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Over break, Zoology student Ashleigh Winkelmann kept a journal while she was studying abroad in Antarctica.  Today's post is her entry on Christmas day. While you were warm and cozy opening presents around the Christmas tree, Ashleigh was exploring the edges  of the earth in search of seals, penguins, whales and more. 

The program was Antarctic System where she took Overseas Studies in Zoology and Advanced Study HPS of Science. The trip in Antarctica was 10 days, but the group stayed in Ushuaia, Argentina  before and after Antarctica for a total of 21 days. In Antarctica they lived on a boat called the Ocean Nova.

12/25/09 Weather: mostly cloudy, snowed at night

We landed at Mikkelson Harbour today.  Jess, Kristen, and I walked over the hill on the island to the more sheltered backside.  There were old whale bones, which looked huge!  I wonder how long they have been there?  Upon closer inspection I could see the holes where there were no longer any calcium.  Next to the bones was an old whaling ship from 1918.  It was pretty much broken apart except for the outline of it. 

The highlight of my day though is the Weddell seal sighting.  It was lying in the snow about 15 feet from me.  I sat down to photograph it and learned patience pays off!!  It woke up and started moving towards me.  After an ohmygosh moment, I was in awe, and away my camera went.  I could hear it breathing, see it looking at me and see its snot, as well as the opening and closing of its nostrils.  That made it even more real for me.  It was so amazing to see God’s creation.

After over half an hour, and after Michael got me unstuck from the snow, the Weddell seal, which by the way was molting, pushed itself in undulating movements back to the sea.  While walking back, Dr. B and I were discussing the seal and how, with their high fat content, they do not melt the snow that they lay on because they are so efficient at conserving their energy. 

That afternoon we anchored in Cierva Cove for whale watching!!!  This was actually the highlight of my day.  Scratch that—this was probably one of the best days of my life.  I went on the Zodiac (a small boat) with Jimmy, the star of whale knowledge.  It was simply amazing.  He pulled the Zodiac up ahead of the path of two humpback whales.  They are magnificent and intelligent animals.  We kept it slow and showed them we meant them no harm.  They became curious and continued getting closer to our Zodiac.  Suddenly, they were right next to our boat.  They even made a bubble net, which is a hunting maneuver that occurs when they emit bubbles in a circle to confine their prey, and then ascend in a pattern to catch it.  It was a good look into the behavioral aspects of the humpback. 

I got some awesome pictures of their faces and their flukes, which indicate a deep dive.  We watched them for over half an hour.

We then spotted a female and her calf.  We followed them for a short time, but she seemed pretty protective.  She would go underwater and suddenly race ahead at very fast speeds.  Really cool, but very intimidating. They disappeared into the distance, and we continued toward shore. 

We toured the icebergs and got right in between them. There were fantastic rock and berg formations.  Along the shore was a colony of mostly Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins; there was one Adelie penguin.  We also saw four seals near the colony.  We made a landing by the Argentine research station, Primavera.  There were mosses and lichens, and awesome views.  Upon learning that more humpback whales were spotted, we headed through a ton of brash ice to get to them.  Is brash ice mostly broken up icebergs or is it from glaciers?  In the enclosed cove, there were three humpbacks.  One was humongous.  Jimmy said he was probably 50 feet long.  He made incredible noises that were very loud.  I wonder if those were hunting calls?  Do humpbacks have different calls for each kind of behavior?  I would hypothesize that they do. 

These whales showed their flukes many times as well.  Each time was spectacular and really showed off the size of the whale. Unbelievable.  Incredible.  Best Christmas ever when I can’t be with my family.   

If you went on a study abroad trip over summer or winter break and want to share your experience with other Spartans, email msuCatalyst[at]gmail[dot]com.