J.J.'s Trip to Antarctica
On October 9, 2006, I boarded the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, commanded by Pavel Ankudinov, and departed Ushuaia, Argentina, for Snow Hill Island in the Weddell Sea. The expedition had been organized by Quark Expeditions and was under the enthusiastic and professional leadership of Jonas Wikander. Our goal was to be the first "on-the-ice" visit to the Emperor penguin rookery on the south side of Snow Hill Island.
During an earlier adventure in the Weddell Sea in November 2004, same ship and same captain, we had attempted to break through the fast ice to be the first on the ground to visit this suspected rookery but the ice proved too difficult. It was Frank S. Todd, the noted polar
region naturalist, on this first trip in 2004 who over flew the rookery in one of the two helicopters carried by the Kapitan Khlebnikov and confirmed the rookery's existence as first described by only one other known over flight in July 1997. As far as is known there had never been any ground visits to this rookery. Emperor penguins had been observed and described in the general area as far back as Shackleton. In 1893, a Norwegian whaling captain of the ship
Jason, C. A. Larsen, was able to sail within about 160 nautical miles south of Snow Hill Island along the then existent Larsen Ice Shelf, later named after him. He reported numerous Emperor penguins but did not estimate or account for the size of the rookery.
The Emperor's of that earlier time were thought to have been located at the front of the Larsen Ice Shelf in 1893. During the last ten years the Larsen Ice Shelf began disintegrating, perhaps as a result of global warming. It has been speculated this disintegration may have forced the rookery to relocate to its present site off the south of Snow Hill Island. Emperor penguins are not generally known to be this far north or to inhabit the Antarctic Peninsula.
We arrived off Snow Hill Island after crossing the Drake Passage, sailing through the Bransfield Strait and proceeding across the Antarctic Sound and Erebus & Terror Gulf. Total transit time was approximately 3 days and nights in good weather. Captain Ankudinov "parked" the Khlebnikov in the ice about 8 nautical miles from the rookery where we remained for three days and four nights using the helicopters to ferry back and forth to the rookery always landing
about 2 kilometers from the rookery behind a grounded iceberg as to not disturb the adults with their newly hatched chicks.
After five previous expeditions to Antarctica I can say that the weather was reasonable during the transit and first day at the rookery. Then the notorious winds, dipping temperatures and
horizontal snow began. The sky went leaden and each of the next two day forays were a real chore just to stay upright on the wind polished ice. Even the Emperors seemed to give up walking and became almost exclusive tobogganers. My cameras froze up, my energy bars
became unchewable and walking a real pain. The only happy beings I saw were a new born Weddell seal pup and its mother, both had smiles on their faces as they dozed by their escape hole on our path to and from the rookery to the landing site.
Because of earlier good weather we had arrived at Snow Hill Island ahead of schedule but the weather turned bad enough to concern the captain as the wind driven sea ice began to pile up against the Khlebnikov. He decided to leave a little earlier than planned. During the next 24-36 hours we made only about 1.5 nautical miles against the icy barrier being constructed by the sea wind and this was with all six diesel engines driving the 3 twin DC electric motors developing about 24,000 horsepower running full out. We did not become ice bound because the captain decided to leave early but we did use up a lot of the extra fuel supply carried for just such times.
During an earlier adventure in the Weddell Sea in November 2004, same ship and same captain, we had attempted to break through the fast ice to be the first on the ground to visit this suspected rookery but the ice proved too difficult. It was Frank S. Todd, the noted polar
region naturalist, on this first trip in 2004 who over flew the rookery in one of the two helicopters carried by the Kapitan Khlebnikov and confirmed the rookery's existence as first described by only one other known over flight in July 1997. As far as is known there had never been any ground visits to this rookery. Emperor penguins had been observed and described in the general area as far back as Shackleton. In 1893, a Norwegian whaling captain of the ship
Jason, C. A. Larsen, was able to sail within about 160 nautical miles south of Snow Hill Island along the then existent Larsen Ice Shelf, later named after him. He reported numerous Emperor penguins but did not estimate or account for the size of the rookery.
The Emperor's of that earlier time were thought to have been located at the front of the Larsen Ice Shelf in 1893. During the last ten years the Larsen Ice Shelf began disintegrating, perhaps as a result of global warming. It has been speculated this disintegration may have forced the rookery to relocate to its present site off the south of Snow Hill Island. Emperor penguins are not generally known to be this far north or to inhabit the Antarctic Peninsula.
We arrived off Snow Hill Island after crossing the Drake Passage, sailing through the Bransfield Strait and proceeding across the Antarctic Sound and Erebus & Terror Gulf. Total transit time was approximately 3 days and nights in good weather. Captain Ankudinov "parked" the Khlebnikov in the ice about 8 nautical miles from the rookery where we remained for three days and four nights using the helicopters to ferry back and forth to the rookery always landing
about 2 kilometers from the rookery behind a grounded iceberg as to not disturb the adults with their newly hatched chicks.
After five previous expeditions to Antarctica I can say that the weather was reasonable during the transit and first day at the rookery. Then the notorious winds, dipping temperatures and
horizontal snow began. The sky went leaden and each of the next two day forays were a real chore just to stay upright on the wind polished ice. Even the Emperors seemed to give up walking and became almost exclusive tobogganers. My cameras froze up, my energy bars
became unchewable and walking a real pain. The only happy beings I saw were a new born Weddell seal pup and its mother, both had smiles on their faces as they dozed by their escape hole on our path to and from the rookery to the landing site.
Because of earlier good weather we had arrived at Snow Hill Island ahead of schedule but the weather turned bad enough to concern the captain as the wind driven sea ice began to pile up against the Khlebnikov. He decided to leave a little earlier than planned. During the next 24-36 hours we made only about 1.5 nautical miles against the icy barrier being constructed by the sea wind and this was with all six diesel engines driving the 3 twin DC electric motors developing about 24,000 horsepower running full out. We did not become ice bound because the captain decided to leave early but we did use up a lot of the extra fuel supply carried for just such times.
