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Waiting in the Airport

January 20th, 2008

Hello dear 3rd graders,

I'm finally back in touch with you again.  We encountered very rough seas a few days ago with winds blowing over 60 miles an hour so the internet was not working on the ship.  Yesterday there was an Antarctic snowstorm so it looked like you imagined it would here with cold and blowing snow.  The weather doesn't bother the penguins a bit--they keep walking to and from the sea to feed their babies.

Today we went to an island called Petermann Island where some scientists have a small camp set up to study the penguins.  We learned so much from the 3 scientists there.  They stay in small tents which are sitting in snow and penguins walk right by them every day.   There were many Gentoo penguins and their babies on this island.  The Gentoo babies are very cute with grey and white feathers.  They are much skinnier than the Adelie penguins we've seen.  You would love to watch the Gentoos because they are always trying to steal rocks from their neighbors nests--They think they are sneaky but the other penguins always catch them stealing and they go after the thief making lots of noise and chasing them away.  It's so funny!

The other big surprise yesterday was leopard seals!  They were swimming around our kayaks while we paddled at sea.  These guys are very long with huge heads and faces that look like something out of a horror movie.  But they definitely weren't interested in eating any people, they were looking for penguins for lunch.

We are heading toward the Palmer Scientific station right now to meet some more scientists and talk about global warming and the other experiments they are working on. The station is on Ambers Island--Take a look at a map and try to locate it.

Wednesday we'll be heading back across the Drake's Passage again to Ushuaia.  I can't wait to see you again! 

Thinking of you from the rolling sea,
Ms. Moening
I don't think the sea was as calm as this, but thought you'd like the picture anyway -Ms. Sbarboro

I fixed your link, but now we think you're on a different map by now??...-Ms. Sbarboro

January 15th, 2008

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all well at Doull!
Everyone was very seasick all day yesterday when the waves got 15+ feet high
so we spent a good chunk of the day in bed trying to ride it out.

The good news is that today is much calmer, we're feeling fine and we are in
Antarctica!!!  We saw enormous humpback whales berthing alongside our ship early this morning and penguins were zipping beside us on all sides of our ship.  It looked like they were having a great time racing our ship and they are soooo quick in the water!!

This afternoon we made our first Zodiak landing on one of the Shetland Islands calledHalf-Moon Island.  Guess who we saw there?  Chinstrap penguins and their babies andGentoo penguins.  They walked right by us with absolutely no fear of humans.  They areso much fun to watch walking across the snow and rocks with that little penguin waddle.

We have so many beautiful pictures of the penguins to show you, but the ship's internet is having problems sending photos.  So we'll keep trying.  For now, I'm hoping this note will go through so you know that I am thinking of you and all is well.

More soon,
Ms. Moening & the penguins

Iceberg Alley

This Page was last update: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 6:49:25 PM
Copyright 2008 Doull Elementary