Oil and Ice: Part II
- On April 01, 2016
- By Randall Tate
- In Antarctica, Editorial, Wilderness
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As you sail from South Georgia to Antarctica, a transformation takes place. Your mind is at odds with itself, attempting to comprehend the incredible abundance of life on the island versus the devastating slaughter that took place in the waters surrounding it. Millions of fur seals and king penguins dance in your head. Their calls echo down the halls of the ship. The hulking blubber ovens lurk in the dark corners of your subconscious. You have experienced more than you ever imagined. You could go home now, but Antarctica awaits. Ahead of you lies another world. A world of ice and rock. A world that will once again transform your mind.
Antarctica
Neko Harbor, Antarctica
Paradise Bay, Antarctica
Antarctica
Antarctica
Weddell Sea, Antarctica
Antarctic Sound
Antarctic Sound
Antarctic Sound
Pluneau Bay, Antarctica
Oil and Ice: Part I
- On March 20, 2016
- By Randall Tate
- In Antarctica, Editorial, Wilderness
- 0
King penguin wandering through Grytviken, South Georgia
Grytviken is a whaling station that sits on South Georgia Island in the middle of the Southern Ocean. Before the whaling era began in the early 1800s, the Southern Ocean was home to over one million baleen whales. Among them were over 250,000 blue whales, the largest animal to ever live on this planet. By the mid 1800s, the Southern Ocean had become a killing field. Whale blubber, meat, bone and viscera were boiled down and rendered into oil. This oil was sent back to Europe to be used in lamps and turned into margarine.
Whale oil tank, Grytviken, South Georgia
Grytviken was just one of the stations that processed whales into oil during that time. At its most destructive point, over 300 men lived and worked there, killing and disassembling over 53,000 whales, and producing 455,000 metric tons of whale oil. With the advent of cheaper alternative fuels and with whales becoming harder and harder to find, the profitability of whale oil declined and the harvest stopped. But the damage was already done. The oceans had been depleted of the whales and their vast culture. The blue whale population in the Southern Ocean was estimated to be less than 4,000.
Today Grytviken stands as a testament to the mass destruction and brutal efficiency that man can bring to the natural world. It is the whale equivalent of Auschwitz.
Blubber oil tank, Grytviken, South Georgia
Whaling ship, Grytviken, South Georgia
Grytviken, South Georgia
Grytviken, South Georgia
Blubber Slugs and Beach Masters
- On March 26, 2014
- By Randall Tate
- In Antarctica, Stock, Wilderness, Wildlife
- 4
Antarctic Fur Seal Skull – Salisbury Plain, South Georgia
Antarctic Fur Seal – South Georgia
“Below the 40th latitude there is no law; below the 50th no god; below the 60th no common sense and below the 70th no intelligence whatsoever.” — Kim Stanley Robinson —
King Penguin – South Georgia
Southern Giant Petrel – Salisbury Plain, South Georgia
Weddell Seal – Elephant Island
Crabeater Seal – Antarctic Peninsula
Adelie Penguin Chick – King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
Antarctic Peninsula
Humpback Whale – Antarctic Peninsula
Guests of the MS Expedition surrounded by King Penguins and Antarctic Fur Seals – Salisbury Plain, South Georgia
Bust of Captain Luis Pardo near the site on Elephant Island where Shackleton’s men spent 5 months awaiting rescue. Pardo was the Captain of the Yelcho, a Chilean steam tug, that rescued the men.
Elizabeth June Moore – Ninja Kayak Guide – Antarctic Peninsula
Clark Smithson, the Master of Zodiacs and quite possibly the nicest guy in all of the Southern Ocean – Grytviken, South Georgia
Elephant Seals, Antarctic Fur Seals and King Penguins
King Penguins, South Georgia
Antarctic Peninsula
Elizabeth June Moore staying safe in the Antarctic Peninsula
The Southern Bear
- On February 01, 2013
- By Randall Tate
- In Antarctica, Stock, Wildlife
- 0
Leopard Seal
Antarctica has resisted man’s influence since he first set foot there almost two hundred years ago. Humans do not pretend that they can control Mother Nature here. Like the highest mountain peaks in the world, Mother Nature grants you access and you must be respectful of her power. Every expedition to Antarctica is still just that, an expedition. Sure cruise ships serve Norwegian halibut and the finest wines in their dining rooms while cruising her waters, but this is still a place to be reckoned with. At any moment, Antarctica can tell you that you do not belong and slam the door in your face. That incredible power has the flip-side of offering spectacular insight. This is a magical place and it’s splendors are like gifts that must be cherished while they last.
Black-browed Albatross
Elephant Seal
Elephant Seal
Antarctic Fur Seal Amongst the Ruins of Grytviken Whaling Station
Antarctic Fur Seal Pup
Antarctic Fur Seal
The Drake
Leopard Seal and Its Prey
A Final Resting Place – The Iceberg Graveyard
Antarctica
- On March 01, 2012
- By Randall Tate
- In Antarctica, Commercial, Editorial, Traveling, Wildlife
- 0
An Adelie penguin rookery on Gourdin Island on the Antarctic Continent.
Antarctica got its name from being on the opposite end of the world from the constellation Arktos (Bear, Ursa Major, North Star). It was first seen by Europeans in the 1820s and the land has remained one of the least touched places on earth. The voyage there feels like sailing to another planet. The scope and scale of Antarctica overwhelms the senses. After spending a month on the Antarctic Peninsula, I felt like I had only scratched the surface. The interior pulled at me like a magnet. Compared to the interior, the peninsula is mostly free of the massive ice shelves and continental glaciers that conceal the rest of Antarctica. The exposed coastline allows it to be full of life. The first explorers must have thought they were dreaming when they first set foot in a rookery containing over 400,000 penguins.
An Adelie penguin rookery at Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Continent.
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