A brief but beautiful stint on one of the worlds last untouched frontiers
Antarctica is a place that due to its remoteness, and harsh weather conditions, is still one of the most pristine ecosystems we find on planet earth. Inaccessible most of the year, it is possible to visit this fascinating place in the Antarctic Summer, from November to March. In recent years, due to Covid, getting the necessary permits to enter Antarctica has been more difficult. However, the Transamerica team was lucky enough to receive one of the last permits of the year, thereby starting the adventure into the planets driest, coldest and iciest continent.
Once the permits were sorted, the only thing that stood between us and our Antarctica adventure was the weather. In order to fly into King George Island we needed a window of good weather during both our scheduled starting and landing time. This was not the case for a couple of days. After the briefing on Monday, we had two consecutive down days in Punta Arenas, during which it was not possible to fly. As mentioned in the Punta Arenas blog post, the only reason for us to be there was as the gateway to Antarctica, and there was not much to do here… Therefore, we were evermore excited when on Wednesday, we were told that we had a window to fly on Thursday.
Operated by DAP, whom carried out their first such expedition in two years, we boarded the King Air 350 that took us to King George Island at around 0930 in Thursday morning. After a 2h30 flight over the Drake’s passage, we started to see the glaciers on the horizon. We landed on a gravel strip, and quickly got on our adventure. Our guide, Jorge, was a man on a mission, as he tried to show us all that the island had to offer within the five hours we could stay.
After a brief drive, we boarded a zodiac that took us to our first stop; a colony of gentoo penguins. As we disembarked the zodiac, the first attraction was not the plethora of penguins that were desperately trying to run away from us, but a leopard seal that was warming up in the sun. After a brief moment of admiration, we turned our attention to the penguins who were scattered all over the small hill. Although most tried to keep their distance, there were a few curious souls that decided to venture a bit closer to us. Unlike the Penguins we had seen on Isla Magdalena the day prior, these were incredibly cute and well groomed.
Following a short period with the penguins, we boarded the zodiac and got on our way to the next stop; the glaciers of King George Island. Visiting the glaciers is only possible if the ocean is calm, which was the case for us. We reached the glaciers after 20min on the boat, and were able to walk around for 45min, admiring the large walls of ice in front of us, as well as the occasional local inhabitant (such as penguins and elephant seals). We used the time to explore the small island, as well as take pictures with drone and camera.
Once we got back towards the main island, Cedric and I mentally prepared ourselves for the next part of the adventure; a swim in the Antarctic ocean. We got changed in the Russian Research station, and then made our way out towards the ocean in crocs and swimming shorts. Although it took a moment of willpower, and a couple of warm-up pushups, we ventured into the 2C ocean for a couple of minutes. We quickly ran back to the research station, got changed, and enjoyed a small lunch.
Out of the 10 countries that maintain permanent research bases on King George Island, the Russians and the Chileans are the only two that share some facilities. We received a brief tour of one of the station buildings, and even got to peek into the Russian Orthodox church, which is maintained year round by the resident priest of the station. We received passport stamps from both stations, and continued onwards.
The last part of our journey included a stroll around the island’s coastline. After a 20min walk, we were quickly greeted by a pair of penguins and two sea lions. Further down on the beach, we also ran into a couple of elephant seals. Although they are far from the prettiest animals, their sheer size was very impressive. We admired and photographed them for a short period, before it was already time to bid them farewell and make our way back to the airstrip.
Although we only got to spend a day in Antarctica, the experience was incredibly memorable and enjoyable. The wildlife and the unique landscape of the continent have peaked my interest, and I can safely say it is a place I will want to return in the future.
King George Island is the largest of the South Shetland Islands, lying 120 km (75 miles) off the coast of Antarctica in the Southern Ocean. The island was named after King George III. King George island has three major bays, Maxwell Bay, Admiralty Bay, and King George Bay. Admiralty Bay contains three fjords, and is protected as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.
The island was first claimed for Britain on 16 October 1819, formally annexed by Britain as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1908, and now as part of the separate British Antarctic Territory. The Island was claimed by Chile in 1940, as part of the Chilean Antarctic Territory. It was also claimed by Argentina in 1943, now as part of Argentine Antarctica, called by the Argentines Isla Veinticinco de Mayo (25 May) in honour of their National day. The US and Russia do not recognize any Antarctic claim, and have formally reserved their right to claim Antarctic territories.
The island was discovered and named by the British explorer William Smith in 1819, who named it after the then King, George III. It is approximately 95 km (59 mi) long and 25 km (16 mi) wide with a land area of 1,150 square kilometres (444 sq mi). Over 90% of the island’s surface is permanently glaciated. In 1821, 11 men of the sealing vessel Lord Melville survived the winter on the island, the first men to do so in Antarctica.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Antarctica is Earth’s southernmost continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being nearly twice the size of Australia, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). During the summer months 5,000 people reside at research stations, a figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
Antarctica is on average the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world’s freshwater reserves are frozen there, which if melted would raise global sea levels by over 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). The average temperature for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63 °C (−81 °F). Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation consists of tundra.
The continental mass of Antarctica was probably first seen in 1820, when the Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev sighted the Fimbul ice shelf. The continent was discovered in January 1840 by the United States Exploring Expedition, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes; and a separate French expedition under Jules Dumont d’Urville. The Wilkes expedition—though it did not make a landing—remained long enough in the region to survey 1,300 km (800 mi) of the coast. The first confirmed landing was by a Norwegian team in 1895. Antarctica is governed by about 30 countries, all of which are parties to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System. According to the terms of the treaty, military activity, mining, nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal are all prohibited.
Source: Wikipedia.org
