Comments Off

By Admin, July 20, 2010

Drake’s Passage lies in all its frightening glory between the continent of Antarctica and the southern tip of South America. That 400 mile stretch of water has some of the worst reported sea weather in the world, ad is a place where no speck of land big or small could cause the currents a moment’s pause in their collision course toward one another. I honestly only thought that I would see penguins and icebergs. I honestly had no idea what else I might see in regards to geography, people or the awesome beauty that it could hold. As a person looking for antarctic cruise you should visit that site.

We were well warned about the horrors that Drake’s Passage could hold, but the vengeful old sea gods were merciful to us on our way down. On our back, however, the squalls were in full force. The sea gods who’d seen fit to show us mercy decided to show us what they were capable of on our way back. The sea was grey and calm our first morning in Antarctica.

In the distance we could see gray tinted mountains shrouded in snow, and it was not long before we saw our first sea ice. Little ice chunks bobbed like crystallized marshmallows near the boat. I snatched up my camera and zipped it securely into the brilliant red expedition parka which all passengers are provided upon their arrival and hurried into the frigid Antarctic morning.

In addition to rushing outside every time someone spotted a dolphin, whale or penguin, we listed to slide presentations offered by the ship’s naturalist. We were in a great mood as we took off in our small raft from the mother ship, and began floating free amongst the icebergs. We approached a small rocky island covered in ice and saw penguins standing about on the shore, debating about getting wet. Visit this site for further information on great antarctic cruise.

We were totally encircled by penguins. This little outpost of land in Paradise Harbor is home to both gentoo penguins and a small group of researchers. We watched as they waddled all over, appearing very determined in their behavior. Some of them stood on rocks and observed us smiling and pointing at the, occasionally snapping a photo or two. The majority of these were adolescent chicks, as the majority of the parents had already moved on. And many of those kids were still trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. The birds eat krill from the ocean, and have had it regurgitated directly into their mouths by their parents until recently.

The penguins had also started molting. Most of the babies had cleaned up their coats, and were sporting the smooth, patterned feathers of their parents, but some still had a few clumps of fluffy gray down stuck to random parts of their body – like the tops of their heads, making them look like they were wearing fluffy hats. As we returned to our ship, we navigated around ice drifting in the bay. A seal was gorgeously posing atop a small berg. As we passed by he gave a long, pink-tongued yawn as if to say that he didn’t care what we were up to and that our business was probably unimportant anyhow. was the perfect ending to a really wonderful day. |He gave us a giant tongue-filled yawn; maybe he was telling us how boring we were to see. |Maybe he was commenting on how boring we were when he gave us a giant yawn. |Evidently we bored him because he gave returned our stares with a huge yawn. |He yawned, exposing his enormous pink tongue. His lack of concern for our presence belied the unspoiled characteristic of this beautiful land where we’d spend a perfect day. |He presented us with a large, pink-tongued yawn, by which he could have been indicating just how impressed he was that we were there, but which certainly was an ideal manner of concluding our day. ]

Penguins are always so very charming. The waddle brought smiles to all of our faces. Their appearance of wearing formal tuxedos is a funny paradox with their clown-like webbed, orange feet. These penguins are quite neat and clean. This is probably due to the fact that the island is more rock than dirt. And to make them even more fashionable, they had a thin black line under their chins, giving them the impression of round cheeks.

Comments (0)

By Bill Perry, March 12, 2010

Antarctica teems with wild life like blue whales, emperor penguins and leopard seals from its towering mountain ranges to the seas; and is set aside as a wilderness preserve by international agreement. This pristine ecosystem has been protected from mining and oil drilling since 1998 and will stay protected for at least 50 years. The protection focuses on conservation rather than developing the continent. Very few things that would be a danger to the wildlife here are allowed. This means that everything from pesticides to dogs are banned.

The accord is called the Environmental Protection Protocol to the Antarctica Treaty. Fundamentally, it is a stipulation by the countries of the world to preserve one location without commercialism and industrial development. In 1991, the treaty was ratified by the 26 main countries that have scientific pursuits in Antarctica. These countries included, the U.S.A., Russia, India, China, Argentina, Japan, Brazil, and nearly all of Europe.

The regulations set forth by this treaty ended over 15 years of lobbying by environmental groups and put as stop to diplomatic talks. The rules banned oil drilling and mining. It requires that the nations who run Antarctica’s 35 scientific research outposts clean out their garbage dumps. Antarctic waters are also protected from scientific stations and tourist ships dumping raw sewage into them.

When the first person to reach the South Pole, Roald Amundsen, got there in 1911, he got around the continent with sled dogs. However, this recent treaty has placed a ban on dogs, based on their tendency to kill native birds and penguins. Antarctica can also never see non-sterile soil, pesticides and polystyrene packaging.

This harsh land is trapped beneath mile-thick ice and cannot support much botanical life aside from grasses and mosses that survive near the shore. Seventy per cent of the planet’s fresh water comprises Antarctica’s ice. You can find a rich ecosystem containing plenty of marine like and animals around Antarctica.

The Antarctic ecosystem can be easily damaged, more so than many other areas of the planet. Since the temperature is almost always below zero, it takes a long time for anything to grow. Many years will pass before any damage can be completely repaired. As an illustration, a footprint left behind in some moss could stay there for 10 or more years.

The first Antarctic Treaty was ratified in 1959, and made nuclear and military activities illegal in Antarctica. In addition, it decreed that Antarctica did not belong to any one country, and made stipulations for land use. While no country may possess Antarctica, literally every square inch of the land is claimed by some country or the other.

Once scientists learned in the early 1980’s that oil, coal, gold, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, uranium and more were present in and around Antarctica, environmental entities started to pressure their governments for regulation of land use. When oil became scarce in the 1970’s, a few organizations began talking about extracting oil from Antarctica. Drilling for oil in Antarctica will probably become a highly-debated topic if the cost of oil continues to go up.

Each of the 26 nations involved will enforce the rules on their own. If one country has a person that goes against the rules there will be pressure from the other nations for that nation to rectify the problem. Many are in agreement that the treaty constitutes an environmental success story.

For resources on affordable antarctica tours check out this site. Get more help on the topic of adventure antarctica tours.