ross Island; and the Scotia
Expedition under Bruce (1902-1904) dredged
fossiliferous 500 million-year-old limestone from the
Weddell Sea. Scott’s second expedition (1910-1913)
found fossil leaves(Glossopteris) in the Transantarctic
Mountains. These fossils belong to an extinct order of
seed ferns from 299-252 million years ago, only found
in the southern hemisphere continents and India. They
were used by Wegener in 1924 in his work on
continental drift to reconstruct the former
supercontinent of Gondwana.
In the years after the First World War, the focus
changed from individual expeditions to national
pursuits, such as the British Discovery Investigations –
the first permanent oceanographic body in the world.
During 33 years (1918–51) of pioneering work, the
research ships collected an enormous amount of
oceanographic, biological, and geographical data.
Among the results of the investigations was the
discovery of both the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the
Antarctic Convergence - the natural boundary of
Antarctica.
By the end of the Second World War, the move to
create national organisations was complete, with the
formation of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey
(now British Antarctic Survey), the Australian National
Research Expeditions) and other civilian operations
(France, New Zealand, South Africa, etc).
• 1959-1996: The discovery and delineation of
subglacial Lake Vostok is a great example of scientific
cooperation. Lab studies showed that ice under very
high pressure reverts to water and in 1964, seismic
soundings from Vostok Station were used to
measure the thickness of the ice sheet. This
suggested the existence of a subglacial lake. British
airborne ice-penetrating radar in the 1970s detected
unusual radar readings, suggesting a freshwater lake
below the ice. In 1991, a radar satellite revealed
that this subglacial water body is one of the world’s
largest lakes. We now know that there are at least
140 subglacial lakes in Antarctica.
• 1980-present: The US-funded collection and curation
of Antarctic meteorites has recovered about 22,000
meteorites from Antarctica (about 75% of all known
meteorites worldwide). There are samples from the
Moon, Mars, and asteroids.
• 1985: In hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was
discovered from ground-based instruments at Halley
Bay and Faraday (British Antarctic Survey).
• 1986: Research at McMurdo Station, the main U.S.
scientific station in Antarctica, established that
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as the probable cause of
the Antarctic ozone hole (US NSF). These two bits of
work lead to signing of the Madrid Protocol on 1987,
banning CFCs.
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Whalers Bay
Whalers Bay
@SandraPetrowitz
@SandraPetrowitz
Gentoos
Elephant Seal
@SandraPetrowitz
@SandraPetrowitz
Neptunes Bellows
@AmandaDalsgaard
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

A Brief History of the Zodiac
Steve Traynor, Zodiac Master
In expedition cruising, the most important tool we use is the Zodiac inflatable boat. These manoeuvrable,
reliable, robust vessels are the workhorse of the expedition cruise industry, from the north of Svalbard to
the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. They have a long history – as you can see from the stages
below, many different inventions needed to come together to create the craft we use today.
1838 Charles Goodyear (USA) discovered the process for vulcanising rubber (a US patent was granted
in 1844) – this process is used for hardening and strengthening rubber.
1843 Goodyear’s process was stolen by Thomas Hancock (UK) using the process of reverse
engineering; less controversially, Hancock invented the “masticator” – a machine for re-using
rubber scraps – this made the rubber industry much more efficient.
1845 The first successful inflatable boat (Halkett boat) was designed by Lieutenant Peter Halkett
(UK), specifically for Arctic operations. Halkett Boats were used by the Orcadian explorer, John
Rae, in his successful expedition to discover the fate of the Franklin Expedition.
1866 Four men made the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Britain on a threetube
inflatable raft.
1896 The original Zodiac company was founded by Maurice Mallet (France) to produce airships.
1909 The first outboard motor was invented by Ole Evinrude in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1912 The loss of the Titanic and subsequent shipping losses during World War 1 proved the need for
inflatable rafts for use as supplementary lifeboats.
1919 RFD firm (UK) and the Zodiac company (France) started building inflatable boats.
1934 The airship company, Zodiac, invented the inflatable kayak and catamaran
1942 The Marine Raiders – an elite unit of the US Marine Corps – used inflatable boats to carry out
raids and landings in the Pacific theatre.
1950 Alain Bombard first combined the outboard engine, a rigid floor and an inflatable boat (built by
the Zodiac company).
1952 Alain Bombard crossed the Atlantic Ocean with his inflatable; after this, his good friend, the
famous diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau, started using them.
1960 Zodiac licensed production to a dozen companies in other countries because of their lack of
manufacturing capacity in France.
29
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 9- The Beagle Channel
1 March 2020 – Drake Passage
We enjoyed a nice chance to sleep-in until 7:45
am. The Drake was much more lively this morning
with long rolling swells rolling us back and forth in
our beds, and once upright we often were walking
at an angle to keep balance.
In the morning Expedition team member Lisa, held
a presentation on the details of the Antarctic
Treaty. Throughout the morning the birders were
our on deck hoping to get a glimpse of more
albatrosses, however conditions were a bit
challenging, nice to get some fresh air though.
In the afternoon the kayakers had a debrief of
their great adventures gliding along the surface of
the sea, dipping their paddles left and right. Such a
surreal experience to be fulling immerged in the
ocean of Antarctica, so close and personal. They
shared photos and experiences together, all put
together 22 individuals had the chance to explore
the icy waters of Antarctica.
In the late afternoon we had a slideshow of all of
Sandra’s photos from the expedition. Such a
talented photographer; she really captured all our
experiences in crystal clear stillness for us to
remember forever.
The charity raffle was fun and managed to raise a
beneficial sum for the important charities we have
learned about.
The evening events were literally ‘capped’ off with
a toast from our Captain, a farewell to the hotel
team, and a cast back of the recaps of all recaps
with Sam walking us through the nine last amazing
days of our lives.
The Captain’s dinner was our last “festival” for the
trip and our last grand display and consumption of
chocolate as well as to enjoy our new friends
made on the ship. Tomorrow we will be saying
good-bye, and hopefully in the future a new hello
again.
30
© Sandra Petrowitz
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Ushuaia
© Sandra Petrowitz
© Sandra Petrowitz
Cape Petrel
© Renato Granieri
Drake Passage
@AmandaDalsgaard
© Sandra Petrowitz
© Sandra Petrowitz
Humpback Whales
@AmandaDalsgaard
@ShayneMcguire
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
© Sandra Petrowitz
Volume 2, Issue 14

King of the Southern Winds
Sandra Ophorst, Lecturer & Expedition Guide
32
The wandering albatross is an impressive bird with the
world’s largest wingspan of up to 3.5 meters in length
and a weight of up to 11 kilograms. Unfortunately, the
number of wandering albatrosses is rapidly declining
with only 20,100 individuals left as of October 2019
(Red List, World Conservation Union)
The wandering albatross is rarely seen on land and
gathers only to breed, at which time it forms large
colonies on remote islands, such as South Georgia. The
female lays a single white egg and both sexes share
incubation, which lasts about 60 to 80 days. Both sexes
feed the youngster by regurgitating food, a process
that can continue for up to nine months.
The nesting cycle of wandering albatrosses is so long,
they can’t complete it in one year. So, they nest every
other year. When young albatrosses become
independent and leave their nest site, they begin a
multi-year foray on the open ocean and will not return
to land until they are old enough to breed. This can
take up to 10 years of their 50 year average lifespan.
The wandering albatross is famous for its dynamic
flight. They turn into the wind to gain height, then glide
back down to the sea to gain speed. Sometimes they
glide for hours without rest or even a single flap of
their wings. Indeed, this principle was used to design
airplanes, especially gliders that have albatross-like
wings.
As a result of these wings, however, an albatross’
landing process often looks a bit comical as their
narrow wings do not allow for a slow approach. So,
they often land on their feet and then tumble forward
and slide on their bellies. The biggest threats to the
wandering albatross are pollution and large-scale
commercial tuna fisheries. These tuna fishing boats are
equipped with up to 20,000 fish baited hooks and
these lines can be up to 100km long.
Unfortunately, these fishing lines often attract
albatrosses get caught up on the hooks and drown as
they are cast out at sea. Organisations such as Hookpod
are trying to save the albatrosses from the dangers of
long line fishing vessels by providing fishing boats with
“hookpods” that cover the barb and point of the hook
during setting, reducing the likelihood of an albatross
by-catch.
© Sandra Petrowitz
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

Day 10- Home Again
22 February 2020 - Ushuaia
After last night’s end-of-voyage festivities, we awoke
much too early for our final morning on the Ocean
Atlantic. Although we wish we could stay, we started
the process of leaving behind the ship and the people
we’ve come to know so well over the past week.
Our bags were packed and stowed in the corridors,
ready for our early-morning busses and flights back
home. After nine whole days immersed in the
landscapes and amongst the wildlife of the Antarctic,
it was time to return home or to wherever our life’s
journeys bring us.
And so – farewell, adieu, and goodbye. Together we
have visited and incredible and vast wilderness. We
have experienced magnificent mountain vistas, seen
icebergs roll and crack, felt the power of the elements
and seen how quickly they can change. We enjoyed
wonderful food and comfortable surroundings aboard
the Ocean Atlantic.
33
We boarded zodiacs and cruised through icy bays at
the end of the Earth. We shared unique moments,
held engaging conversations, and laughed together
over tea or wine. We’ve made new friends and
experienced the power of expedition travel.
We hope the expedition team has helped make this
the trip of a lifetime - one that will persist in your
memories for weeks, months, and years, to come.
Although we must say good-bye to these places we
have come to know and love, it is a fond farewell as
we are all true ambassadors for the Antarctic and all
the beauty it holds.
On behalf of Albatros Expeditions, our captain and
crew, the expedition team, and everyone else who
helped make this journey a resounding success, it has
been a pleasure travelling with you. We hope that you
will come back and experience these wonderful places
with us once again!
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

By the Numbers…
34
Voyage Statistics:
Southernmost Point: 65 o 11.03’ S, 64 o 08. 14’W
Total Distance Travelled: 2,147 nautical miles 3,864 kilometre
Excursion Locations:
Cuverville Island: 64 o 41’00’S 62 o 38’00’W
Port Lockroy: 64 o 49’00’S 63 o 29’00’W
Damoy Point: 64 o 49’00’S 63 o 29’00’W
Deception Island: 62 o 59’ S 60 o 29’ W
Port Charcot: 65 o 06’ S 64 o 01’ W
Petermann Is:
Whalers Bay:
Ushuaia:
Neko Harbour:
Brown Station:
65 o 10’ S 64 o 10’ W
62 o 59’ S 60 o 34’ W
54 o 45’ S 68 o 23’ W
64 o 50’ S 62 o 33’ W
64 o 53’ S 62 o 52’ W
During our time on the M/V Ocean Atlantic, we consumed:
Beef
Lamb
Pork
Poultry
Cold Cuts
Fish & Seafood
Eggs
Milk
Cheese
Ice Cream
Vegetables
Fruit
Wine
Beer
Toilet Paper
477 kg
119 kg
400 kg
300 kg
55 kg
391 kg
4920 pcs
418 ltr
80 kg
209 ltr
1647 kg
1874 kg
311 btls
1116 cans
672 rolls
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14

A Final Note…
35
As any good expedition comes to a close, many of us experience the
effervescent excitement that comes when we immerse ourselves
completely in an adventure. Although we all came into this voyage with
our own expectations and personal motivations, on the ship, we quickly
learned that the best plan is the one that we end up doing.
While weather and the landscape
can conspire against us in the
southern latitudes, the right mindset
can make all of the difference.
Wind, rain, sleet, and snow make no
difference when we come prepared
for an adventure and all the
excitement it holds. Whether you
saw what you came for or you
experienced something else
entirely, when you set out on an
expedition, you come for the
mountains and the wildlife, but stay
for people and places you meet
along the way.
Although we all eventually have to
leave behind our beloved Ocean
Atlantic, there are always a few
things we can take home from an
expedition:
• An acceptance and embracement
of adversity and uncertainty
when the natural world alters
our plans.
• A fondness for the wild and a
strong desire to keep remote
natural locations as beautiful and
free as they can be.
• An insatiable interest in learning
more about the people, places,
and cultures in some of the most
remote parts of the world.
As you unpack you bags, you may
find souvenirs and keepsakes from
your journey. Your camera may be
filled with countless photos,
however blurry, of the many
animals and mountains that have
crossed our paths. At the end of the
day, however, what matters most is
the experience of, the journey to,
and the memories of these wild and
wonderful places.
Best wishes from all of us on the
expedition team as you continue on
with your adventures!
Sam Gagnon
Expedition Leader
Barbara Post
Assistant Expedition Leader
Thank you for experiencing the Antarctic with us at Albatros
Expeditions. We hope to see you aboard the Ocean Atlantic
again in the future!
Shelli Ogilvy
Assistant Expedition Leader
22 FEB- 2 March 2020
Volume 2, Issue 14