Sunday 09.02.20

Ten Musings from Megan

It’s hard to put into words what it feels like to visit Antarctica – it’s been an incredible experience and I feel lucky to have been onboard to get my microbiology samples. There will be a blog post on a wrap of the science experience in the next few days, but for now, here are a few thoughts on my visit to Antarctica on the SV Ocean Tramp over the past 10 days.

1.) The immense scale. Everything is extremely large and it is only by seeing smaller items (even such as cruise ships or our boat), that you can even begin to understand the enormity.

2.) Adaptation. Antarctica is not a particularly hospitable place to live, especially compared to many other places throughout the globe. Because of that, organisms that live here have adapted mechanisms to survive.

3.) Slow growth. Organisms, especially plants and lichens, grow extremely slowly and are many years old. This means that even what looks like not much growth doesn’t have any at all.

4.) Wilderness. It’s been incredible to be on a site without other humans, which isn’t an experience that I’ve otherwise had.

5.) Ability to take samples. Taking samples while keeping an eye out for fur seals or penguins has certainly changed up my usual sampling of chatting with tourists!

6.) Excitement to be out of regular routines. It has been quite the change of pace to not have email to check or texts to answer.

7.) Wildlife. Being able to be present with the wildlife and nature is astounding! We saw sei, humpback, and minke whales, including humpbacks surrounding the boat. We also saw hundreds and hundreds of penguins – Adelie, Macaroni, Chinstrap, Gentoo. Not to mention, the many other microbes that help all of these organisms survive!

8.) Weather. We were glad to have gray days (rainy, wet, snowy) and sunny days. Each type of day allows you to see a different type of Antarctica and the gray days allow you to better see the colors within the grays and whites.

9.) Smell of penguin poop. I knew going in that penguin colonies stink, but it is even greater than anticipated. Our group quickly learned how stinky and slippery penguin poop is!

10.) Icebergs. The icebergs were incredible – and so beautiful and full of many different colors (light blues, teal, aqua). Pictures don’t even seem to do it justice – I frequently took a photo, checked it, and saw that it wasn’t even close to what I saw with my own eyes.

Blog: Megan May (onboard guest scientist)
Photo: Damian Foxall