2041 | Land Ahoy!
We land on shore in front of a huge colony of Gentoo penguins. One thing that immediately stood out about these adorable creatures is the smell and not necessarily a pleasant one at that. We were careful to let them cross the path we were on, after all we are trespassing on their land and they do have a busy day of waddling ahead. Initially they do seem a bit lost. Falling over, lying down and eating snow, standing and looking around. However, they are of course perfectly suited to the environment with their adaptations: specialised blood circulation to their feet, their tough waterproof preened feathers, and being unbelievably efficient swimmers, these Gentoos being the fastest of the penguins. As we were leaving the colony, a blizzard set in and everyone made a dash back to the Zodiacs or small rib boats. The penguins, as before, seemed completely unphased. We are truly aliens visiting their planet.
Between lectures and conversations and the rush to get ashore and take photos when the weather allowed, I sometimes found it difficult to truly ingest the beauty and tranquillity of Antarctica. On the Zodiacs, we bumped into two sleeping Humpback whales swimming majestically along the surface. Seeing these huge creatures fluking, when a whale lifts its tail to dive, in the icy waters below us detached me from the personal and absorbed me in present. What an incredible sensation to witness Antarctic wildlife up close; penguins porpoising or flying out the water, Leopard seals, Crab Eater seals and Weddell seals playing together.
Deception Island
Our final stop was Deception Island, a 50,000 years old collapsed volcano. We navigated through a narrow channel into the central nine by five-mile Caldera lake, surrounding us its huge mountainous sides. The beaches around us were black, a stark contrast to the rest of Antarctica, with slivers of snow up around the caps of the looming mountains. As we approached the beach, fur seals started playing around the Zodiacs. A metre away from me, a pair of huge black eyes pop up and stare back, before returning to jumping through the wake of the boat. An unforgettable connection. Stepping ashore truly felt like landing on Mars with the vast scorched volcanic rocks completely bereft of snow or any vegetation. It was surreal seeing penguins and seals playing with each other on a black beach of a volcano.
Then we stripped down to our swimming trunks, or hadofh, and ran into the freezing Antarctic waters. Going for a dip amongst penguins sounds tranquil, but felt more akin to daggers piercing my skin. Antarctica has been preserved as a land for science and peace. Unfortunately, what we found shows a different history. Rows of blubber boilers and whale oil tanks. An apocalyptic wasteland of preserved history left from a previous era of human exploitation. One hundred years ago, the beach where we swam was awash with blood. Blue whales in the region were hunted to 97% extinction, over two million sentient beings slaughtered for the sake of progress.
Antarctic Change
Then… Rain. It rained in Antarctica. It is not supposed to rain. Whilst we were over 65° south, temperatures soared to 40°C above normal for a sustained 3-day period. It broke the records of 65 years by a staggering 15°C. The Antarctic Peninsula is the most rapidly warming part of the planet, an average of 3°C since 1950 (five times the mean rate of warming of IPCC). At the same time of the Expedition the enormous floating Conger ice shelf, the size of Rome, collapsed in the east of Antarctica, which protected land-based glaciers. Warm water beneath the Western ice shelf, which is grounded below sea level, could lead to a tipping point and runaway collapse leading to a global 3.3 metre sea level rise.
Ice Shelf Collapse in East Antarctica (nasa.gov)
Sea ice and ice shelves are not only crucial for reflecting the sun’s rays and reducing global warming but critical for Antarctic species. Krill has the largest biomass of any species, over 400 million tonnes, and is the backbone of the Antarctic ecosystem increasing migration distances for Penguins. Due to sea ice reduction the levels of Krill, have fallen 80% since the 1970s. Entire colonies of Emperor Penguins and Chinstrap Penguins have been wiped out that live on ice shelves. Extreme swings in the seasons, and heat waves have been killing off underprepared penguin chicks.
Over 100 years ago, during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Expeditions, Arrhenius warned the world about the growing risks of man-made C02 emissions and the subsequent temperature rise, and it was extremely controversial at the time. Fortunately, now people are listening to the literature, and generally fewer follow the controversy. Deception Island should be a reminder of a previous energy transition, from whale oil to coal oil and turpentine, and subsequent recovery of whale populations. 64% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions come from fossil fuel and industry in 2019 (IPCC AR6 WG III). We need to fight for the next energy transition to renewables to ensure that future generations can experience Antarctica as it stands in its magnificence today.