At Sea
The history, lore and science of Antarctica tell a rich and varied story of the icy wilderness at the southern pole of our planet, but in many ways our understanding of the white continent remains in its infancy. In less than 200 years since the shores of Antarctica were first sighted we have learned much about this remote region, but much still remains hidden, under the ice, under the sea and behind the veils of deep time.
One of the greatest pleasures of travelling to the Antarctic aboard National Geographic Explorer is the opportunity to interact with our guest scientists, people who are actively working to broaden and deepen our knowledge of this amazing place. On this trip Rosie and Paula, our Oceanites penguin biologists have been out every day, climbing the steep slopes around our landing sites to collect census data on penguins and other seabirds. The information they collect is part of a long term monitoring effort which now stretches back well over a decade and has been of vital importance in tracking changes occurring in this remote region. In the evenings and in casual conversation we have been able to learn about their experiences studying these strange and wonderful birds and about the details of what they are discovering about them.
During every daylight hour we have spent underway across the waters around the Peninsula, Bob and John, both renowned killer whale researchers, have been up on the bridge or the top decks, scanning for sightings of the Antarctic’s top predator. Their work in recent years has really revolutionized our understanding of killer whales all around the world and in the three trips they have made with us this year they have been able to add very significantly to the data available on some of the most unusual and fascinating marine mammals in the world. They have also been delightful traveling companions, sharing their enthusiasm for these amazing creatures in a number of excellent presentations and cheerfully answering all our questions.
This commitment to making our expedition vessel a platform for good science extends throughout the Lindblad Expeditions staff as well. Our Expedition Leader, Lisa, is the founder of the Sea Leopard project, a groundbreaking effort to catalogue and better understand one of the world’s most beautiful and impressive seals. And for my part, I take every opportunity I get to learn and record more about the marine communities of the Antarctic Peninsula during my dives. During this trip I was able to collect good images of a very unusual Echurid worm with our ROV and also encountered and recorded the largest school (by far!) of Antarctic fish that I have ever seen in ten years of diving these frigid waters.
The Antarctic is one of the last great wildernesses remaining on our world, a place of astounding wildlife and deeply moving beauty. One of the things that makes it most exciting is the mystery it retains even in our ever shrinking 21st Century world; paradoxically, this seems to be a bottomless cup of mystery that is only enhanced by working to understand this wild continent better and better.
