At Sea, Drake Passage

“In memories we were rich. We had pierced the veneer of outside things. We had suffered, starved and triumphed, groveled yet grasped at glory, grown bigger in the bigness of the whole. We had seen God in his splendor, heard the text that nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man...” - Sir Ernest Shackleton

It has been 10 days of new adventures, each day seeming to top the last.
We have experienced the Antarctic, both above and below the ocean’s surface, in ways that may be indescribable to our friends and family at home. In stark contrast to the black and white world above the surface, Antarctica’s benthic (flora and fauna found on the bottom of the sea) community is riddled with reds, oranges, yellows, and purples. Additionally, the waters of the Antarctic are some of the richest in the world, creating an environment of rich productivity, and support for some of the most delicate of creatures. Anemones and Sponges line the cracks and crevices of rocks, protected from the constant destruction of the ice. Worms and tunicates take advantage of the “marine snow,” essentially decaying organic material, trapped within the water column, extracting what they can for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Almost all life in Antarctica relies on the seas surrounding it for food. The penguins are leaving their nests daily heading out to sea for fish and squid, bringing it back for their hungry and ever growing chicks. Humpback whales abound this time of year, bubble-net feeding in the bays and channels surrounding the Peninsula. Krill is their staple food source, and not only are the whales eating it, but also penguins and seals.

The most feared of the seals in Antarctica is the Leopard Seal. A krill eater by nature, the back teeth form a sieve to strain the water of its precious cargo when it is taken into their mouths. But honestly, most of us do not look towards the back of the mouth, when the front teeth are so prominent. During the summer months, when there is plenty of traffic in and out of the penguin colonies, the Leopard Seal will lie in wait, sometimes taking up to 13 penguins a day, but again it is a diet of convenience. The most graceful of swimmers, true seals like these usually only swim with their rear flippers, however the Leopard Seal also uses its fore flippers, creating a fluid motion very similar to sea lions – only faster.

I am not sure any of us realized what we were “getting ourselves into” when we signed up for a trip to Antarctica, a place that is only truly experienced first hand. Ahead of us lies the biggest challenge, trying to convey the many extraordinary stories to our friends and family back home.