Port Lockroy and Palmer Station
Seven countries maintain a significant presence on our seventh continent, a place uniquely dedicated to peace and science as agreed by the world community. Today we were fortunate to visit stations of two of these nations: British Port Lockroy and American Palmer Station.
Sunny skies reigned at Lockroy’s glacially-nestled corner of the world. Prominent Mt. Français and the Seven Sisters’ sawtooth summits were in clear snowy view this morning. Mooring chains where whaleboats once tethered linked us to the bones and skeletons of baleen beings harvested in this protected bay. Sunscreened kayakers paddled clear waters as penguins darted beneath.
Lipsticked gentoo penguins tended chicks about Base A of Operation Tabarin, a once-secret British project named for a Paris nightclub. Today Port Lockroy is a wonderfully restored museum hut providing insight into this wartime scientific outpost. Here we posted letters, purchased Antarcticana and pondered an oversized ionospheric instrument dubbed the “Beastie,” ancestor of the machine that first pointed fingers at the stratospheric hole in the ozone.
As we headed for our next station appointment, we passed humpback whales and listened to a presentation by a visiting penguin scientist. With the logistical support of the Endeavour, the Antarctic’s only private research group, Oceanites, counts nesting penguins at over 80 sites along the Peninsula. The health of our favorite seabirds, as documented by this project, may prove to be a persuasive indicator of our planet’s changing climate.
At Palmer Station, Adelie penguins on a nearby island have been monitored for over twenty years. One experiment has shown that nesting colonies visited by tourists are as healthy as colonies kept off-limits. We enjoyed the hilarious and raucous behavior of large molting chicks, engaged in last life lessons from parents before their imminent fledging.
Tuxedoed Adelies ecstatically skypointed towards Mt. Français. Clear views of the impressive mountain, seen from different angles throughout the day, helped us maintain orientation in a vast icy landscape. The snowy peak hovered like a jagged cloud this afternoon above the glaciers at Palmer, the smallest of the U.S.’s three permanent research bases in Antarctica. We were fortunate indeed to be given guided tours today: only twelve ship visits are permitted each year, so as to not interfere with their scientific efforts. We learned of ongoing research and how a group of 42 vibrant people live and conduct science in a remote icy place.
It is reassuring to know that there is an entire continent on Earth where the world’s nations have pledged cooperation. For us, the privilege of today’s experiences affirm the noble ideal of peace and science which Antarctica represents.
Seven countries maintain a significant presence on our seventh continent, a place uniquely dedicated to peace and science as agreed by the world community. Today we were fortunate to visit stations of two of these nations: British Port Lockroy and American Palmer Station.
Sunny skies reigned at Lockroy’s glacially-nestled corner of the world. Prominent Mt. Français and the Seven Sisters’ sawtooth summits were in clear snowy view this morning. Mooring chains where whaleboats once tethered linked us to the bones and skeletons of baleen beings harvested in this protected bay. Sunscreened kayakers paddled clear waters as penguins darted beneath.
Lipsticked gentoo penguins tended chicks about Base A of Operation Tabarin, a once-secret British project named for a Paris nightclub. Today Port Lockroy is a wonderfully restored museum hut providing insight into this wartime scientific outpost. Here we posted letters, purchased Antarcticana and pondered an oversized ionospheric instrument dubbed the “Beastie,” ancestor of the machine that first pointed fingers at the stratospheric hole in the ozone.
As we headed for our next station appointment, we passed humpback whales and listened to a presentation by a visiting penguin scientist. With the logistical support of the Endeavour, the Antarctic’s only private research group, Oceanites, counts nesting penguins at over 80 sites along the Peninsula. The health of our favorite seabirds, as documented by this project, may prove to be a persuasive indicator of our planet’s changing climate.
At Palmer Station, Adelie penguins on a nearby island have been monitored for over twenty years. One experiment has shown that nesting colonies visited by tourists are as healthy as colonies kept off-limits. We enjoyed the hilarious and raucous behavior of large molting chicks, engaged in last life lessons from parents before their imminent fledging.
Tuxedoed Adelies ecstatically skypointed towards Mt. Français. Clear views of the impressive mountain, seen from different angles throughout the day, helped us maintain orientation in a vast icy landscape. The snowy peak hovered like a jagged cloud this afternoon above the glaciers at Palmer, the smallest of the U.S.’s three permanent research bases in Antarctica. We were fortunate indeed to be given guided tours today: only twelve ship visits are permitted each year, so as to not interfere with their scientific efforts. We learned of ongoing research and how a group of 42 vibrant people live and conduct science in a remote icy place.
It is reassuring to know that there is an entire continent on Earth where the world’s nations have pledged cooperation. For us, the privilege of today’s experiences affirm the noble ideal of peace and science which Antarctica represents.
