Ice

(Reis) First of all, the ice in Antarctica is amazing. So densely packed together. The Kapitan Khlebnikov (our ship) just eats away at it, slicing a clear path for itself, and rejecting all ice that come in its way. White clouds of ice getting shoved away from the hull. Penguins staring up at awe at this giant boat, as they jump away in the nick of time. And as I look around all I can see for miles is Ice, Ice and more Ice. It’s brilliant, it’s pristine, it’s just so WHITE. The pale color reflecting 90% of all sun rays, instantly giving me a headache. Brilliant blues hiding just beneath the towering tabular icebergs.

But ice isn’t just a beautiful floating element that visitors love to photograph. It’s the base of a complex food chain in the Antarctic. One of the things that global warming is effecting in the Antarctic, is the food chain. The whole thing starts with ice. On the ice grows the algae. The plankton eats the algae. The krill eat the plankton. The penguins, seals, and even some of the gigantic baleen whales eat the krill. The leopard seal eats the other seals and the penguins. The orcas eat the penguins, seals, whales, and even scavenge on dead sea birds. Which all starts with the ice.

Also, there is a surprising amount of different kinds of sea ice. Frazil, Grease, Fast, Pancake, Pack. And to measure the ratio of ice to water you use fractions. AAHHHH! MATH!!  Not so much ice is 5/10. Full pack ice is a 10/10. And you can fill in the blanks.

The thing about icebergs is that 80-90% of them are underwater! The one that the Titanic hit was about 100 meters (300 feet) long. And they estimated it weighed 100,000 tons. Can you believe it?? The biggest iceberg ever recorded was about the size of Manhattan Island! It’s SO cool.

The youngest ever on the Ross Ice Shelf?

Ice shelves float above the ocean. From our ship, we took helicopters and actually landed on the Ross Ice Shelf, the biggest ice shelf in the world covering 18,200 square miles! It is about the size of France or Spain. Along with our new friend Dylan, we were highly likely THE youngest people EVER on the Ross Ice Shelf.

Finally, the fact that the Antarctic Continent doubles in size during the winter is mind blowing! In the winter it freezes, on average, .7 square miles per second. That’s 450 11 x 11 soccer fields in one second!

The ice in Antarctica is so powerful. Which is why I love it so much.