Take a walk on Paulet Island. Smell those penguins...climb a mountain after a double hip replacement, see snow for the first time. Antarctica hits everyone differently, but it doesn’t miss a shot. Listen to a symphony of squa birds, and then while you feel lulled into its magic and beauty, be warned. The weather is about to change, and your boat is in danger.
Read along, or click one of the buttons above to listen along the journey to Antarctica and back with 90 other women on this incredible expedition
Penguins on the snow in Antarctica - photo credit Oli Sansom
Can You Smell the Penguin shit? [0:00]
*walking*
*Penguin noises*
Sam: Where’s Megan? She studies disgust, and I want her to describe this smell for me.
Juz: Do you find it disgusting?
Sam: I find it a little tough, actually.
Juz: I love it. I’ve, you know, spent a lot of time in penguin colonies, but I love it. Because it’s clean...just clean shit, though.
MA [Mary-Anne Lea]: It’s smelly, though, isn’t it? Can’t you smell all the ammonium?
Juz: But it’s not disgusting. Just a strong smell.
Sam: It doesn’t kinda grab at your nose.
Juz: Yah, gag. You’re not gagging.
MA: Not when it’s cold like this.
Juz: Now, if it was dog shit…
*laughing*
Sam: Hi again, welcome back. And thanks for finding the third episode of this season….I think I’ve got you now, right?
Ok, last time I promised that we would get off this ship…. get out of these heady conversations and deep soul searching. Get out there. Go see some things, get a cold nose and make a snowball and throw it at someone.
Antarctica hits everyone differently, but it doesn't’ miss a shot. Whether you’re sloshing through half-frozen water on a zodiac boat chasing a pod of orcas...
*waves hitting the zodiac boat*
...carefully walking on land wondering if that seal might charge you, or getting that pungent, acrid smell of penguin poop stuck in your nose and every corner of your clothes.
*penguin noises*
There’s something for everyone, and it’s very full-on.
The Mountain we climbed on Paulet Island - photo credit Samantha Hodder
Paulet Island: Seeing Snow for the First Time and Hiking a Mountain After a Double Hip Replacement [1:44]
Sam: Oh! Here’s a flash of green. This is moss!
Sam: We’re on Paulet Island this day.
Hilary: It’s Prasiola crispa. [an algae] It’s a species that likes to grow on the surface of wet rocks and snow and takes advantage of the moisture.
Sam: This was the first time we had enough space to wander, to let our minds go. It was the furthest we hiked, the biggest mountain we climbed.
Hilary: This is a lovely place for it because it gets a lot of nutrients from all the penguin poo. It's like fertilizer for it. Close relatives are familiar with sea lettuce in the ocean. Looks like green sheets? That’s a close relative.
*Footsteps*
Sam: Whoop. This is ripe! Walking over a field of dried penguin poop.
Sam: Kerryn, where was the last mountain you’ve climbed?
Kerryn: Oh, you mean literally?
Sam: Yeah, yeah, I do….
Kerryn: I thought you meant metaphorically …
Sam: You always go to the metaphor. That’s what I like about you.
Kerryn: I’ve never climbed a mountain. I’ve never seen snow.
Sam: You’ve never seen snow?
Kerryn: No, I’ve never.
Sam: You’ve never, in your 50 years.
Sam: Only 0.0001% of the world’s population ever get a chance to come here to Antarctica. And for me, every step I took was a reminder of just how lucky I was.
*Laughing*
Sam: You just experienced the other view?
Kimberly: No, I’m very pleased because I’ve had a double hip replacement in the last 18 months, so that was awesome.
Kimberly Vinette Heron on the Ship’s Deck - Photo credit Oli Sansom
Sarah Hamylton: I was wondering about you
Sam: Have you really? That’s incredible. Wow!
Kimberly: So that was awesome
Sam: Wow, two new hips, on the top.
MA: Yeah.
Kimberly: Bring it.
MA: You’re a hipster, Kimberly.
Sam: Someone was going to go there, MA
*Laughing*
MA: A Hipster in Antarctica.
Green Moss on Paulet Island - photo credit Oli Sansom
Antarctica is Melting [4:05]
*footsteps*
Sam: Everything about being here was hitting that day.
Antarctica is the fastest-warming continent on our planet except for Greenland. But in some ways, when you’re here, it’s hard to see. It’s still very cold, and you see lots of ice. It’s just deceiving. Because the change is happening, it’s just not there right in front of you.
That’s where scientists come in.
Antarctica is often called the “canary in the coal mine” for climate change because what is happening there will tell you about the problems that will happen elsewhere.
In March of 2020, a consortium of 89 different polar scientists published a paper in the journal Nature, where they all agreed: Antarctica is melting, six times faster than it was in the 1990s, And that it’s lost trillions of tons of ice in 30 years.
That means, alarmingly, that it’s on track for what scientists and policymakers call “the worst-case scenario” of rising ocean water levels, which is more than 6 inches by the year 2100.
Walking around here, with these facts on your mind, is heartbreaking in a lot of ways.
A window to remind you just how precious life is here. And how important it is to conserve it.
But it also opens the door to some magic too.
*Footsteps and birds*
Sam: These squawking birds you hear are called Skuas...with a few giant petrels thrown in.
They’ve arrived here on Paulet Island to lay their eggs, and they were annoyed that our walking path was right between their nests, and the water, where they grab food for their young.
So they started to complain.
Rather loudly. And just by chance, this was happening with the backdrop of a shale cliff, in the exact shape of an amphitheatre, which gave it perfect acoustics for a skua symphony.
*Skua symphony*
Giant Petrel staring at the camera - photo credit Oli Sansom
Sam: Mary-Anne
MA: *bird call imitations*
Sam: You do a good Skua
MA: Hahaha. Years of practice.
Sam: They’re big old birds aren’t they.
MA: Skuas, yeah. They’re super impressive, aren’t they?
Sam: I was getting a skua symphony here.
*walking*
Sam: Can you mention that thing again about plumage?
MA: Yup. In February of this time of year in the breeding season. Adelie penguins are moulting. The adult penguins lose their feathers every year, and they replace them with new feathers.
And that process takes 3 weeks, during which time they can’t feed. They remain on land. They stand in little streams in the snow to keep their feet cool because it’s quite a hot business, turning over the feathers.
Also, we can see that their chicks have still got a little bit of down on their heads and in other places, but have all their adult feathers already as well. And they should be heading to sea any day now.
Adelie Penguins still have some down left to moult on their head - photo credit Oli Sansom
Sam: So we’re just right at the end of those 3 weeks? Because you see some of them here, they’ve preened and they’re all down to their black and whites.
MA: Yeah we can see one just here now, who’s just got a few feathers hitchhiking on his neck. But others haven’t begun to moult yet.
And the difference in timing is probably related to whether or not those animals bred this summer, or they lost their chicks early in the season.
Sam: When they start to go out to sea again, do they do this together or on their own?
MA: You know that’s a question that we’re not very good at answering yet. We put trackers out on animals at sea. But it’s hard to put enough trackers out on enough birds to get them in a group together. But certainly, several species of penguins have been recorded foraging together.
Sam: So they would leave here to find some more food?
MA: Yes, quite soon, because as you can see, the ones who finished moulting are quite slender. They do tend to leave in groups, for safety, because of predators.
Sam: But the seals aren’t interested in them?
MA: Adult fur seals will eat penguin chicks when they fledge. It’s a good energy parcel for them, and the chicks are a bit naive. So, easy prey.
Getting Stuck in Antarctic Ice [8:51]
*sounds of the zodiac heading back to ship*
Landing on Paulet Island in the Ice - photo credit Oli Sansom
Sam: You know what it’s like when You’re sitting by the water, your head’s buried in a good book, under a blue sky. And you get a sense that something’s a little bit different...
So you look up, and suddenly, you see that the sky is now filled with thunderheads. A storm arrived, and you didn’t notice it coming, and now you have to run for shelter.
Well, that happened here, on this ship. Except that it wasn’t thunder clouds,
It was ice.
*loud ice breaking on hull*
Outside was a sea of white...it looked more like land than water. Actually, it looked like giant white bedsheets had blown off the clothesline and been forgotten on the ground.
Except that this was supposed to be water, and now it was ice. And this ship does not have the jaws of an icebreaker.
As the day progressed, the focus began to shift, and reality settled in. Something was going to need to change.
What we were doing, crashing out here in this ice wasn’t going to work for much longer.
So I went out onto the ship’s deck to get some perspective with Dr. Justine Shaw because she’s been to Antarctica as a research scientist so many times. So I thought she could give a sense of what was actually going on here.
*Ice breaking on the hull*
Sam: So, Justine, how many times have you been to Antarctica? Have you ever been in an environment like this?
Justine [Juz]: This is my first time in an environment like this, dense and surrounded by crabeater seals. I’ve had colleagues who have been trapped in the sea ice. For weeks. On end.
Sam: She said rather ominously.
Juz: So I have that anxiety in the back of my mind. But actually, you know, our captain is pretty ice shy. So either he’s undergone a Homeward Bound Transformational Journey, or he knows what he’s doing, so….
Sam: It’s one of the two…
Samantha Hodder Recording on the Bridge - photo credit Oli Sansom
*Ice on the hull*
Sam: So I went up to the Bridge, which is like the cockpit of the ship.
Sam: So, um, hi Captain….can you just introduce yourself.
Captain Valdimar Vickman: Well, my name is Valdimar Vickman; I’m from Argentina. The Captain of the Ushuaia, for the moment!
*laughing*
Captain: In order to sail in Antarctica, or in ice waters, you need to have experience and competence, and also, you train to sail in ice, although there are techniques. So we need them all basically, when we’re in situations where you need to find the leads and the way out from, from an ice field.
Sam: Because I was watching a few members from the crew with walkie-talkies, up on the bow and down at the stern, looking out. What are they? What is the person at the stern-looking for?
Captain: Basically looking for growlers! You don’t want to hit those. And also, you need to find the cracks among the floes. And because it snowed, we couldn’t see the cracks. So we had to find them and sometimes, you know when you have a big floe, you have to go for it.
Some of them are called growlers because in the old days, these pieces of ice were touching the wooden hulls, and they were like GRRR...this is why it’s growlers.
And sometimes you can’t see them if you’re among the floes, with ice on top.
Every, every inch you win in the icefield is important to get to your destination.
Sam: The Captain had been charting a course through an inside passage, called The Gullet Straight. But the winter was closing in fast, and the water was freezing behind us quickly.
We bashed and crashed through this frozen channel for two days, trying to pick our way through. But it wasn’t working. And we hit a dead end.
Our ship wasn’t just happily sailing along anymore.
We were at a crossroads.
And we were in danger of getting stuck in the ice.
And when folks tuned into this fact, the channel changed.
Samantha Hodder walking out on land with her mic - photo credit Oli Sansom
Do We Continue to Antarctica or Go Home? [13:43]
Sam: Alright, what’s going on?
Nicole: Are you ready for this? We’re having a vote…
Sam: What are we voting on?
Nicole: Ah, we’re having a vote on who knows what, no...I think it’s...
Ellen: The ship...cause we got to turn around. Yeah, so we’re either going to Rothera via the open ocean…
Sam: So, how do you feel about this?
Ellen: So if we travel at night, no problem. I can just knock myself out. Waiting to see how much of this will be in the daytime.
Sam: The decision of what-to-do mulled around, from the bridge to dinner tables to sit-down meetings.
At first, this conversation went in all directions.
Nothing was clear until a snap decision was made by Fabian Dattner. This crisis would be solved by asking the 80 women aboard this ship, the passengers, to vote on what we should do.
Fabian: Ok, if everyone could just sit down.
Sam: Our trip plan had been to get all the way to Rothera Base Station, which is the fabled British Antarctic Research Station, and it’s so remote and hard to access that it’s almost an illusion.
Fabian: We've made a decision to bring a vote to you all, which is not common in this sort of context, but it seems fitting because upstairs, we became paralyzed with a very important decision. Either way, it’s a joyful decision, but we just have to make a decision, and we thought we would caucus with you. If we are tied in the room, then we will make the decision.
Mr. Mortimer, would you like to explain the dilemma?
*laughing*
Greg Mortimer: Um, incredible day….if you’re on the bridge or got any sense of what was going on. The Captain, the Chief Mate, the Second Mate and the Third Mate. All the navigators were there throughout a large part of the day because of the ice situation. As you know, we’ve headed South on these inland waterways to a narrowing, which is near Rothera Station in Marguerite Bay. And we got blocked, stopped, by ice, just before dinner.
Greg: If we want to go to Rothera, it requires us to go out into open water tonight, to go around Adelaide Island, so we’ll go out into that water that we came across a few hours ago when we were moving around a bit. Tomorrow is the third of March, and Rothera Base expects us on the 5th of March, in the morning.
There’s certainly a mood among the Officers on this Ship to go into Marguerite Bay...as seasoned Sailors, they’ve never been there before.
So our decision is quite straightforward in a sense. Whether to go down into Marguerite Bay or to retrace our steps now and start heading back North. And visiting places that we didn’t on the way down to go, to wend our way North.
Sam: There’s another way to ask this question - and keep in mind here that this is a very inward-focused leadership journey….
Should we continue on our path and affirm all those life goals….or should we, quite literally, turn around and go home?
Fabian: There’s no reason in isolation to do this. I have to confess that I'm a weeny bit over this side of the equation, but we’ve got members of the Faculty who are a little bit over this side of the equation.
But I’m a great believer if you set a target go for it because there’s a metaphor in that for leaders, and even if it’s a bit uncomfortable, and that’s what you do, you just, You go for broke, you take your motion sickness, you buckle down, and you go for broke and go FUCK IT, let’s do it.
But that’s not true for everybody.
Sam: You see, there’s no good way to answer this question. There is not just ONE answer. There are way too many. There was no way to appease all the sides.
Fabian: So just bear in mind that we are one organism. We are one team. And so now we need to make a decision that is with the wisdom of the team. And rest assured, there will be joy in either decision. Ok, there will be joy in either decision and deep care for everyone involved. That’s just not in question.
So could everyone close their eyes?
Sam: But no, we were not ready to close our eyes and vote. There was still a lot to discuss.
The All Female Expedition Decides with a Blind Vote [23:02]
Maddie: Getting to Rothera is extremely rare. Like, they don’t send people there very often. It’s amazing that you got in touch with them, and they are welcoming us to visit. So it’s a really rare opportunity to get to that base.
Sarah Lucas: Can I just add...I love you, Maddie, you’re amazing, and I would really love the opportunity to get there. For me, this is anxiety-producing. I know that I’m already going to have a bad couple of days across The Drake [Passage], and I know that this is potentially two days, and it’s not just going to be the time on content that’s lost. Because, when you feel sick...But for me, it’s for more than the time, not just half the day on content that’s lost. And I know it’s not very fair of me to get up here and cry, and blah blah.
I just have to present that side of that. In that, it’s not just going to be half a day that’s lost for some people. And I guess it's going to be a stressful thing to me.
Fabian: Thank you for saying this. Other questions in the room?
Alex Dubini: We are resilient, and we can do something new, and maybe we can push ourselves. I’m sick. I’m seasick and still want to do it.
Paola: This is a lifetime experience for myself….I’m not going back. Even if everything is new, this is a lifetime experience. If we can manage to help the ones that are having a hard time, it’s going to be really good for us.
Amal-Lee: I think that this conversation, while I really appreciate the democratic vote, has possibly induced more anxiety in some people because it sounds like it is a bigger issue than it is, actually.
*people start to speak*
Amal-lee: No, no, can I, sorry, can I finish….the only reason I’m saying that is because I just saw someone leave the room crying, so please don’t interrupt...because of this conversation. And I’m trying to put it into context. We all knew the Drake Passage could be really rough. We didn’t have a rough passage. I’m not saying this to persuade anyone. I’m just saying that this conversation is creating anxiety in people unnecessarily.
Justine Barrett: I have a suggestion that people that do get seasick should make this decision because it doesn’t effect those that don’t.
Fern: Um, but to take care of the anxiety issue...I’m also wondering if you could talk about what kind of conditions are we going to have? Is it just that we’ll be rolling a bit, and this boat is perfectly safe, and this boat has navigated these conditions hundreds of times before or is it that these conditions are a little sketchy and we’re taking a true risk?
Sam: This was not a short conversation...and what you’re hearing was only a small selection of what aired that day.
But I’m going to hold it here for now and leave you with this suspense.
So tune in next time to find out what happens in this historic vote.
This episode was written, hosted, and produced by me, Samantha Hodder.
Sound mixed by Ch
Original Theme Song by
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Today’s episode would like to thank A LOT of people for their contributions….I’m going to say all of their names in the order in which they appeared.
Dr. Julietta Pedrana
Captain Valdimar Vickman
Ellen Moon
Dr. Sarah Lucas
Thank you, all.
Birds in the sky above the Southern Ocean - photo credit Oli Sansom