The International Insider » Antarctica

International Ice

The Insider — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:18:07 +0000

TORONTO, CANADA- Traveling to the Antarctic with Students on Ice taught me things that I may never have learned without this unique experience. Of course, we all gained significant knowledge about the South Pole – facts and figures and such. However, it is what I learned through the experience of being surrounded by such extraordinary people in such an extraordinary environment that has truly impacted my life.

Forming the strong relationships I did with the students on the trip lead to my realization of a few different things. For one, I learned that everybody has something to offer, whatever that is, and because that thing is unique to that one person, it is valuable. Furthermore, to label or judge people because of the way they look, talk, or where they’re from does nothing but limit a relationship. What I am referring to rather is tolerance, in that in order to form a strong relationship with someone, one must be able to embrace their perhaps less desirable qualities as much as they embrace their desirable qualities.

For me, one of the emerging topics of this trip was passion. The thing that struck me most all of the educators and chaperones that were on the trip was that they have all followed their passions. Before this trip, I had always thought that I would go to business school, get a degree, get a job that I can live with, and practice my passions on the side. However, meeting these truly inspiring adults has led me to question my own ideals and priorities that most definitely translate into life choices that I will soon be making. Talking to other students that were on the trip, I do believe that this coming of age was shared by many.

Being in an environment as untouched as Antarctica guided me to a realization of the fragility of the planet. Needless to say, it is difficult to imagine what somebody’s actions in New York, Toronto, or Shanghai have to do with the Antarctic. However, I have learned that much of what humans do around the world effects the environment, whether that environment is Central Park or Deception Island in Antarctica. Furthermore, small changes in the environment may not affect human beings; however, they may have a tremendous impact of the environment.

For example, it was a common sight throughout the trip to see penguins laying belly-down in the snow. The penguin equivalent to a mist fan on a warm summer’s day, lying in the snow is one way penguins cool down in the heat of the summer. This sight led me to wonder what were to happen if the earth continued to warm even gradually over decades. Therefore, the way humans choose to live their lives can have a direct impact on not only their surrounding environment, but the global environment.

Indeed – a delicate planet we inhabit.

Frozen Birds

The Insider — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:17:38 +0000

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL- Though cuddly and wobbly and down-right adorable, penguins aren’t the only birds that Antarctica has to offer. Birds are one of the more common types of animals that inhabit our world. Just like anywhere else in the world, Antarctica has several species of birds. Accompanied by the expedition ornithologist (bird expert) Santiago Imberti, we learned about the many interesting species of birds in Antarctica. Apparently, there are birds in Antarctica that aren’t penguins.

After leaving Ushuaia, our ship, we started seeing many different species of sea birds. In the Drake Passage, there are many species of birds. Every day during the crossing of the Drake Passage we conducted a bird survey. In the survey we counted not just what species of birds we had seen but also how many. Without seeing the Drake in my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t have believed we had seen dozens of Black Browed Albatross and Giant Petrels. The birds there were flying very close over our head.

The Wandering Albatross, which lives over the waters in the Drake Passage, is the largest bird in the world. Its wing span is 3.5 (11.5 feet) meters long. After a lecture from Santiago about the various species of birds that we were likely to encounter in Antarctica and in the Drake, we saw the Wandering Albatross. It was an impressive sight.

In Antarctica itself there aren’t many species of birds, but the birds that are there are quite unique. Other then penguins, the bird we probably saw the most is the Skua. The Skua was a medium brown bird that feeds on penguin chicks and eggs. It’s one of Antarctica’s most common birds. We saw Skuas in almost every place we went.

Another common bird is the Snowy Sheathbill. The Sheathbill is a small bird that looks really like a white pigeon. The Sheathbill mostly lives on the ground and it scavenges food, usually in penguin colonies. We had seen this bird almost in every colony we went to, and in several other places as well.

But the bird we saw the most, was definitely the Cape Petrel. The Cape Petrel is a fairly small type of Petrel. It’s black and white, and eats fish and krill. The Cape Petrel are so common that they are considered one of the most common seabirds in the southern oceans. Their population is estimated to be about two million birds. We saw them pretty much everywhere.

There were many species of birds we saw in Antarctica. The birds of Antarctica are unique, and it was fascinating to see and learn about them.

Students on Ice!

Aleksandra Makowska and Simit Christian — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:17:09 +0000

Sitting in a classroom always gets boring sooner or later. For two weeks, we had the chance to switch our typical classmates for penguins, seals, ice, and more penguins as we made our way to Antarctica, which is called the “Greatest classroom on Earth.”

Students on Ice (SOI), which has given Antarctica this title, is an organization that organizes educational expeditions for students each year to the Arctic and Antarctic.

“The expedition’s education program has three main goals. The first goal is to promote learning about polar fundamentals. The second goal is to engage people to consider environmental problems and solutions. The third goal is to encourage everyone to take responsibility, join generation G, and make change,” said Tim Straka, Education Director of SOI.

Our expedition to Antarctica included not only 65 students from around the world, but also a group of 25 SOI staff, veteran Antarctic researchers, journalists, and the ship crew. All of these people were happy to tell the students everything they knew and share their experiences, while the setting of their stories lay right outside the ship’s window.

The first days onboard weren’t too great. When the ship’s lounge was filled with people seasick, napping near trash-cans, moaning, and cursing the ocean, we knew we were crossing the Drake Passage to reach the Antarctic continent. Geologist Fred Roots attempted to distract us by telling us all about the land around us, and the sea that covered it up. He explained that the currents circled Antarctica clockwise and were then squeezed between South America and Antarctica, forming the infamous Drake Passage. Later, the students and staff walked the decks with barf bags in their hands all while pointing to a distant, exclaiming ‘breaching whale, over there!’

“I got the pictures of the humpback whales jumping out of the water all three times, this must be pretty rare. I am lucky I had my camera with me at the right moment,” said Chicago SOI participant Alex Brewer.

The Antarctic ornithologist Santiago Imberti pointed to penguins, discussing their mating habits, life spans, biology, and even the color of their poop. All the while, we were surrounded by thousands of the penguins on a tiny Antarctic Island. Completely unafraid of humans, they wobbled along in a straight line until they reached a cliff to the shore. They stood around for a long while until one impatient penguin shoved another into the dangerous waters. Then, the rest followed.

The polar expert Olle Carlsson explained why the penguins were so hesitant in their dives into the water, the leopard seal. The leopard seal would, if successful in its hunt, play a game of cat- and- mouse with the penguin. We crossed our fingers that no such seal would appear in the water, yet we oooh-ed and aaah-ed when we saw an adorable elephant seal sleeping on shore and scratching its belly and back. This scratching, Carlsson explained, was called molting, the shedding of skin, and we sympathized with the seal. At another island, we even saw seven of them piled between two rocks, portraying their liking for body contact. The cold ice beneath them did not seem to bother them, despite their lack of fur or feathers.

“Isn’t that amazing,” Carlsson always said in his Swedish accent after mentioning a strange fact about Antarctic wildlife.

Explorer David Fletcher planned a hike at 5:30 in the morning to the top of a steep glacier. We took two steps forward and one step back as our rain boots slid on the slippery slope or were stuck in the ice, but we made it to the top feeling a sense of victory and accomplishment. Later, after a good breakfast, we did it over again on another glacier and took ice core samples that have existed for as long as half a century. Fletcher explained just how valuable such research was and how these samples were artifacts of the past, air, weather, and even wildlife.

We took some deep breaths, and then we slid down the glacier. A half hour hike concluded with a 20 second slide. Students didn’t hesitate to climb back up only to slide down one more time. Everyone got to his or her feet slowly after the slides ended, checking for any holes in pants from the slide, and there were plenty to find. This activity was obviously fun, but by sliding down we gathered an understanding of ice texture, glacier steepness, and much more.

“My pant pocket came right off, but I didn’t care. The slide was worth it,” said Palestinian SOI participant Zayne Abudagga.

This type of constructive learning is perhaps one of the most effective ways to relish an education mainly because it involves all of the human senses. Students can truly experience and absorb their learning this way, even if it means sentencing themselves to a distinct penguin smell for weeks. And that is exactly what many of the 65 students admitted happened during the expedition.

We were chosen as ambassadors from Staten Island to experience Antarctica and share our experiences when we returned. We learned many things about penguins, seals, geography, history, and the Poles. We also learned that nothing is as educational as experience itself.