We board the Ocean Diamond on January 7 in Ushuaia, southern tip of Chile, for three weeks of adventures to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and the Antarctica Peninsula.
Gaining perspective... looking down on the continent of Antarctica, which is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, you can envision its proximity to South America, Africa and Australia.
Penguins.... Jonathan Franzen, The New Yorker, May 2016
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/23/jonathan-franzen-goes-to-antarctica?mbid=nl_160516_Daily&CNDID=18741165&spMailingID=8928513&spUserID=MTA5MjM5OTcxNDkwS0&spJobID=921581929&spReportId=OTIxNTgxOTI5S0
"Though every penguin species has its charms—the glam-rock head-streamers of the macaroni penguin, the little parallel-footed jumps with which a rockhopper patiently climbs or descends a steep slope—I loved the kings above all others. They combined untoppable aesthetic splendor with the intently social energies of children at play. After porpoising toward shore, a group of kings would come running headlong up from the breakers, their flippers outstretched and fluttering, as if the water had got too cold for them. Or a lone bird would stand in shallow surf and gaze out to sea for so long that you wondered what thought was in its head. Or a pair of young males, excitedly tottering after an undecided female, would pause to see which of them was the more impressive craner of its neck, or to whap at each other ineffectually with their flippers. They had viciously sharp bills but sparred instead with punchless wings..."
What is the GEOGRAPHY of ANTARCTICA?
Facts about Antarctica (click on link for entire article from Live Science)
Antarctica has many unique attributes--- There are no indigenous people; this continent has never been inhabited. More rain falls in the Sahara Desert than in Antarctica. Antarctica has no trees or bushes; vegetation is composed of mosses, lichen and algae. Antarctica was first discovered in 1820.
"If you throw boiling water into the air in Antarctica, it will instantly vaporize. Most of the particles will turn into steam while others are instantly converted to small pieces of ice."
January 11-12 Cruising the South Scotia Sea
The Scotia Sea is a sea located at the northern edge of the Southern Ocean at its boundary with the South Atlantic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the Drake Passage and on the north, east and south by the Scotia Arc, an undersea ridge and island arc system supporting various islands. The sea sits atop the Scotia Plate
... the Antarctic Convergence
By own work - Ivanov, L. and N. Ivanova. Antarctic: Nature, History, Utilization, Geographic Names and Bulgarian Participation. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2014. p. 9 (in Bulgarian) ISBN 978-619-90008-1-6, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34691330
The Antarctic Convergence is a zone approximately 32 to 48 km (20 to 30 mi) wide, varying in latitude seasonally and in different longitudes, extending across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans between the 48th and 61st parallels of south latitude.
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