Feeling Antarctic

It’s odd being back in the civilized world.  The desolation and isolation of the frozen continent is unlike anything I’ve ever before experienced. That’s not to say that there aren’t signs of life out there.

Of course there are the penguins. On land they are about as goofy as any creature could be.  But once they get in the water they can really move.

Below is my favorite penguin pic from the trip.  I know one should be careful when it comes to anthropamorphising, but penguins do kind of act like people sometimes.  The little one down below looking off into the bleak, icy distance seems to conveigh a feeling of “meh” that I know so well.

I suppose this picture is, as some have told me, a little sad.  I can see that.  Of course I tend to feel a little sad sometimes so maybe that’s why I relate to this little guy (or girl, I have no idea how to differentiate penguin genders).

 

There are seals as well.  Some of them are very cute.

 

Others…are sort of murder machines…

 

To be fair, leopard seals are also kind of cute.  When they aren’t tearing penguins to pieces that is.

Given their size and majesty it’s no “fluke” that whales are a major attraction in the southern waters.  Get it…fluke…hahahahahaha

Anyway, here are some whale goodies.

Sometimes the seals and whales interact.  Like when these seals

were hiding on the ice from this whale.

 

It’s pretty rough and tumble out there. And if predation weren’t bad enough, the environment itself tries to get ya. But despite that, people have managed to make their mark down there.

 

Antarctica offers some great photo opportunities; like sunrises and sunsets,

 

and great portraits complements of the Parisian molecular biologist I befriended on this trip,

oh yeah…lot’s and lot’s of ice.

 

The trick is that to get there, you have to cross the Drake.  Sometimes the Drake Passage looks like this

but it also subjects you to days of this.

 

Overall I would say Antarctica was pretty boss.  The trip was blessed by an awesome group onboard the Ortelius.  I made friends with Indians, Netherlanders, French, Chinese, Germans, English, Spaniards, Americans, Kiwis and probably some others I am not remembering at the moment.  It is my fervant hope that we all stay in touch as we proclaimed today that we would.

To finish, as always, there must be music.  I had a song I didn’t know thewords to stuck in my head the whole trip.  After like a week and a half I was all like

Anyway, it turns out that the song stuck in my head for the last two weeks was a tune by good ole Justin Timberlake.  It’s not my style to put top 40 pop type stuff up here but in honor of having it in my head for so long (and for being a pretty good song as well) I give you the following.  Cheers