21st March, 2008
It´s a rare thing when you have just experienced a day you feel that neither pictures nor film and not even words can do justice. That´s how I would describe the past two days; today tops both of them. There is a communal feeling on board that what we´re experiencing right now will rarely be topped in our lives and if so, it will be by the like of weddings, births, and graduations.
After another impressive breakfast, we were briefed on which groups we would be placed in to for the next two nights. This evening as I type, half of the group is out camping on the Antarctic continent and another is relaxing and winding down onboard the MV Ushuaia. Roles will be reversed tomorrow evening. After learning our respective tours of duty for the next 48 hours, we geared up for a landing at Charlotte´s Bay. Read more
18th March, 2008
Unfortunately, there are no green rivers to celebrate the Irish holiday, but there are royal blue seas as far as the eye can see, which is more than sufficient. After a long journey, Antarctica is literally just around the corner. Today has been one of the most exciting thus far with the sighting of groups of fin whales, our first iceberg, and finally, land. Seeing my first iceberg is a moment I will not soon forget. During lunch, we had noticed that the boat was stalled, only to have our EL Peter inform us that the expedition´s first iceberg was ahead. While I was excited and had been anticipating this moment for a long time, I now know nothing can really adequately prepare you for the power such a moment holds. It was truly an experience.
To keep this short, everything from Ushuaia to right here in the ship just past King George Island has been amazing. I´m confident it will only get better, as we haven´t even boarded the zodiacs yet! But I am eagerly anticipating that opportunity in the morning. We will head to the E-base for the first and last time, perform some manual labor to help prepare the base for winter, and go on a hike to visit some elephant seals. On a sidenote, a group of us are planning and preparing for our very own re-enactment of Titanic created by and starring our very own IAE 6 team! 1´´Titanic: What if it didn´t sink?´´: coming soon to a YouTube screen near you!!
17th February, 2008
Meghan’s initial thoughts on climate change…
Katrina. Being from the south, I saw firsthand how the loss of the wetlands allowed a category 3 hurricane to have eerily catastrophic and long-lasting effects to my home-state and ultimately the entire country.
