Team members say

Where are you right now as you read this blog? I know you are not 640 miles south of the southern most part of South America at the edge of Antarctica. If you were here in Antarctica I’d probably know because fewer than 150,000 people have ever visited this continent since its discovery. In some ways you’re the smart one, or at least the more comfortable one between the two of us. The small ex-naval ship that carried our expedition from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic just finished crossing one of the most dangerous shipping routes in the world—the Drake Passage. People prepare to die when they make the crossing because you have to have luck on your side that another ship will be close enough to assist if you get in serious trouble from 70 foot tall waves called “rollers.” These waves literally circle the Southern Ocean with nothing to block their progress—including our little ship. However, we had a charmed passage (nothing to embellish into a death defying saga yet), one of the smoothest crossings the captain has ever seen, and yet nearly 20 of 75 people were seasick at one time or another during our two day crossing. Sound fun yet? But hey, you add to that same crossing the opportunity to see a) rare fin whales feeding with their offspring, b) Guntu penguins swimming curiously around the ship, c) a 10 story tall, turquoise-colored iceberg emerging from the mist dead ahead of the ship, d) albatross gliding for hours behind the ship on 9 foot wingspans, and finally d) the sight of seven members of the 2041 expeditionary team waving and welcoming you from the top of their e-Base home at Bellingshausen Scientific Station on King George Island, and it makes you feel like your are beginning an incredible learning adventure. It is snowing lightly tonight (St. Paddy’s Day) and a storm is moving in. Yet tomorrow we go ashore for 10 hours of hiking and working in -5° Fahrenheit weather with a wind chill factor of -20° or more. Stay warm for me won’t you? I’m counting on the memories of countless words of best wishes from family, friends, colleagues, and clients to keep me warm. Plus all the survival gear that I can possibly layer on and still move. We’re limited to a single paragraph for each entry, so I’ll stop now and write later about subjects like the very high probability of slipping on deep layers of penguin poop when stepping onto an Antarctic beach. I feel your envy already!

Eric’s initial thoughts on climate change…

I live in Los Angeles, and our battles with climate change center around the tremendous amount of pollution that is created by our auto-centric way of life.