The Captain performed the wedding ceremony
Marc Pomeroy
was one of the most beautiful things I have seen in the five years I
have been working in the Antarctic. The couple kept it a secret to
most of the people on board and it was a complete surprise. The
bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and the Captain very
formal in his dress whites. I think the Captain was more nervous
than the happy couple, but did a wonderful job for his first wedding.
The galley crew had done a fantastic job making the food and the
wedding cake was simply delicious. Cameras clicked away for the
whole event. I can't think of a more wonderful way to start off
together than to be among friends and colleagues in a location that
can only be described as "magical".
And the couple had been able to experience a special day in
several other ways as well. Both were listed on the permit which
allowed them to visit the Dion Islands to help the ornithologists with
the census of the emperor colony there. The last time that a
census had been done was in the early 1970s when there were
several hundred emperors on the island. Just over 25 years later,
this is now probably the smallest emperor penguin colony on
record. There isn't enough data to tell how or why the colony has
shrunk so dramatically, but the biological makeup of the island has
changed considerably since the last work done in this Specially
Protected Area (SPA) also this site is a SSSI (Special Site of
Scientific Interest). These classifications means that you must
have a permit to even enter the area. There are specific guidelines
on how close you can be, the type of work performed, and even
how high aircraft must be if they must fly over the area etc. Getting
listed on one of these permits is not a trivial thing and is done well
in advance of the trip.
Today the island has many hundred pairs of blue-eyed shags,
Adelie penguins, and many fur seals. I bet this would be a beautiful
area in the summertime. The main island rises up with sheer cliffs
from the waterline. Probably would make lovely nesting for snow
petrels and the like. I was able to go around the islands today with
the ornithologists but I would not have been able to go with the
scientists if they decided to land as I was not listed on this permit.
But we just did some census of other types of wildlife from a
distance with cameras, binoculars, and a sketch pad.
Returning from the islands to the NBP waiting just outside the
boundary of the SPA was also rather tricky. Large pancake ice
from a meter and a half across to 4 meters across had compacted
considerably since we motored through it earlier in the morning.
Our zodiac had rough going with very slow progress. We used
poles to help keep the larger chunks from under the boat and even
had to try to be a "rubber ice breaker" breaking through some of
the smaller pancakes. It was very slow going but the time was
enjoyed as there was a pink band of clouds hanging just above the
horizon with a nice moon shining through. Two Minke whales also
showed up briefly in the pack ice showing us how easy it is when
you can just swim under the ice. The mountains of Adelaide Island
and the Antarctic Peninsula partially hidden in the mist and fog
gave a stunning contrast to the deep blue of icebergs that were
quietly floating in the pack ice with us.
All in all, this has been quite an astounding couple of days. It
seems that smiles grace almost everyone's faces. Science is
moving along at a steady pace with different stages of sea ice
formation presenting themselves in series to be studied.
Life is good here at the bottom of the world.
Hope all is well wherever you might be.
Cheers,
Marc
_____________________________________________________
Marc Pomeroy - Marine Science Technician -
Currently on board the Research Icebreaker
Nathaniel B. Palmer
pome...@NBP.polar.org
pom...@io.com
http://www.io.com/~pomeroy
___________________________________________________
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to
which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged
material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or
taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or
entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received
this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any
computer.