7th February 2008 - Cobh, County Cork, Ireland

Hi everyone. Back over a week now and still settling back after six amazing weeks in Antarctica.
My last blog entry was a bit rushed so I just want to say a very big thanks to all the passengers that I had the pleasure of meeting and with whom I shared some incredible wild life experiences. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I also want to thank again all those who logged onto the blog and those who managed to leave comments, the feedback was very much appreciated. There are no restrictions on leaving comments on the blog now so if you had intended to contribute its not too late. I brought my traveling companion Kenny the Bear back to his home in St. Mary's national school and got a wonderful reception from the pupils and teachers there. Unfortunately I left Antarctica without getting Sandra Coman's contact details. Sandra, if you read this could you contact me please? you can get me through my website www.irishwildlife.net The school here in Cobh are keen to contact you to say thanks for knitting Kenny his scarf.
Also, believe it or not, I officiated at the exchange of marriage vows between two passengers at Paradise Harbour on New Years day and forgot to get a photo with the happy couple. If anyone on on that cruise has a picture I would love a copy, again I can be contacted through my website.
I have to thank the wonderful team I had the privilege to work with in Antarctica, the Expedition Team and the incredible crew of the Marco Polo. The ship will be in Cobh this year, under new ownership, so I will look out for any that are still working on the great ship.
Finally, if I am lucky enough to go south again some time I will reactivate the blog and write another chapter from that truly breathtaking part of our planet. Bye for now.

28th January 2008 - Ushuaia

Time 07:59, 54 degrees 48.64' South, 68 degrees 17.85' West, part cloudy and dry, Air Temperature 12 oC, Water Temperature 10.1 oC, wind force one - calm

Here at last. Heading for the airport soon. Thanks again to everyone along the way.

Bye for now.

27th January 2008 - Drake Passage North and Cape Horn

Time 07:37, 58 degrees 28.80' South, 64 degrees 18.14' West, overcast, dry Air Temperature 10 oC, Water Temperature 5.7 oC, Wind Northwest force 6, Sunrise 6.26am, sunset 10.41pm

Sunrise over Drake Passage this morning.
This is my last entry in my antarctic blog from the Marco Polo. It is a sad occasion for me as I will be leaving a really fantastic bunch of people on the Expedition Team and the crew of this fantastic ship. But it is also a happy one because I will be heading home tomorrow to my family. It has been an amazing odyssey for me, beyond my wildest dreams. I have made some great friends and had a brilliant time.


Found Kenny saying goodbye to his new friend in the Marco Polo shop window this evening!

At times the work was hard and the days long but it was never boring or unrewarding. I will be doing a summing up when I am home and settled back into life in Cobh but I must make a special mention to a few people here. I must firstly thank my wife Ann and sons Peter and Barry for all their support before and during my time on the Marco Polo. I also want to thank Chris and Annie Wilson for recommending me for the job and being soooo supportive in the lead up to me joining the ship. I also have a very special mention for the Expedition Team for putting up with me and the crew of the Marco Polo who are incredible.

The official Marco Polo Expedition Conehead photo at our last landing of the season at Half Moon Island yesterday.

I have two guest bloggers this evening. Firstly Sarah Clarke, who I have introduced already gives her final blog entry.

Sarah - Although Jim doesn’t agree I have the hardest job of all the expedition team because I have to talk about the fish of the southern ocean even though we never get to see them during our expeditions to the Antarctic peninsula. But you’ll have to take my word for it, they are here, honest!!

My experience on southern ocean fisheries comes from time I spent working with the British Antarctic Survey at their Applied Fisheries Research station on South Georgia, a sub-Antarctic island to the northeast of the Antarctic peninsula. South Georgia is an overseas UK territory with its government based in Stanley in the Falkland Islands. I spent two years researching the commercial fish species around South Georgia and when I wasn’t working I had a great time visiting the neighbouring seal colonies and penguin rookeries.

The Antarctic marine foodweb is more complex than the freshwater and terrestrial foodwebs. Although the majority of the food chains of the southern ocean are based on krill, a shrimp-like crustacean that is the preferred prey item of many of the higher predators, fish also play an important role in the marine food web. The fish feed on krill, copepods, other invertebrates, squid and other fish and they themselves are eaten by birds, penguins, seals and whales.

There are approximately 120 species of fish recorded below the Antarctic convergence (polar front), and most of them belong to the perch-like sub-order Notothenioidei, which is made up of 8 families. The Antarctic convergence causes a thermal barrier for the majority of the coastal and shallow water fish species recorded around the Antarctic continent, so that 85% of these species are unique to Antarctic waters. These fish are cold water specialists and have adapted to surviving in sub-freezing temperatures by producing anti-freeze molecules, known as glycol-proteins, which depress the freezing point and inhibit the formation of ice crystals in their blood.

The Icefish (Channichthyidae) family is an unusual group of fish. They lack the respiratory blood pigment, haemoglobin, and so they have creamy white blood and large creamy gills, hence, their name Icefish or ‘white-blooded’ fish. Icefish don’t have scales so they absorb the oxygen they need through their highly vascularised skin and across their large gill surfaces. Oxygen is carried in their blood plasma. Icefish have unusually large hearts which help to pump the blood and thus the oxygen around the body faster.

Another well known fish family from the southern ocean are the Notothens. The largest species of this family are the Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish, which can grow to over 2 metres in length. The Patagonian toothfish are found along the Patagonian shelf off the coast of Argentina as well as south of the Antarctic convergence. Toothfish are deep living fish and can be found below 2,000 metres. The older larger fish tend to live at greater depths.

The first Antarctic fish were discovered during the James Clark Ross Expedition (1839-1843). However, more extensive research into the physiology and ecology of southern ocean fish was not carried out until the 1950s. Commercial fishing began in the late 1960s. Since fishing activities began eighteen species of fish have been targeted commercially. The harvesting of these species has not always been carried out sustainably and many species have been heavily over-exploited leading to the collapse of some fish stock. Today fishing activities in the southern ocean are regulated by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) which came into force in 1982, as part of the Antarctic Treaty System. CCAMLRs main aim is to conserve marine life of the Southern Ocean, but it does not exclude harvesting carried out in a rational manner. The area that is regulated by CCAMLR is approximately 32 million square kilometers and it has been divided into separately managed sub-areas.

Today the main fish species being harvested commercially are mackerel icefish, Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish and krill. CCAMLR sets annual quotas for each species for each of the sub-areas, which need to be adhered to, to ensure stocks are not being over-fished. However the CCAMLR area is so large its difficult to police it adequately and it is up to the oversea territories to patrol their waters and guarantee that over-exploitation of fish stocks is not occurring. Patagonian toothfish is more commonly known as Chilean Seabass. It is a highly prized fish and licenses to catch this species are in great demand. Krill were initially taken for aquaculture feed and fertilizer, however today krill is more frequently being processed for human consumption.

That’s all folks!!

Enjoy the blog.

Best fishes,

Sarah

Last but not least I want to thank Allan Morgan, Expedition Team Leader for taking me on and for all his advise and help during my first season in Antarctica. He is a talented leader and I wish him well in his retirement from Antarctica. Allan is the last of my guest bloggers and I think it appropriate that I should finish my last blog with him. This piece was written by him after one of our recent landings.

Allan Morgan, Marco Polo Expedition Team leader.

Allan - My day starts early in the morning with a shower and a quick breakfast. I don’t drink too much because everything I drink has to go somewhere and there are no bathrooms on the sites where we land.

Then it is on to the back part of the ship where two doors called shell doors open on either side of the ship’s hull. The zodiac team has already been lowered in their zodiac inflatable boats to the water. We walk out through the shell doors and down a short gangway to a platform suspended on cables just above the water. Into the first boat I go followed by the rest of the expedition team which includes my assistant expedition leader, Rich “Mad Dog” Kirchner from Montana in the USA; Captain Dick Taylor, our beachmaster from Washington state in the USA; Jim Wilson, the ornithologist from Cobh, Ireland; Sara Clarke, a marine biologist from Galway, Ireland; Tom Sharpe, our geologist from Cardiff, Whales; Lucia deLeiris, the expedition artist from Massachusetts in the USA; Marylou Blakeslee, our marine mammal expert from Alaska in the USA; Daniela Haase, our Antarctic management specialist from New Zealand; Ruriko Lindblad, our Japanese coordinator from Connecticut in the USA; David Harrowfield, our historian from New Zealand; and I am Allan Morgan, the expedition leader from Arizona in the USA. The zodiac team leader is Kevin Burke from Manitoba in Canada. We also bring two security men from the ship plus a collection of traffic cones, lines, signs, 3 shore emergency kits (with food and supplies to use if the wind comes up and we can’t return to the ship) and other gear.

We are all dressed in long underwear, fleece or wool sweaters, fleece jackets, water and wind proof blue parkas plus gloves, hats, waterproof pants and Wellington boots.

The zodiac nudges onto a rocky beach and we all get out along with the gear we’ve brought to set up an area that is safe for penguins and passengers alike. We get to work setting up traffic cones, signs and run orange lines along the ground to outline the area for passengers to visit the penguins without disturbing them. It takes us about 20 minutes to get set up and then receive the first group of 100 Passengers. I direct the expedition team to take their places and be prepared to answer passengers’ questions.

It takes about 6 ½ hours for us to complete a landing for 500 passengers who have 1 hour each to visit the penguins and other subjects of interest at the landing site. At the landing site today we have gentoo penguins. They have white markings on each side of their heads that are connected by a white stripe over the top of their heads. They look like they are wearing head phones and listening to MP3 players. White chicken like birds called Snowy sheathbills wander through the gentoo colony looking for disgusting things to eat. My job is to help passengers be safe and to keep them from molesting the penguins. The landing goes smoothly and everyone seems to enjoy the experience including the penguins. After the last passenger has left for the ship the expedition team removes all of the items we have set up and load them into a zodiac for our return to the ship.

The restaurant has been kept open for us back on the ship and we quickly go there for a late lunch. After lunch I stop in the ship’s Shore Excursions Office and check email to see if there any messages from the captain of our ship plus other department heads on the ship and the expedition leaders of other ships who may be going to the same place where we intend to go. An international organization coordinates the ship schedules but it is up to the expedition leaders from the various ships to iron out the details.

Then there is a lecture by one of the expedition team so I slip into the back of the Ambassador Lounge to see how many of the passengers are attending and how the lecture is going. I’m there for only a few minutes and then return to the Shore Excursions office to do some work on the computer.

We are traveling through a good area to see whales so I go out to watch for a while and talk with some of the passengers who are looking for whales with some of the expedition team.

I speak with passengers as I walk through the ship. I head to the bridge where I have a weather satellite receiver set up to show weather pictures form the satellite. The weather looks good for the next day.

Allan doing some administration work for the expedition.

Finally it is time for dinner with the expedition team before returning to the Shore Excursions Office to check email and do some projects on the computer.

And then I go to bed to prepare to start the process all over again tomorrow morning.

Thanks Allan!


Wildlife seen today.

Mammals
None!

Birds
Giant Petrel 10+
Grey-headed Petrel 3
Black-browed Albatross 60+
Blue Petrel 300+
Antarctic Petrel 10+
Unidentified Prion 300+
Sooty Shearwater 500+
Wilsons Storm Petrel 10+
Brown Skua 1

Note: A + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.

Cape Horn this evening.

Marco - It has been a great pleasure working with you. Thanks for the kind comments. If you ever end up docking at Cobh in Ireland be sure to look me up.

6th Class St. Mary's - Thanks for the support and will be in to the school to bring Kenny home.

Thanks Mary and Birgit!

26th January 2008 - Half Moon Island and Drake Passage heading north for the last time.

Time 05:26, 62 degrees 35.27' South, 59 degrees 37.84' West, overcast and raining at first clearing to long sunny spells later, Wind South force 6 at first decreasing to 1-3 by 7am, Air Temperature 5 oC, Water Temperature 1.6 oC

View of Livingston Island from Half Moon this morning.

After the high winds and rain yesterday evening we were not very optimistic about making our very last landing of the season at Half Moon Island. At 5am the weather had improved a lot but I was not sure if it was enough. As usual I got all my gear ready and headed for the gangway area to await further orders. After a short time the shell door was opened and the sea appeared to be very calm and the sky was brightening up. The wind had amazingly dropped off almost completely and water was calm. The landing was fantastic with all passengers getting ashore and having a great time looking at the Chinstrap Penguin rookery and the incredible scenery surrounding it.

Expedition Team Leader Allan Morgan and a Chinstrap Penguin.

I brought Kenny the Teddy along for its last landing and it got very close to the penguins. When we were finishing up Allan, the Expedition Team Leader showed us some Antarctic Hair Grass near the landing. There are no trees or shrubs on Antarctica and there are only two flowering plants and the Hair Grass is one. While it was brilliant to see it the plant was particularly unexciting to look at.

Antarctic Hair Grass on Half Moon Island.

Before leaving Half Moon Island and our last landing we had to perform one last ritual - the parade of the cone heads.

The Expedition Team get down to some serious work for a change.

Rich Kirchner and Kevin Burke leaving Half Moon Island for the last time as part of the Expedition Team.

Following a great morning ashore I spent the afternoon in my "office" looking for seabirds and had some great sightings including another rare Light-mantled Sooty Albatross.

Grey-headed and Black-browed Albatross off the back deck this evening.

Continuing my inclusion of guest bloggers from the Expedition Team I am down to the last two members who I have pestered and nagged for material. Ruriko Lindblad is one of the most experienced people when it comes to the Antarctic Peninsula and Antarctic tourism and has been a key part of the Expedition Team.

Ruriko Lindblad, Japanese translator for the Expediton and Penguin traffic cop.

The last Antarctic season on Orient Line’s Marco Polo happened to be my 19th season since my first visit in 1987. The number of passengers coming to the Antarctic has grown for ten times to over 30000s for 2007/2008 season. My main duty over the years has been simultaneous interpretation of on-board lectures and naturalist guiding as well as other general translations for Japanese passengers. I try to remember the fresh memory of my first visit to this magnificent part of the world. I wanted to know why all these animals come here; how the Antarctic ecosystem works; Plate Tectonics I never studied while at school, why some ice is so blue, and many more. The more I study trying to find answers, the more questions come up. Yet, I have found a true joy of knowing something I have never known before. I like to share this joy with the passengers.

Thanks Ruriko! Tomorrow will be my last entry on the blog from the Marco Polo. Bye for now.

Kenny the Bear from St. Mary's National School, Cobh, Ireland tried to sneak up on a Chinstrap Penguin the morning.

Wildlife seen at Half Moon Island and on Drake Passage North

Mammals
Humpback Whale 10
Minke Whale 2
Weddell Seal 3
Fur Seal 4
Leopard Seal 1

Birds
Light-mantled Sooty Albatross 1
Giant Petrel 15+ (including 2 white morphs)
Grey-headed Albatross 5
Black-browed Albatross 10+
Southern Fulmar 1
Cape Petrel 50+
White-chinned Petrel 4
Wilson’s Storm Petrel 10+
Black-bellied Storm Petrel 3
Gentoo Penguin 7
Chinstrap Penguin – lots at Half Moon Island and 500+ at sea leaving Nelson Passage
Antarctic Shag 8
Brown Skua 15+
South Polar Skua 9
Kelp Gull 3
Antarctic Tern 50+

Note: The + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.

NOTE: I have changed access to the comments section so that anyone can leave a comment on my blog without having to register at all.

25th January 2008 – Cruising the Gerlache Strait and Croker Passage from Paradise Harbour.

Time 07:25, 64 degrees 50.31’ South, 62 degrees 56.90’ West, overcast’ snow, sleet and heavy rain, Wind east force 6, gusting force nine earlier, Air Temperature 6 degrees oC, Water Temperature 1.4 oC, Sunrise 5;20am, Sunset 11.20pm

For anyone interested as yesterday was the one and only time we succeeded in getting down the Le Maire Channel our furthest south position for the season was 65 degrees 13.40’ South.

Woke this morning to wet and very windy weather, got ready for the landing and proceeded to the gangway deck, overheating asd usual with all the gear on ready to ride the zodiac ashore. The gangway doors were not open and we waited a while before announcement by our expedition team leader Allan was made saying that the landing was being postponed for a few hours to see if weather conditions improved. We went back to our cabins, referred to our “houses” by the team because of the length of time we have been living there, on our respective deck corridor, referred to as our “street” by the team. My house now well and truely smells like a penguin rookery, god help the next person to get it. I took a short rest and then joined the team and waited for further announcements. At midday the captain decided to abandon the landing in the interest of safety because the weather had not really improved. This is the first time this season we missed the landing at Paradise Harbour. We then sailed slow up the Gerlache strait and Croker Passage towards Half Moon Island. On two occasions Icebergs as big as the ship passed and we saw very rare Snow Petrels. These birds are snow white and often rest on large icebergs when they become almost invisible. The weather yesterday and today was a classic example of the unpredictability of Antarctic weather. Yesterday morning we sailed through the Le Maire Channel in mirror calm waters and glorious sunshine and the next morning it is dull, grey, very wet very cold and very windy. It was very disappointing not to make the landing but most passengers I spoke to agreed that the landing conditions would have been too dangerous.

The rain clouds over the Gerlache Strait this afternoon.

The north end of Brabandt Island in the Gerlache Strait this afternoon.

A small sample of the passenger wellie fashion during our landing on Jougla Point, Port Lockroy yesterday.

Wild life seen today.

Mammals
Humpback Whale 9

Birds
Giant Petrel 3
Snow Petrel 5
Wilson’s Storm Petrel 15+
Gentoo Penguin 10+

Chinstrap Penguin 6
Antarctic Shag 3
Brown Skua 25 plus
South Polar Skua 6+

Kelp Gull 1
Antarctic Tern 12+

Note: The + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.

Once again a big thank you to all those who left comments on the blog and have been following our season.

A special shout to all in the Roaring Donkey in Cobh - Thanks lads!

James - No guitar on board! - I think I will need a few lessons from you when I get back.

Margaret - thanks for all the comments and texts.

Last landing of the season tomorrow starting at 6am - fingers crossed the weather improves.

Bye for now.

Time 20:49, 63 degrees 41.61’ South, 61 degrees 17.96’ West, very very wet, overcast, foggy, Air Temperature 4 C, Water Temperature 1.6 C, Wind East force 6

24th January 2008 - Le Maire Channel and Jougla Point, Port Lockroy.

Time 06:51, 64 degrees 58.04' South, 63 degrees 43.39' West, Air Temperature 6.0 oC, Water Temperature 1.1 oC, overcast clearing to long sunny spells and then snow and rain showers later, Wind South Force 4 decreasing in the afternoon and increasing again in the evening.

The Antarctic peninsula through a letterbox gap in the fog this morning.

It was only fitting that on our last attempt of the season at going down the Le Maire Channel was successful! The morning started foggy but as we approached the channel it lifted and the sun came out. The channel was unreal.

The Marco Polo entering the Le Maire Channel for the first and only time this season.

It is formed by Booth Island lying close to the Antarctic peninsula. It is just 1,600 metres/5,000 feet wide at its narrowest point and the cliffs rise at either side to over 1,000 meters/3000 feet in parts, leaning over the ship and glaciers flow down the the channel like runny icing on a Christmas cake.

Passengers enjoying the spectacular views of the Le Maire Channel.

One of the many glaciers on the Le Maire Channel.

We saw Humpback Whales and also Leopard Seals. At one point we were watching two Leopard Seals lying on an ice flow very close to the ship when a flock of about 15 Gentoo Penguins suddenly popped out of the water and landed within a meter/three feet of one of the seals. It was so funny, as soon as they realised they had landed so close to their most feared predator they all shuffled to the other end of the ice flow and jumped back into the water. The Leopard Seals just raised their heads, they must have already had breakfast!

The Yalour Islands at the southern end of the Le Maire Channel with its large Adelie Penguin Colony.

Following that amazing morning we had a successful landing at Jougla Point, Port Lockroy. The weather started good but deteriorated as the afternoon worn on and we were wet and cold by the the time the last passengers headed back to the ship. I met some more passengers who had been following the blog before they joined the ship and Sandra Coman, a primary school teacher from Brisbane, Australian who had been following the blog before joining brought a scarf she knitted specially for Kenny the bear!

Sandra Coman, from Brisbane Australia at Jougla Point, Port Lockroy with Kenny and the scarf she made for him.

Another passenger at Jougla Point who visited my blog before joining the ship (granny says a big hello!)

It was great to meet Sandra who said she wanted to use St. Mary's colours in the scarf but could not find them on the Internet. Kenny was hugely impressed with the new scarf. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Emperor Penguin today.

Getting late (again!), bye for now. PS Hi Birgit and thanks for the support and comments on the blog!

Gentoo Penguin "Guano Art" - naturally.

Sarah and the rest of the Expedition Team leaving Jougla Point, Port Lockroy for the last time.

Wildlife seen on the Le Maire Channel and at Jougla Point, Port Lockroy

Mammals
Humpback Whale 6+
Minke Whale 1
Leopard Seal 7

Birds
Giant Petrel 2
Southern Fulmar 3
Wilson’s Storm Petrel 8
Gentoo Penguin 1,000 + (with large chicks)
Adelie Penguin 1,500 + (At Yalour Islands)
Snowy Sheathbill 10+
Antarctic Shag 25+ (with large chicks)
Brown Skua 12+
South Polar Skua 4
Kelp Gull 60+ (with large chicks)
Antarctic Tern 50+

Note: The + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.

23rd January 2008 - Deception and Cuverville Islands.

Time 06:21, 63 degrees 00.32' South, 60 degrees 56.09' West, overcast and heavy rain at first clearing later to sunny spells and scattered snow and sleet showers, Air Temperature 5 oC, Water Temperature 1.5 oC, Wind Northwest force 6, Sunrise 5.12am, Sunset 11.55pm

The weather was very dull this morning for our cruise at Deception Island, which in some ways added to the atmosphere of the caldera. There were many Chinstrap Penguins in the water near the entrance to the caldera and yet again I had great difficulty convincing many passengers that the tiny little "fish" leaping out of the water were in fact two foot six inch/76 cm Chinstrap Penguins. Despite the low cloud the Cruise went well.

Inside the caldera, Deception Island sandwiched between low cloud and the sea.

We then headed for Cuverville down the Gerlache Strait and the weather picked up a bit. We began seeing Humpback whales and our day's tally was a respectable 27 individuals.

The Gerlache Strait early this afternoon.

When we got to Cuverville the wind had dropped and I we brought passengers on their 45 minute zodiac cruise along Cuverville and the icebergs in the bay. Once again passengers commented on how indescribable the colours and shapes of the icebergs there and that they left the glaciers and icebergs in Alaska well behind.

Record numbers of Chinstraps at Cuverville this season today.

This was my last cruise around Cuverville and it could not have been better - great weather and light conditions, great passengers in the zodiac and unreal icebergs.

Amazing icebergs at Curverville this afternoon.

Gentoo Penguins washing near another impressive iceberg at Cuverville today.

LAter that evening the views from the ship of lots of big icebergs drifting by along with some Killer Whales and a couple of Humpback Whales made a perfect end to a perfect day in Antarctica.

Moving icebergs away from the gangway by using a zodiac.

Kenny enjoying his zodiac cruise at Curverville Island this afternoon.

How do you get a zodiac and its driver onto a liner?

Bye for now.

Wildlife seen at Deception Island, cruising south and at Cuverville Island

Mammals
Humpback Whale 26
Orca (Killer Whale) 10+
Weddell Seal 11
Minke Whale 3
Fur Seal 3

Birds
Giant Petrel 50+ (including a roost of 42 at Deception)
Black-browed Albatross 3
Southern Fulmar 8
Wilson’s Storm Petrel 20+
Chinstrap Penguin 1,000 + (at least six at Cuverville)
Gentoo Penguin 3,000 + (with large chicks)
Snowy Sheathbill 15+
Antarctic Shag 20+ (with large chicks)
Brown Skua 30+
South Polar Skua 2
Kelp Gull 50+
Antarctic Tern 12+

Note: The + sign after the counts indicates that we saw at least that number but more may have been present.

Time 23:35, 64 degrees 51.89' South, 63 degrees 14.83' West, Air Temperature 5 oC, Water Temperature 1.4 oC, Wind Southwest force 4, overcast, low cloud and showers.