Antarctica Vol. 2- The Continental Landing & Polar Plunge!

We traveled overnight from Half Moon Island to Neko Harbour, the site of our first continental landing.

The morning light was in true Antarctica style-simply radiant. It was only my second morning in the area and I had already been struck by the role that light played in this incredibly unique, rugged, hard, and captivating landscape. The way it reflected off the snow and was ingested by dark rock. The way it glistened off the water in unique ways depending on whether the water was smooth or had ripples in it. The way different permutations of it constantly altered which hues of blue were visible to the human eye. The way the mountains in the background may be lit up in blinding fashion while the ones in the foreground were deep in shadow, or the opposite, or something in between. And so often all of these phenomenons were taking place all at the same time, all in the same scene in front of my eyes. I found it impossible to look away. It was a true display of nature’s profound ability to delight our inner soul.

Neko Harbour- looking back the way we had come.

As we approached our stopping point, it was clear that we would not be alone on this continental landing. No, we would be sharing it with hundreds of very busy Gentoo Penguins.

I was lucky enough to spend an hour and twenty minutes observing these interesting birds while standing on their turf, on the continent of Antarctica for the very first time. It was a dream!

And this is what I observed.

Penguins are busy, busy, busy! They shuffle around, they bicker, they stick their beak straight up to the sky and call out, to their mate, in protest, just because. I don’t know. They are loud and they are stinky. They are always working to improve their rock-constructed nests. At all times, groups of them are heading out to sea, and as many are returning. This was their reproductive window. It was go-time!

I watched this penguin come out of the ocean and as it gathered its bearings, before making the trek up to its partner, it apparently saw a rock that it needed to add to its nest! (The image was actually taken the previous day at the Chinstrap colony, perhaps you can see the difference between the Gentoo and the Chinstrap?)

Gentoo Penguins sitting on their yet-to-be-hatched eggs.

And then there were the penguin highways. I loved watching them on their very efficient and well-used ‘highways’.

Three Gentoo Penguins waddling back to their nests after being at sea.

If you are curious as to their size, here is some scale. Again taken of a Chinstrap the day prior.

After a luxurious amount of time submersed in the penguins’ world, we loaded into a zodiac for a cruise of the area.

There was much more wildlife to see!

A Weddell Seal, napping (and digesting) away the morning hours on a floating iceberg.

As we enjoyed lunch, the Ocean Victory was piloted to our second position for the day, Paradise Bay. This was not only the site of another zodiac excursion but also where the fearless (crazy?) polar plungers would get their fix!

A penguin “porpoising”. They are incredible swimmers! So much more natural in water than on land.

During the afternoon zodiac ride, we were treated to more birds and seals. It was astonishing how much wildlife flourishes during the summer in Antarctica!

Two Antarctic shags. The only cormorant species that lives in Antarctica

A Leopard Seal. The “killer whale” of the seals. It is a penguin and seal hunter and it has the face of a serpant. But boy do they know how to relax! This seal was also perched up on a floating iceberg.

Oddly enough this afternoon felt extra cold! Perhaps it was the impending polar plunge at play. It was 32°F (0°C), snowing, and icebergs were floating all over the surface of the water. Could Mother Nature have planned a better setting for our plunge? No way.

It was an exhilarating day indeed. And as the night came upon us, in clock only, I had to force myself to get some sleep. You see, this far south, darkness was a part of no night. Imagine turning away from this, just to sleep? It was excruciating. If I could function without sleep, I would have sat outside and stared at this magic landscape the entire night.

Paradise Bay. One of my favorite spots we visited on the Peninsula.

Brown Station: Another Argentinian research center. This one is in Paradise Bay.

Lessons from: Antarctica Vol. 2

Here is an insanely fun fact! Arctic means ‘Bear’, and Antarctica means ‘No Bear’. There are no bears in Antarctica. In fact, there are no land animals of any kind in Antarctica.
One of our guides referred to Antarctica as the White Desert. Not only an elegant name, it IS actually a desert. It averages only 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. A bit surprising because there was only one day when we were there that it was not snowing, but it was more of a ‘snow in the air’ effect.

Something Interesting: Antarctica is BIG.

Antarctica is 5.275 million square miles in size. The United States is 3.797 million square miles in size, which means it is roughly 1.5 times the size of the United States.

During my trip, we explored the South Shetland Islands and an area within the Peninsula of Antarctica. Imagine the size of the United States plus a large chunk of Canada combined. I essentially saw a handful of spots in the Texas panhandle. It is vast!

However, fortunately for those who would like to visit, the Peninsula is the most accessible area in Antarctica, by boat, distance-wise, and it is widely considered to be the most scenic area as well.

A look behind the curtain.

Those of you who followed along on my Norway journey might remember that I had polar plunged into the Arctic Ocean in Nordkapp knowing that in seven months I would have the opportunity to polar plunge into the Antarctic Ocean. I could not pass up jumping into both poles within a year. But the funny thing was, I had forgotten all about this. It was Kathy, a fun, energetic, witty, and feisty Californian with whom I had become good friends, who reminded me after the fact. Shit! I totally forgot to remember that I was fulfilling the second half of my pledge!

Here is what happened.

This was day two in Antarctica. I was all consumed by this land. Nothing else in the world existed. I was so present and captivated by the moment I was in that an experience in Norway last summer, though it too was amazing, was buried deep. Also, this was NOTHING like my experience jumping, okay wading, into the Arctic Ocean.

When I got into the Arctic Ocean in Norway, it was sunny and around 40°F (4°C). In the sun, it really was quite pleasant, not really even cold. The Arctic water was very cold, yes, but I don’t remember it hurting. The polar plunge in Antarctica, HURT.

Let me paint the picture. I was standing in a line of fellow plungers waiting my turn, in a bikini!, in a wind tunnel!, in 32°F (0°C), damp weather! And then to add insult to injury, a cold, wet belt was wrapped around my waist. By the time it was my turn to get onto the zodiac and jump, I think my core body temperature had already dropped a few degrees, this as the falling snow melted on my bare skin. But the worst was yet to come because when that 32°F (0°C) water wrapped around me, it felt like a full-body punch. Cold is tolerable. This hurt. And the craziest part of it is, I would do it again in a second!