Oncoming dusk makes it harder to see, then the heavy snow starts. I struggle to see the approaching icebergs as the large flakes fill the bridge windows. We can rely on the radar to clearly show the floating impediments that loom ahead. Orange blotches, the program’s choice for icebergs, fill the screen.One gigantic orange mass emanates from the screen. Three kilometers separate us from the behemoth. You need to visit this site to learn about great antarctica tours.

At one kilometer, the captain quickly gives a hushed command.With a flick of the wheel, the helmsman steers the ship away from the danger. A tabular iceberg shows itself through the fog and snow. This is a unique type of berg found only in the southern ocean. These bergs resemble the American plains; they have very flat, wide tops and the sides are straight. They can be over one hundred feet tall.

Antarctica has amazed me again. Hopefully we will reach the Antarctic Circle in this polar class cruise vessel. We’ve mapped a route that will bring us past some of this world’s least hospitable and least inhabited areas. Antarctica was first seen in 1820. It took another 79 years before someone wintered over there. The first explorers searched in vain for the southern pole many dying, scientists soon followed their journeys. Now you don’t have to be an independently-wealthy individual to travel to Antarctica. For about the same cost of visiting a Caribbean island, you can see Antarctica.

Some say the continent looks like a manta ray with a curving tail. Between the very tip of the tail and the very tip of South America sits five hundred miles of water. This is the Drake Passage, and some extremely rough seas are found here. Reaching Antarctica by passing through this area, which has also been called the ‘Slobbering Jaws of Hell’, is difficult, but worthwhile. One caring passenger reminds us to stow our gear carefully and then make sure our cabin portholes are latched well. Learn about adventure antarctica tours.

Leaving Ushuaia, in Argentina, we went through the Beagle Channel. Then we hit open waters. For two days we saw no land. We were tossed mightily by rough seas that whole time. Gusting winds blew the whole time, and reached near gale force. Like bullets, ocean spray shot past my fourth deck window as numerous waves crashed over the ship’s bow.Though it usually depended on how seasick you felt, you could see swells that were between fifteen and forty feet.

After two days of sailing from South America, we got to the Southern Ocean. A coastal archipelago was my first view the next morning. Though still not smooth, the waters seemed to be a bit sedated by the land mass. Super tall mountains wore wispy clouds at their peaks. The ridges stuck through the smooth glaciers at sharp angles. The ice goes right into the water in huge frozen slabs. They are crackled and bumpy, not smooth like the glaciers. The exceedingly tall mountains look as though they stick straight up from the ocean.

The trip to the continent is similar, according to one passenger, to the labor of childbirth. Antarctica?s stats show it to be the windiest, highest, driest and coldest continent of all seven found on our planet. Getting the same amount of precipitation as Death Valley does each year makes it quite dry. Yet, Antarctica holds seventy percent of the world?s fresh water. This land is not owned, has no indigenous human groups, or animals that stay year round on it.

This area of extreme weather makes planning difficult. Sailing routes and shore landings depend on that day’s weather. Even though the guides had warned us to be prepared for waiting, our first scheduled landfall became a reality.We’ve been assigned groups and told to meet on deck. On our turn, my group of ten climbs into an inflatable boat.We quickly ride across the quarter mile of water. And then, with one simple step, I am in the small group of humans who has ever touched Antarctic ice.

The fjords, mountain peaks and glaciers offered her gorgeous vantage points as she traveled across this icy wilderness. At one point they even descended to 300 feet above the ground. Fog shrouded one mountain range they flew past. They couldn?t have asked for better weather for viewing. The sun was bright in the sky and it was absolutely clear. They flew through sub-freezing air, even though the flight took place at the end of March, which is technically still in the Antarctic Summer. The flight came with a naturalist who was both tour guide and lecturer. The scientist was currently working in Antarctica. You’ll get further resources on Cruises to Antarctica by visiting there.

She really wanted to see penguins, as she?s been interested in birds her entire life. She didn?t see any on the flight, but her daughter did. The daughter was sitting at a different window. A cruise ship took them to the Falkland Islands, which are right by Argentina. She took a boat to the East Falkland Islands, where she was able to see hundreds of Magellan penguins on one beach. Magellan penguins are the tallest you will find.

After flying for sixteen hours from the United States, they cruised from a South American city. They visited many South American ports and then were asked if they?d like to swim in the ship?s pool. She jumped right in, not worrying about how very cold it was, and earned a certificate for having done so.

When the cruise ship got to Chile, passengers traveled via bus to tour Santiago before they flew to Rio.No one could have asked for better weather during their three week cruise. Even the difficult to find Southern Cross, the smallest constellation, was visible to all passengers. You can get the best great antarctic cruise information by visiting this website.

One big city and a major river were all this ninety-one year-old tourist had seen during her previous visit to South America. Because she was able to see the devastation visited upon the rain forest around that river in the few years between her visits, she is deeply concerned about the loss of bird habitat. She has even been on Safari in Africa. A previous trip to left Antarctica as the final continent to tour. She completed that collection with her recent trip to Antarctica.

One popular magazine states that only insects and relatives of insects live permanently in Antarctica. If you’d like to see most of the fifty-six species of arthropods from Antarctica, you’ll need some sort of magnification. They’re too small to see with your naked eye. At about the same size as a horsefly, a wingless fly is the biggest. Lying dormant until the air reaches 32 degrees Fahrenheit, they then become active. You will find info on Antarctic cruises by visiting that site.

The great blue whale and many diverse creatures make the waters around Antarctica their home. This is the opposite of life on land. Wanting to learn more about life in the ocean, scientist submerged a six by four foot capsule. Six windows gave the professionals a chance to look into the cold water. The sounds made by ocean life could be recorded because of the hydrophone the scientists built into the pod.

Pulling its thirty foot tentacles behind it, a jelly fish passed the windows. The scientists didn’t see many other fish. The waters were often graced by seals, who used the hole scientist had cut into the ice to surface for air, and inspected the capsule. Scientists could hear them chirp, beep, buzz and whistle through the hydrophone. The sounds they were recording were unlike any the scientists had heard in the past.

Perhaps they make the noises to communicate with each other and find their way in the cold, dark waters. The navigation theory could help scientists understand how the seals can find holes to surface for air and food in the dark, cold Antarctic waters. Scientists are analyzing recordings of the seal sounds. Human ears can’t even hear all the sounds the seals make due to their rapid beat and high frequency. If you are in search of info don’t forget to view this resource best Antarctic cruise.

Scientists aren’t even sure how the seals make these sounds. To remain airtight underwater, they shut their mouths and nostrils. The deepest a mammal has ever been recorded to dive is nearly 1500 feet; this was a Weddell seal. Another seal stayed underwater for over 28 minutes before it needed to breathe. A zoologist was able to collect a sample of mother’s milk from a Weddell seal. Seal milk has a much higher fat ratio than human milk does. This is one of the reasons that baby seals can gain weight more quickly than any other mammal. In fact, a baby seal only takes a month and a half to quintuple its own weight.

Using specially-equipped dive suits, scientists have looked at the oceans surrounding Antarctica. Multicolored seaweeds, including red ones, blanketed the bottom of the ocean. Five-foot long worms, four-foot diameter sponges and big red and white starfish were down there, too.

This accord is entitled the Environment Protection Protocol and is part of the Antarctica treaty.The nations around the world agreed to leave Antarctica free from commercial and industrial development.In 1991, the 26 biggest nations of the world approved the bill, including Brazil, the nations of Europe, China, India, Japan, Russia, Argentina, and the United States of America, among others.To find antarctica travel adventures information see this resource.

The treaty stopped the arguing that was going on for more than 15 years about regulating the area.Not only was mining and oil exploration prohibited, it also specified that the 35 stations operated in Antarctica would clean up their sites and remove all disposed material.Further, tourist vessels and scientific stations are prohibited from discharging raw sewage into the waters surrounding Antarctica.

Explorers such as the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, the first to reach the South Pole in 1911, depended upon sled dogs for their transportation.But the treaty bans dogs completely because in recent years, dogs have killed Penguins amongst other native birds.Pesticides, non-sterile soil and polystyrene packaging are not allowed to be brought into Antarctica either.

There is land on Antarctica, but it’s hidden under a mile of ice, and the amount of plant life found there is minimal.Almost three-quarters of the Earth’s fresh water is in the Antarctic ice.Many kinds of sea life also live in or near Antarctica.If you want more comprehensive info on adventure antarctica tours that site will help you.

Antarctica is a very fragile ecosystem.Growth takes place very slowly because of the consistency of the sub zero temperatures.Many years will pass before any damage can be completely repaired.You might see the same footprint you left ten years ago still around today.

The first Antarctic Treaty was ratified in 1959, and made nuclear and military activities illegal in Antarctica.It also kept any one nation from owning all of Antarctica and gave rules for research.No country actually owns Antarctica, but nearly the entire continent is claimed by one or more countries.

Conservations laws were pushed for in the 1980′s when scientists discovered oil reserves, coal, copper, gold, iron, zinc, manganese, uranium and other minerals off the coastline.During the energy crisis of the 1970s, some companies began discussions on the feasibility of drilling in Antarctica.The interest in tapping these resources will only intesify as oil prices go up and technology advances.

Each of the 26 nations involved will enforce the rules on their own.Should a nation’s citizens break the laws and its government declines to intervene, the other countries would exert pressure to resolve the problem.This agreement is viewed by many to be a victory for the environment.

Present day Antarctica is a continent of contradictions as men of opposing political views labor in harmony, warm and contented three short inches away from a 100 degree below zero environment where blood freezes in seconds.The cold environment on Antarctica necessitates the consumption of four meals per day, but the Americans there don’t gain weight, as maintaining body temperature burns calories at a ferocious rate.

The endless days of Antarctica also brings forth the mass insomnia known as “The Big Eye”. The summertime 3-am sunshine prevent many from sleeping comfortable.Where else, other than Antarctica, would you find the most elite club on the planet, the “300 Degree Club?”They also boast that they have access to the cheapest and most southern bar on the planet, located at the South Pole. However, with the long nights through part of the year, a bar tab could still be rather expensive.From April to September, the people there experience long nights.antarctica cruise review

Its heartland is blanketed with a 9,000-foot sheet of ice in motion, and yet geologists state that it may harbor a sufficient quantity of oil, gas and coal to heat the world.It is odd that there are virtually no laws on this continent, making it so that no criminal could ever be extradited. As a matter of fact, if he/she was able to survive, he/she would have almost nine million square miles of wide open spaces, broad valleys and 15,000-foot mountain ranges to disappear in.

Even though Antarctica lacks a legal system, it enjoys the smallest incidence of crime than any other continent.This continent might be considered the best place to commit the perfect crime, as if someone has ever killed anyone, they’ve never been prosecuted for it.There are now laws ore even treaties that would allow a murder to be charged with anything anywhere on the continent.adventure antarctica cruises

While 10 nations have flags flying over this amazing continent, no nation calls any of the continent’s real estate its own.While there has never been any serious attempts to set up a permanent colony on Antarctica, at the South Pole there is some of the most sophisticated computers and other scientific equipment available.

It may be surprising to know that the people who live here, although usually only for a short period, are known to have the highest IQ per capita on the planet.There is no other place on Earth were more people have a university degree than a high school diploma.Not only does it have more talented scientists than most universities, it continues to be the center of more peaceful R & D studies than most world capitals.Antarctica is the only land which prohibits the detonation of nuclear bombs.

The laws that Antarctica does have are incredibly strict environmental laws.Any animal life here now requires very strict licenses in order to kill due to the past slaughter by both sealers and whalers.The world’s scientists, who find Antarctica to be a research treasure, are working hard to maintain its pristine condition.

The result of this first mission was a blood bath of great measure.The Industrial Revolution energized the desire to massacre millions of Antarctic animals such as whales and penguins. The oil from these animals was used as a lubricant for machinery and their fur was an added bonus.It was on Macquarie Island that countless penguins were rounded up, herded up planks, and forced to drop into boiling pots of oil so that their oil would combine with the rest.

It took 100 years, but mankind has thankfully become much wiser and finally set priorities in the right direction. Rather than exploiting the amazing Frozen Continent for money, Antarctica is now designated as a nature preserve and used only for scientific research.There has been recent discussion into the inception of a world park.It is on this continent that evidence of environmental threats such as ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect, can be observed by scientists.Considering how brief a time we have inhabited our planet, the discoveries that we have made in Antarctica since its discover are truly remarkable.It was not until the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (also known as IGY) that more coastline, islands, and a handful of paths to the South Pole were even investigated.antarctic cruise

Our introduction to Antarctica was murderous, idealistic, nationalistic, and ferocious – with the occasional effort towards scientific advancement between this barbarism.Whaling around Antarctica occurred with more intensity during World War I, because the oil from them was refined into glycerin used in artillery shells.After the end of World War II, it became the Soviet Union and the United States that hunted the sperm whales for the extra-fine oil they produced, which was needed as lubricant for jet engines.It was not until the International Geophysical Year that Antarctica was referred to as anything but “Terra Australia Incognita,” a term used by medieval mapmakers to describe this undiscovered southern continent.

The first birth in Antarctic was witness to great controversy and nationalistic pretension and was entirely purposeful.As a matter of fact, Emilio Marcus Palmer was born at Argentina’s Esperanza Base in 1978, where his mother was brought for the sole purpose of emphasizing Argentina’s claim to this area of Antarctic territory.antarctic cruise reviews

This was similar to America claiming dominance 9 years earlier when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon and put the American flag on the moon.A similar exploit took place in 1911 when Roald Amundsen raced to be the first to the South Pole to show nobility to Norway’s King Haakon VII.Although Robert F. Scott and his team also made that trip for the British, they spent a great deal more time on their voyage so that they could collect rock and fossil samples – the weight of which only slowed them down further.

After discovering that despite all their hard work, Amundsen had beaten them to the Pole by an entire month, Scott’s party perished in Antarctica due to a combination of bad luck, the pain of hauling massive amounts of rock, and poor diet. This made them the first team of martyrs for the cause of science in Antarctica.America’s claim to the South Pole was entrenched when Richard Byrd flew a Ford Trimotor over the Pole in 1929.The Soviets made their interests in Antarctica with the journey of Russian Admiral Thaddeus Bellingshaunsen past the Antarctic Peninsula in 1821.