Day 31; February 22, 2009; Southern Ocean, Antarctic Circle Average Daily Temperature: 33.88˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 10.82 mph Feels Like: 17.65˚ F One doesn’t forget the first glimpse of an albatross. With wingspans up to ten feet, they are stunning in flight—ever graceful in the thick ocean wind. Albatross are known for their gliding, and hardly need flap their wings. By using the updraft of the wind off the ocean’s surface and the shape of their long elegant wings they can glide endlessly. I was quite fortunate to see five species today: the majestic wandering albatross, the sooty albatross, the light-mantled sooty albatross, the black-browed albatross and the…read more »
Day 30; February 21, 2009; Penguin Bukta, Fimbul Ice Shelf, Southern Ocean, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: 24.53˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 14.77 mph Feels Like: 2.38˚ F This morning I awoke to find that the sea had literally begun to freeze. All around the ship, and as far as I could see, the surface of the ocean was covered in small discs of solid ice. Though the equinox is still a month away, which definitively marks the change of seasons, one can already see the signs of the quickly approaching winter. Watching the Southern Ocean freeze before my eyes was an awesome sight—completely profound, if not seemingly impossible. The…read more »
Day 29; February 20, 2009; Penguin Bukta, Fimbul Ice Shelf, Southern Ocean, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: 19.14˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 18.91 mph Feels Like: -9.23˚ F The first day on the SA Agulhas was spent acquainting myself with my new territory. This would be my first time on a sea voyage and there was much to comprehend, not the least of which was being atop a thing which never ceases to move about below you. The seawater around the ice shelf was relatively calm, but a certain finesse was still required in getting about the ship. My cabin, which I would eventually share with three other women, was…read more »
Day 28; February 19, 2009; Penguin Bukta, Fimbul Ice Shelf, Southern Ocean, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: 20.93˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 35.1 mph Feels Like: -31.72˚ F Dawn both elated my soul and dimmed my heart, as this sunrise marked my last day on the continent of Antarctica for this journey. I had been up all night, again, attempting to observe and capture the ever-changing nature around me. The base was completely silent, deep in the arms of Morpheus. I, bundled in all of my gear, took the video camera outside to record the light from our massive star, which was proclaiming the day on the southern horizon. Facing…read more »
Day 25; February 16, 2009; Vesleskaervet, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: Average Daily Wind Speed: Feels Like: The last three days were entirely given over to the completion of the ITASC expedition, and all of our work in the field. After shooting the interior photographs of ICEPAC for the exhibition catalogue, and finishing each of our individual art projects, we began the complete removal of the mobile base—an exhaustive experience that took 30 consecutive hours of hard manual labor in the freezing cold. It was a significant moment, as it marked the successful end of ITASC’s four-year undertaking. It also held the distinct poignancy, that subtle sorrow, that comes…read more »
Day 20; February 11, 2009; Vesleskaervet, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: Average Daily Wind Speed: Feels Like: Several days before I left Marfa to start my journey here to Antarctica my good friend Steve Holzer and I found ourselves in a conversation about sundials. I had remarked that the sundial up at the McDonald Observatory was, ironically, inaccurate for most of the year, as it didn’t account for daylight savings time. Steve, a true renaissance man, has spent a lot of time between the worlds of art and science and is, himself, both artist and inventor. Steve, it turned out, had designed a sundial back in 1982 which…read more »
Day 19; February 10, 2009; Vesleskaervet, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: Average Daily Wind Speed: Feels Like: I have been awake now for over thirty hours, having just completed my light recording piece. As exhausted as I am, I deeply enjoy the space that I traverse during these long periods of documenting light. Watching, diligently, the subtle shifts in color and intensity—I am ever entranced by the grace of natural phenomena. In the late afternoon, the feeder flight arrived to take Alfons to NOVO, where he will catch his flight back to Cape Town. We all went down to send him off, waving goodbye as he boarded the…read more »
Day 15; February 6, 2009; Vesleskaervet, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: 18.14˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 11.63 mph Feels Like: 0.69˚ F It was half an hour before lunch when I finally awoke. On my way to the dinning room to find some caffeine, my stomach clearly announcing it was ready for a meal, I ran into the helicopter pilots of Titan 1, Neall Ellis and his son and co-pilot, Kevin Ellis. Wishing me a good afternoon, they told me that we would be flying to Grunehogna in 30 minutes and to gather my things. With my first cup of coffee sloshing over the rim of my…read more »
Day 14; February 5, 2009; Vesleskaervet, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: 19.4˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 22.15 mph Feels Like: -13.82˚ F My alarm sounded, startling me out of a deep sleep. The foreign noise alerted me to the fact that it was 6:30am and time to get ready for our journey to Grunahogna—the gorgeous rock mountain 40 kilometers away that I see from my studio window here. I was elated to be going on a new adventure. Travel within Antarctica is never without a particular mission, due to the incredible expense. Given the $9000 per hour flight cost while airborne, our scheduled helicopter flight to Grunahogna…read more »
Day 13; February 4, 2009; Vesleskaervet, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica Average Daily Temperature: 13.28˚ F Average Daily Wind Speed: 20.80 mph Feels Like: -17.92˚ F My exact GPS coordinates here in Antarctica are 71 ° 40.433’ S 002 ° 48.700’ W… want to see where I am? Google Earth has satellite images of the SANAE IV Research Base including the nunataks and glaciers surrounding the area. Ross Hofmeyr added names and points of interest to the images, so you can see where everything is. Click HERE to download the KMZ file you’ll need to get here. Once you’ve downloaded this file, you’ll need to upload it or add it to…read more »
