Monday, December 31

Wow - what an great day we had yesterday! ROAMers spent the past one and a half days organizing and analyzing data from their research projects in Antarctica - and they have found some really interesting results. What is the effect of penguin colonies on water quality? What impact do tourists have on the Antarctic environment? Are glaciers retreating in Antarctica? What is the distribution of different plant communities on the peninsula? How can we take the lessons we've learned during our field research in Antarctica to classrooms across the US? All of these questions will be answered soon! Here's a photo of Sarah & Katie looking at algae samples.

Today we are taking a break from our labwork to see some more of the fascinating Patagonian environment. ROAMers have chosen between adventures in horseback riding, sea kayaking, mountain biking and sailing. And tonight all 34 of us will celebrate the incoming new year at a group buffet dinner.

Happy New Year everyone!

Dec. 29

Yup - we're the luckiest people in the world.

The afternoon before we left Antarctica the captain stopped the ship in the middle of the Gerlache Strait so we could watch 7 humpback whales feeding on krill around the ship. It was amazing! Then we braced ourselves to enter the Drake Passage, but once again, we shouldn't have worried, the crossing was relatively smooth.

We are now back in Ushuaia finalizing our research projects - we will post more info soon. Thought you'd like to see a photo of the group in Antarctica on Cuverville Island.

Wed. Dec. 26

Well... this is our last day in Antarctica. We have been moored in the harbor of Port Lockroy since last night. We will head ashore to this museum and post office in just a few minutes. This British Station is one of the most highly visited sites in the area - and will be where we get our passports stamped from Antarctica! They do some interesting research here comparing penguin colonies that tourists are allowed to visit, with penguin colonies that tourists cannot access, to determine if tourists adversely affect penguin breeding success. At this site, there appears to be no negative impact. Have I mentioned already that we tourists are required to stay at least 5m (15 ft) from all wildlife? Penguins can get stressed if humans approach their nesting sites too closely, and if their eggs are left unattended, they may get eaten by predatory birds like the skuas. OK - I'm off - I don't want to miss any of this last day in Antarctica!

Tonight we enter the Drake Passage again. Will it be as smooth as our last crossing? That is the question of the day...

Dec 25 - part 2.

Hey folks - I had to run to a meeting - but here is some more news. I forgot to mention in my first xmas post that Peterman Island was the southern-most point of our expedition - but also some of the warmest weather - funny how that happens! OK - xmas... We ended our day with a ROAM Christmas gift exchange complete with very creative presents, lots of Ushuaia souvenirs, and great books and Malbec (of course). Quark served us a fantastic xmas dinner, as per usual, the food here is first class. And our day ended as it began, with more whales (Minke this time)visible around the ship.

Hope you are all having a great holiday! Feliz Navidad!

Tues. Dec. 25

We got the perfect xmas present this morning as humpback whales traveled beside our ship for an hour before breakfast. The ship then passed through the stunning mountains of the Lemaire Channel. We landed atPeterman Island under bright and sunny skies to see our first Adelie penguin rookery - with chicks on the nest! Cute! The skuas used ourdistracting presence to try and steal the chicks from the nest. In the afternoon, we got our first real taste of cold, snowy Antarctic weatheras we took a zodiak cruise around the Pleneau Islands to see the fantastic tabular icebergs in the area.

Mon Dec 24

After a somewhat rough night time crossing of the Bransfield Strait, we woke to beautiful sunny skies on xmas eve for our visit to CuvervilleIsland. Over 5000 pairs of gentoo penguins breeding on one island. It was an amazing sight (and smell!). The aquatic ecology group found lots of algae in the water, while the terrestrial group turned into mountain goats to reach an extreme site with tons of amazing moss and lichen. Many of us also went on a hike to the top of the island to view the icebergs in the bay. Next, we traveled to Paradise Bay - our first landing on the Antarctica continent itself - where we took a zodiak cruise to see calving glaciers, Weddell seals and beautiful icebergs. The education and outreach group brought out the 15 promise banners from El Paso schools for a photo at Almirante Brown station. To end this perfect day, we had an xmas eve BBQ on the deck of the ship - yes that's right - an open air cook out in Antarctica! Santa even cruised byon a zodiak. Who knew he came from the South Pole?!

Sunday, Dec. 23

Deception Island Rocks! We started the day apparently blocked from entering the caldera (collapsed volcano) at Deception Island by seaice. But trusty Captain Igor rammed the ice sheet with the bow of the ship several times until his careful calculations and observation resulted in a huge crack traveling through the ice about 500m. We were in! We first went to Whaler's Bay where geothermal activity heated up the sand so that water nearby was 18 degrees Celsius. Perfect for a swim- that is until you swim past the warm zone into the freezing cold Southern Ocean. Almost all of us went for a dip! Next we went to Telefon Bay where we saw several smaller calderas, and went for a great hike which ended in a snow slide down to the beach. Now we just need to make it out of Deception Island, or will the sea ice be blocking our path?...My bet is on Captain Igor!