Antarctica Cruise Day 2

The day started with buffet breakfast. There was so much food, we definitely ate too much.

We had a lecture about sea birds after breakfast. Apparently only 3-4% of all birds are seabirds. Seabirds don't breed as often as other birds, and they tend to lay eggs on the ground or inaccessible locations like sea cliffs. Kevin also taught us how to identify sea birds. They tend to have a wider wingspan as well as colored wingtips. The tail can also tell you if it is a seabird and the color of the beak. Seabirds use dynamic soaring to fly with the wind. The wind also determines how they fly, for example, different flying patterns for upstream and downstream. He told us about a bird that does not alight on land or sea except to breed roughly every 4 to 5 years. That's crazy! There are a few different ways that seabirds feed: surface diving, scavengers and predators, and diving. GISS: General, Impression, Size, Shape helps to identify birds. Pelagic seabirds spend all their time at sea and are more clumsy on land and coastal/shallow. All seabirds have a salt gland. Seabirds don't have to drink fresh water because of the salt gland and they can get fresh water from their food too. Kevin also taught us how to tell the difference between the royal albatross and the wandering albatross. The way I could tell is by the tail feathers: a wandering albatross has black on the edge, but a royal is totally white. The wandering albatross has the longest wingspan at 2.54 to 3.63 meters.

We then had to go and get fitted for our gear for kayaking. We got fitted for booties, a dry suit, a skirt and our life jacket. Allan and I were pretty quick to get ourselves sorted, and having small hands made the rubber on the wrists much easier to get on and off. All in all, it took about half an hour. Later after lunch we had to go back down to the mudroom to get fitted for the kayaks. I've never been fitted for a kayak before so it was a new experience. Getting the skirt around the lip of the opening is harder than it looks!

We managed to catch the end of a lecture about some of the mammals in and around Antarctica. The speaker provided a short list of some of the whales and dolphins that we may see: Blue Whale, Fin Whale, Sei Whale, Southern Right Whale, Humpback Whale, Antarctic Minke Whale, Sperm Whale, Orca, Hourglass Dolphins, Peale's Dolphin. He also said that we might see leopard seals and elephant seals.

After a short nap in our room, we then went to a lecture titled: Who owns Antarctica? a short guide to the Treaty System. Before the Antarctica Treaty, there were three main issues: competing territorial claims, increasing technology capabilities, and the Cold War. In 1957 there was an International Geophysical Year in Antarctica. 12 nations set up in Antarctica to conduct research. Negotiations for a treaty began after the IGY and was signed in December 1959 coming into effect in 1961. Article 1 talks about peace. Nothing military or with weapons can be done here. Article 2 allows freedom for scientific research. Article 3 is about cooperation in scientific investigation. Article 4 talks about the competing territorial claims. The treaty froze the claims as they were and no new claims could be made. Article 5 said no nuclear explosions or disposal of waste could be done here. There are 12 original signatories, 29 consultative parties and 28 non consultative parties who can't vote, but can attend meetings. The meetings are a forum for discussion and decision making. All decisions are made via consensus. However, there was no environmental protection. In the 1980s some ideas and discussions began around mining and the environment in Antarctica. The Madrid protocol prohibits mining and recognizes the intrinsic value of the wilderness value. This includes some things like conservation of flora and fauna and waste disposal.

We had some time to chill out before the Captain's toast and recap of the day before dinner. At the toast we met the captain who seems like an easygoing guy. We also had a recap and briefing. Tomorrow we have the big chat about what we can and cannot do when on land. We also have the biosecurity check on our gear that we will be wearing when we go off of the ship. It'll be a long morning, but the afternoon is much more chill with only a couple of lectures before dinner.

After dinner we had a camping briefing. It doesn't sound like it will be a very comfortable experience, but one night of discomfort for the lifetime of being able to say I camped on Antarctica. Steve, the musician played in the bar tonight. He had quite an extensive list of covers you could request as well as some original songs. I stayed for about an hour and Allan lingered for about half an hour before heading down to spend some time in the sauna.

Back in the room after our respective activities, we spent some time reading/listening to our books. I even finished mine!Read more