Posted by Mike O on: 05.08.2008 /
Most people who go on cruises go to the Caribean or some other exotic destination. Last year, my family took a cruise to Alaska and it was absolutely amazing! But if I ever get the opportunity, I want to take a cruise to Antarctica. Believe it or not, there really is such a thing!
Antarctica facinates me! It is the coldest, loneliest place on Earth - a continent covered by a layer of ice over 1.2 miles (2km) thick!
Antarctica contains 70% of the world’s fresh water and 90% of the ice! The average thickness of the Antarctic icepack is 7,000ft (2,134m). But at the same time, it is the driest continent on Earth with humidity lower than that of the Sahara desert!
Who wouldn’t want to go to the place that holds the records for the coldest (Vostok station: -128.6F, -89.2C) and windiest (Mawson station: 154mph, 248.4kmh) places on earth? The average temperature of the Antarctic interior is a balmy -49F (-45C), and the annual mean temperature at the South Pole is -71F (-57C).
This is interesting - Fossils of plants and animals discovered on Antarctica seem to indicate that the continent once had a much warmer climate and probably drifted to the south pole over time as a result of tectonic plate movement.
There is no record of indigenous humans ever living on Antarctica. There are no terrestrial animals and 80% of the birds found there are Penguins. And since the Antarctic interior never thaws, it cannot sustain plant life.
There is no permanent human population on Antarctica, only visiting scientists, explorers and visitors (like me!). The population varies from around 2,500 in winter to over 30,000 in summer.
Yet, while the only reason humans can survive there now is because of our advanced technology and lifelines to the rest of the world, there are things that survive there on their own!
Although there is plenty of ice and snow, water isn’t available to plants until it melts - which isn’t very often. In addition to this, the air is very dry and evaporation of what little moisture they have is hazardous to plants. Add to that the sparseness of suitable soil in which to put down roots (Antarctica consists almost entirely of bare rock covered in ice), and there isn’t much that will grow there. In fact, only about 1% of the land ever becomes free of ice, and that is at the tip of the Antarctic peninsula.
There are only two flowering plant species on Antarctica proper - the Antarctic Hair Grass and the Cushion Pearlwort.
There are approximately 100 species of moss and 30 species of liverwort.
There are a few species of fungi, but they are unable to photosynthesize their own food. That’s why they do better when they live in partnership with other organisms. Lichens are symbiotic organisms formed by the association of a fungus and an algae or bacterium. The fungus is able to extract trace chemicals from the surface of the rock while the algae or bacterium is able to photosynthesize food. By working together and swapping resources, they manage to eke out a modest existance growing, in some cases, a whopping 0.04 inches (1mm) in a decade!
I could go on and on because this is very fascinating to me. I may be alone in my desire to one day go there, but one thing I think we can all agree on: whether or not there’s a God - whether this was all designed by a Creator or evolved spontaneously over eons, Antarctica is really, really “cool.”
***Information taken from the book, Spirit of the Polar Regions - Explore the icy wilderness of the Arctic and Antarctic, by Gerard Cheshire.
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
1Mike, I’ve heard other people say Alaskan cruises are awesome.
Ummmm…me? I’m not into cold and wind :)
I think symbiotic relationships are fascinating. I didn’t know about these ones with fungi and bacteria in Antarctica. They certainly make the rocks prettier.
When you go you can tell me how ‘cool’ it is to see it with your own eyes!
Comment by: Mike O
2Sure - it could be a while, though. It’s VERY expensive - maybe for a 50th or 60th B-day present (I’m almost 45 now).
Comment by: Jason
3Haha “really cool” brilliant.
I’d love to visit somewhere so alien to where I live now as well. No water, no plants, hardly any animal life. It’d be almost like another world.
Comment by: Mike O
4When I was writing this last night, I started looking at ticket prices again. I found one for $4,800 but it seems that most are in the $10,000 range. And I think that asumes you’re already in Buenos Aires. I bet you could easily spend $10-$15,000 per person for a complete package.
Maybe we can get a group discount?
Comment by: Christine
5Although I’ve traveled a bit, I have not yet gone but would LOVE to go Alaska and to Antarctica. I am a pastry chef (with some culinary experience) and have tried to find out how I can get a job feeding the “scientists, explorers and visitors” there! Any suggestions, Mike?!
Comment by: Mike O
6I did a little checking around online for general “help wanted,” and it seems that people think jobs would be easy to get there because “no one else would want to go.”
Not true, I guess. Apparently there are lots of people who would want to go. I don’t know about cooks, though - that may be completely different.
Comment by: Christine
7Thanks for looking into that a bit and for your reply, Mike. I’ll continue checking, as well. Should you stumble across something please let me know. Thanks!