Antarctica — Blog — The Greenest Blue

Holy doodles. I am so happy to be back in Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud. I didn’t realize (that’s a lie, yes I did) how much my heart missed this beautiful country that has managed to capture my little heart and squeeze it tight. It makes me want to cry thinking about my younger self and the momentous adventure it was for me to move down here at 25 with only a loose connection to a potential job and housing situation. That leap of faith led me to the most incredible experience and has introduced me to some of the greatest and fastest friends in my life.

Abroad Again

Something feels different. In a good, and weird, and uncomfortable way. This summer is shaping up to be a bit different than I would’ve guessed it to be. I just landed in Auckland this morning after spending the last three weeks or so in Iceland working for Smithsonian Student Travel. It was an epic trip, seriously. The beautiful, frigid, sub-Arctic island is loaded with geothermal, volanic, and glacial wonders, enough to delight even the most avid outdoor enthusiast.

I’m writing right now like I’m trying to create a travel brochure. I’ll admit I’ve been feeling off and non-commital in my writing lately. I have little desire to write something coherent. Instead, I show up to my journals and docs like I just want to work vomit and get on with my day. So I decided to, once again, stop putting pressure on myself to create something polished and just throw the spaghetti (writing and photography) at the wall (my blog and social media outlets) without the need to make them sparkle.

First Antarctic Field Season - Done! Also, All About My New Homeward Bound Journey

2) Life update two: I’ve been accepted into and am joining Homeward Bound! This is a women’s leadership initiative with the goal of creating a global network of passionate, inspired women in STEMM who are working to create change for our planet. I am so excited. We’ve already had our first online meeting, which will continue bimonthly for the next year. The culmination of this program is a 3-week expedition to the Antarctic with fellow members of my cohort.

When Things Don't Go As Expected During Fieldwork

We are winding down our fifth of six trips this season in partnership with Hurtigruten Expeditions. Our lab team collectively has managed to get an extraordinary number of tissue samples from both humpbacks and Antarctic minke whales, despite some challenging weather conditions that have persisted most of the season. We’ve managed to get some drone flights in as well, scoring some interesting behavioral observations and high-quality photos to use for morphometrics (measuring body condition).

A Song of (No) Fire and (All) Ice – Halfway through my First Antarctic Season

I’m halfway through my first Antarctic field season.

Words have been elusive to me lately. So I’m going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Photography has always been fun for me, and I’ve enjoyed playing around with light, angles, subjects. But it’s taken on a new meaning for me during the last several weeks. It has become intensely therapeutic. It’s a simple goal I can set for myself each day: get outside and shoot. It doesn’t matter what the outcome is, just get out and shoot.

One Trip Down - Five to Go!

Overall, this frozen continent has been nothing short of captivating. Every where you look, there are towering peaks of rock and ice, luminous blue bergs drifting across the freezing water, penguins toddling along their paths, and birds soaring overhead. The animals that are specially adapted to not only exist, but thrive in this environment continue to amaze me. Blubber, special insulating feathers, and other physiological adaptations render these creatures capable of conducting life in a place that we mere humans must visit with only the fanciest and most expensive of equipment.

Crossing the Drake Passage

We finally made it to the Western Antarctic Peninsula! Our arrival was preceded by two long, but beautiful, sea days on the Drake Passage. This is known to be one of the roughest ocean crossings in the world, but we must’ve lucked out – the waves weren’t nearly as high as we were expecting. On our second evening, the sky absolutely lit up with the most glow, perfectly backlighting the blows of humpback and fin whales surfacing in every direction around the boat. It was like being in a dream!

Getting Ready for My First Antarctic Field Season

I am so behind. I want you to know everything.

UGH! I have no real way of trying to catch you all up on what’s been going on the last several months. Besides adopting an adorable and bratty pooch named Meli, I spent a month in North Carolina, went on a 10 day sailing adventure with my family in the San Juan Islands, spent 18 days exploring Alaska and the Aleutian Islands with Hurtigruten Expeditions, went back to San Juan Island to spend time with my brother, and then flew to Spain with my dad to help him launch his 550 mile journey on the Camino de Santiago Francés.

Marine mammals inspired me to seek a greener lifestyle. What inspires you?