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Journal Entries
2005-06
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| Jump to a specific journal entry by Marianne Kaput: | ||
| August 2005 | 23 | |
| October 2005 | 31 | |
| December 2005 | 15 29 30 31 | |
| January 2006 | 1 3 4 5 7 9 10-11 12-14 15 16-17 18-19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | |
| February 2006 | 1 2 5 6-8 10 | |
| Click here to access journal entries by Giancarlo Lopez-Martinez or Luke Sandro. | ||
January 25, 2006 — Palmer Station, Antarctica
Today I had the opportunity to do one of my favorite things — teach. I miss my students and have been grateful for the many e-mails from them. I hope all is well with each one of them and that they know they are in my thoughts.
The distance learning session went by so quickly. At the end of the session there was a Q & A time in which students from all over the United States were asking the best questions. I was fortunate enough to have the support of two Antarctic experts who enjoyed answering the questions. Bob Farrell and Joe Pettit, Palmer’s resident Antarctic experts, commented on what bright and insightful questions the students were asking.
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One of my favorite questions was asked: "Can you pet, hug, or bring home a penguin?" That's a great question because everyone loves a penguin. Note: penguins are smelly — very smelly. Their bathroom is their home (colony). They eat pink krill, so guess what color their waste is? You bet, pink! And it is all over the place! With that aside, they are really cute and I love to watch them, but from a distance. Not just at a distance because of the smell (you do get accustomed to it) but because it is against an international treaty to get too close.
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In 1959, a group of 12 nations gathered together to create an official agreement about how to handle the issues of Antarctica — treatment of wildlife being one of the important issues. This agreement is called the Antarctic Treaty. It set rules about how Antarctica would be treated by people. The Antarctic Treaty states that no one would ever be allowed to live in Antarctica, but this beautiful frozen desert would be set aside for research. Animals, like penguins and seals are protected by this agreement. This means that we are not allowed to disturb the wildlife. So when we are collecting Belgica we are very mindful not to disturb them by getting too close. For more information on this treaty, click here.
I do like to take pictures and am grateful that I invested in a good camera with a good lens that takes close-up photos from a distance. Also, I understand that penguins have very strong muscles from swimming so they could really hurt a person. Mostly they are very gentle birds and spend their time tending to their chicks, which are maturing really quickly. They look like a cross between an adult and chick — like an adolescent...or just a funny looking chick with a bad hair day.
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I have been noticing changes in the chicks since I first arrived. A couple of weeks ago, the chicks were just about half the size of their parents. Now, they are almost as big as their parents and are losing their soft grey down feathers. They look like they had a bad haircut or like an elephant seal losing its fur coat. They also have developed a new behavior. Up until now, all I have seen them do is ask their parents for food and snuggle up to the warm feathers on the soft bellies of their parents. Now, they can be seen chasing after their parents as the adults lead them around the colony. It looks like a game of tag, but it is quite apparent that the adults are teaching these growing chicks how to make their way around outside of the colony. They still act like chicks though — as one little one was chasing its parent, it fell flat on its face. See? You can't help but love a penguin!
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Something even better happened today, I saw my daughter Allison — virtually! Allison showed up for the line test in Avon Lake that occurred an hour before the broadcast. I get busy with my work here, which helps me forget how much I miss my family. However, before I know it, this amazing experience will be over and I'll be home again, missing Antarctica.
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- Kaput-on-Ice