 Hola from the SS YUZHMORGEOLOGIA! I'm currently on my way home to Punta
Arenas. We left Cape Shirreff two days ago & have had the good fortune of
making a few side trips before heading north. Yesterday we went to
Admiralty Bay on King George Island to pick up another field camp -
Copacabana. They have a beautiful little camp surrounded by penguins,
skuas, & giant petrels. They also do seabird work for Wayne (my boss). We
are currently parked near the Antarctic peninsula in a place called Curtiss
Bay. We have a half day to play before we go north across the Drake
Passage. I just got back from a 3 hr zodiac tour to mainland Antarctica
where I finally got to touch the icy continent (so there, all of you who
said the S. Shetlands don't count as Antarctic). We zipped around the bay
looking at amazing icebergs, leopard seals, fur seals, & crab eater seals
sleeping on ice floes & we got very close to a pod of Minke whales -
incredible animals. The glaciers & icebergs are truly spectacular. Our ship
is extremely comfortable. AMLR hires this ship for $50,000 per day to do an
oceanographic survey. All of the poor scientists on board are up at 2am
doing zooplankton trawls & measuring krill, salps, & other sea critters at
ungodly hours. I don't envy them at all. They feed us well on the boat -
Russian food, 4 meals a day. They also have a sauna, fitness room, movie
room, & ping pong table. Ping-Pong is fine when the seas are glassy (like
right now) but as soon as we start crossing the Drake, I'm certain nobody
will be playing. Now we just have to pass the time during our 3 day transit
to terra firma. I'm all done with entering data & various other penguin responsibilities. Vacation time... can't wait to go to Torres del Paine
National Park to hike in the mountains & to Buenos Aires, Argentina to visit
my friend Bonnie. This will be my final group e-mail. When I get to Punta
Arenas I'll do my best to reestablish contacts with everyone. Until then,
hasta luego.
Iris
|
