I mentioned last week that Jon Bowermaster had returned to the Antarctic for the tenth straight year, and that he was blogging his journey, which began with his crossing of the Drake Passage. Since then, we've had a couple of more updates, including his arrival on the continent itself.
Unlike most of the visitors to the Antarctic that I write about, Jon makes the journey by ship, and generally explores the coastline, often in a Zodiac or kayak. On Day 2 of his latest journey, he arrived on Barrientos, a tiny island that is part of the South Shetlands, where he was greeted by penguins protecting their nests. Later, on Deception Island, Jon estimates that there were somewhere between 120,00-160,000 of the tuxedoed, flightless birds, who are expecting their chicks to arrive in the next few weeks.
On Day 3, the expedition traveled into the Weddell Sea, where we get some great photos of the giant, tabular icebergs. These huge patches of ice, usually a mile or more in length and 150-200 feet in height, float out into the Southern Sea, and drift ever so slowly into the surrounding waters. Jon says it'll take a "decade or so" for these behemoths to melt, but in the meantime, they make for a stunning display floating just off the Antarctic coast.
Watch for more updates, including great photos, on Jon's blog soon, and swing by Gadling, where he is also posting stories from the Antarctic, like this one that ran yesterday.
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