Friday 3rd January – Deception Island

Very grey outside but clear and two degrees and loads of cape petrels around the boat. It is also snowing. Which is making Garrie very excited.

Meanwhile it appears I have developed the cold and cough that has been circulating in the boat since we left Ushuaia. I am dosing it with ginger, garlic and chilli tea and am not feeling too bad but will stay in the cabin for the morning so I am not spreading it too much further. Spoke to Dr Chip and he has it worse than I do and says nothing that can be done. He was in the gym trying to work it off. Meanwhile our lovely Richard gave me a flower to cheer me up. I’m getting a collection going.

Not sure I showed you last night’s towel critter.

Today’s agenda.

Map of where we are heading.

Presentation: Frozen Sovereignty: An Introduction to the Antarctic Treaty System with your geopolitics specialist Claire.

How the treaty came to be and why it is one of the most unique pieces of legislation on the planet.

Pics not so great as taking them in our cabin from the TV screen but hopefully they help with understanding.

Very little known about it and considered a nobody’s land.

Until exploration and then things changed. Sealing 1824-1839 mostly in the South shetlands. They obliterated the seals here. Then age of exploration opened up the Antarctic peninsula and land.

Whaling era 1907-1966. Whaling was one of the precursors for the development of the Antarctic treaty. If you had a whaling station you were allowed to tax eg South Georgia claimed by Britain and created a great tax revenue stream.

Falklands Islands Dependencies 1933. Again Britain taxed the whaling industry there.

Whales depleted so moving further away so factory ships were invented. So then didn’t have to pay taxes which annoyed the Brits so they decided to make a claim to the seas and peninsula and also all the way to the South Pole in 1917. So then levied taxes on the factory ships. Leopoldo Amery he felt the Antarctic had good resources so he pushed for more claims – Ross dependency claim. (Had been explored by UK explorer Ross). In 1930 they claimed Enderby land. Needed a representative to look after the claim. NZ governor appointed trustee. Claim then went onto NZ once the colonies broke up. Same thing with Australian claim – in 1933 the enderby land became claimed by Australia. Adelie land wedge claimed by the French – he named the Adelie penguin after his wife. Transects the Australian claim.

Dronning Maud land claimed by Norway in 1939. Lots of Norwegian whaling ships working here and they were concerned Brit would start a claim there and start charging taxes.

Chilean’s claimed the peninsula followed by Argentina in 1942. Previously claimed by UK. They said it was a right to claim due to proximity. So today over lapping claims.

One area not claimed as considered there was nothing there. USA and Russia missing from the original claims. They actually don’t recognise any of the current claims. They said they could claim at any time in perpetuity. If they hadn’t protested they would have considered to acquiesce to current claims.

Charles Hughes created the Hughes doctrine and he was adamant that claims was not to discover but to have continuous occupation of that land so USA said no one had occupied so the claims weren’t real. So suddenly the previous claims not effective so those that claimed previously created a presence – though the station we visited was the first it was not created for that purpose Operation Tabarin a UK base is officially the first – doubled as both a sovereignty opportunity and a war strategic operation. Port lockroy one of the first. Competitive base building era – they built, we built etc. lots of tension in the 1950s.

1957 all world scientists came together and said they should have a year in the Antarctic. 12 nations participated. 5000 people 18 months of Antarctic science. Worked out they could play nicely together. Bases, telecommunications etc worked collaboratively. So US then brought all scientists together for Washington conference. Only 14 articles long. 1959 signed by 12 countries but since then many have signed, current total of 54. Over 90% of world’s population.

Agreed the Antarctic can only be used for peaceful purposes. Can’t bring weapons and military activities. First dearmament agreement of the Cold War period. Science focus.

Froze the legal status as at 1959. Can’t act on them or change them so de politicised the Antarctic. Now used as a model for other treaties ie space and undersea claims. Genius.

Not everyone has taken this seriously saying those born there could have greater claim so Argentina took heavily pregnant women to Antarctica to give birth. So still trying to solidify claims.

Still very successful though so collaboration continues but if ever the treaty opens up they hope to have good sovereignty claims.

1991 Madrid protocol. Environmentalism growing so added an environmental amendments. All treaty members have to clean things up. Dogs also had to go in 1992. Banned any kind of mineral exploration or exploitation.

Treaty counties which break the rules can be taken to the international court of justice, fines etc. if not a part of the treaty you don’t have to abide by the rules however very few countries not a part of the treaty have the resources to do something and also there would be huge backlash.

Quark also covered by the treaty. The treaty tells them what kind of ships and numbers. Science is also regulated. If you want to build a base lots of rules and others inspect. The Treaty has to adapt constantly.

Madrid protocol expires in 2048 which has caused some concern. However The media statements are misleading as the Madrid Protocol is in perpetuity but is open to renegotiate in 2048 and there has to be 3/4 majority that agree so hopefully more likely it will stay for tourism and science rather than mineral exploration.

What a great talk. I am learning so much on this trip.

Spending time in the room with my ginger, garlic chilli tea and feeling not too bad. Spending time editing the photos and being even more harsh in what I keep and don’t keep. Initially when you see a new breed or species any pic will do but then as you gain more pics some get thrown out.

Message from Solan at 10am. We should be at our first destination in an hour but the reality of the weather is a bit different to the forecast. Will assess our first stop and maybe just proceed directly to Deception Island. Oh goodie, more time near the active volcano…

It’s really grey out there but we are fully expecting that the views will change. This is what seems to happen. Just when you think there is nothing to see – wow. There have been whale sightings today but on the starboard side (and we are port) and I am feeling better for not running around and also not changing temperatures all the time. I’m not too bad but the cough hurts my throat at times. Garrie is delivering tea regularly but I have to stop drinking now as there is no peeing ashore so that becomes an issue. We have made one friend who has adult diapers with her, a friend suggested them, hmm maybe I should borrow some today… Garrie has been waving to me on the Nautilus lounge camera but he must not stay there long as I am yet to see him.

Presentation: Failures in the Field with your penguinologists Catie & Nacho in the Nautilus Lounge.

I missed a bit due to a sound problem in the cabin – fixed by turning the tv on and off.

Juvenile fur seal sneaked up behind a researcher and bit his leg when he was having a pee. Wound is one problem but the real problem is infection. Scrubbing with toothbrush to get the muck out – painful. They don’t have rabies but they have everything else. Needed stitches. They wriggle as they bite and with no blubber protection he was in trouble. He did survive, though scarred.

Last year on Ocean Endeavour. Research camping trip. For a week for GPS tracking study of some penguins. Weather so bad they were stuck in their tents for 10 days.

Sophie talked about her work in Hawaii. Coral bleaching, sea turtle work. Their 18ft Boat moved suddenly, even though anchored. First move jerked them off their feet. 2 mins later they realise they are still moving up wind. Started doing donuts. They thought a Tiger shark had grabbed the anchor line so Decided no hands in the water. Another research boat close to them. They came over and said “you know you are going in a circle right?” One of them jumped on board so they decided to haul up the anchor. Very hard, a cm at a time. Not a tiger shark. It was a manta ray. Totally wrapped in the anchor line. One of the other boat people jumped in the water. Jan is 6’3” so using him as a guide they estimated the ray to be 10-12 feet across. No one has ever heard of this happening before.

Christmas Island. Nacho spent time there and it has frigatebirds which nest in the trees and robber crabs. No land predators. At least 15 species of crabs make it home. Every night they would crowd the floor – biggest land crabs in the world.

Not dangerous. They are curious. Play with shoe laces. If you are drying your boots outside – don’t leave shoe laces in as the crab takes them and drags the boot into the forest to examine it at leisure. No undergrowth due to the crabs. From the research station to the toilet was an interesting trip. Only researchers should handle them though as they can break open a coconut (also know as a coconut crab) they climb coconut palms. Very tiring working around the crabs as nothing can be put down.

Lunch. Lovely Richard made me a honey and lemon tea. Bless him. Orca spotted on the port side – we were eating on the starboard side. By the time Garrie retrieved my camera and jacket they had sailed away but at least we know they are around. This is the first sighting of the trip so far.

The Kayakers are finally getting to go out today. The skiers and mountain climbers went out at the station the other day. Standup paddle boarding yet to get a go. Sadly they have announced that a landing isn’t possible today due to the wave action at the beach, so just cruising. We went out again to look for Orca but still no luck. They don’t want to poke that dorsal fin up when we are looking.

Feeling a bit of a limp lettuce but I am not going to miss out. We finally arrived.

We did about a two and a half hour zodiac cruise and five minutes on shore to look at an abandoned whaling station. There were heaps of chinstrap penguins in the water and we chased some whale spouts and saw a couple of humpback flukes. We also saw some salps in the water.

These are alive and compete with the krill for the phytoplankton which is one reason this chinstrap colony is struggling. All to do with warming waters. Seeing where the chinstraps breed is just amazing. They struggle to climb high into the hills and then trip their way down. They are tough little critters. We saw our first chinstrap babies. Then someone spotted a leopard seal on the beach. Very exciting to see the top predator. Many blow holes and such amazing rocks. Our ship moored right In The caldera. I have to say I had some nerves after the White Island eruption. You can see the heat rising and some dug into the ground and said the water was 40-50 degrees c. The sulphur smell was obvious.

Sadly when we returned to our cabin I was exhausted and then threw up (not seasick just something to do with this lurgy). I have stayed in the cabin in case I need the loo again but am feeling much better.

Recap and briefing.

DJ started. 14 km around. Peaks about 500m. One of the most visited sites in Antarctica. The Shetland Plate. Volcano created as plate slides under the continental plate. Here cone erupted so it imploded on itself. Conical structure at entrance. An old vent. Rod this is rock heaven for you. Is deception island still active. Yes. It is monitored. Dozen and a half satellite cones so could go again. Volcanic ash embedded in the walls.

Miko historian. 1819 shetlands discovered. Good place to shelter from the environment. Yachts are usually from Ushuaia and come just to the Antarctic. Johann tried it once and a storm created damage and they were all so ill he never bothered again. Neptune’s window. Whaling took place here – hundreds of whales floating here to be processed. Some bones can be seen on the beach and the remains of the stations. Clouds drifting down as we leave the island. All the stations abandoned from the eruptions in 1967 and 1969. Now a tourist haven. Different to anything else on this planet.

Ryan – pool man. Pool about to be filled when in protected waters of Antarctic peninsula. Shower first, bathing suit and robe. Slip safe shoes. Ask reception for a towel. Can or plastic glasses only. Pool rule sides. No diving. 1.5m (5 feet). Warms to 39-40 degrees Celsius.

Fabrice – chinstraps. Always seem to smile. Tough creatures. Most population in the south Atlantic here. Highest concentration of penguins. 8 million pairs. South sandwich biggest population. Lots of them there. Mount Curry erupted but we don’t know how that affected the chinstraps. Tough to get in and out of that colony in the rough seas. Not an easy life. Half the population of deception bay has gone in 30 years. Dirty penguins go out for three days at least to feed and can travel up to 50-60km to forage. None here in winter. They stay at sea for at least six month. Land just for breeding.

Solan. Be in position for a continental landing. 6.15am wake. 6.30am breakfast. Charlotte bay.

Another first today as they had never done the long zodiac ride before. Normally off at the first place, cruise, back to ship and the ship moves and then a second excursion.

Bar Talk! Join Wayne for his talk The Last Ice about his time guiding a National Geographic film crew in the High Canadian Arctic. Alas too tired…