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ePostcard #83: Penguins & Countershading (Falklands/Malvinas)
click images to enlargeePostcard #83: Penguins & Countershading (Falklands/Malvinas) The stunning diversity of animal species that Charles Darwin observed during his five year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle provided the research inspiration for his theory of...
ePostcard #82: Imperial Cormorant (Carcass Island)
click images to enlargeePostcard #82: Imperial Cormorant (Carcass Island) Cormorants, sometimes referred to as "sea ravens” or “shags” colloquially, are fish-eating waterbirds belonging to the order Pelecaniformes and are in the genus Phalacrocorax, which includes...
ePostcard #81: Nesting Gentoo Penguins (Falklands)
click images to enlargeePostcard #81: Nesting Gentoo Penguins (Falklands) Admittedly, I have a soft spot for gentoo penguins! Maybe it is the patch of “snow" and the sprinkling of “snowflakes” on their heads, their stoic demeanor in the presence of skulking Johnny...
ePostcard #80: Johnny Rooks (Falkland Archipelago)
click images to enlargeePostcard #80: Johnny Rooks (Falkland Archipelago) In the austral spring, Steeple Jason, a tiny island along the northwest edge of the Falkland Archipelago, teems with birds. As you now know, the island is home to the world’s largest breeding...
ePostcard #79: Kelp Goose (Falkland Archipelago)
click images to enlargeePostcard #79: Kelp Goose (Falkland Archipelago) Charles Darwin was impressed by the enormous flocks of waterfowl he saw in the Falklands/Malvinas and wrote in The Voyage of the Beagle, “Two kinds of geese frequent the Falklands. The upland...
ePostcard #78: In Darwin’s Footsteps (Falkland Archipelago Birds)
click images to enlargeePostcard #78: In Darwin's Footsteps (Falkland Archipelago Birds) On March 1st 1833, the HMS Beagle dropped anchor in Berkeley Sound and the young naturalist on board gazed for the first time on the shores of the Falkland Islands. Charles Darwin...
ePostcard #77: Falkland Archipelago
click images to enlargeePostcard #77: Falkland Archipelago Winging westward, it climbseach step up to the naked blue:the entire sky is its tower,and the world is cleansed by its movement.—Pablo Neruda, Art of Birds The exquisite beauty of Steeple Jason Island would be...
ePostcard #76: Frank Wild and the ‘Boss’
click images to enlargeePostcard #76: Frank Wild and the ‘Boss' “I must go down to the seas again to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.”John Masefield “Sea Fever” In the history of polar exploration few...
ePostcard #75: The ‘Boss’ Goes Home!
Photo #1, above: Honoring Endurance! This photo was taken by Frank Hurley when the crew put the sails up trying one last time to free Endurance from the sea ice of the Weddell Sea. As we know, this and other attempts failed, and realizing the ship wasn’t moving Hurley...
ePostcard #74: The Final Rescue!
click images to enlargeePostcard #74: The Final Rescue! “Not a life lost, and we have been through Hell!” Ernest Shackleton This opening photo by Frank Hurley takes us back to where it all began—South Georgia. You can see the Endurance, dwarfed by her mountainous...
ePostcard #73: 2013 James Caird Voyage Re-enactment
click images to enlargeePostcard #73: 2013 James Caird Voyage Re-enactment On our 2003 expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falklands, a much-anticipated stop at Elephant Island was foiled by stormy weather. The ship’s captain, knowing how...
ePostcard #72: Across South Georgia!
click images to enlargeePostcard #72: Across South Georgia! It is impossible to describe the grueling, non-stop 36-hour alpine traverse of South Georgia without turning to the profound power of Shackleton’s own words. Shackleton, Crean and Worsley set off from...
ePostcard #71: South Georgia Bound!
click images to enlargeePostcard #71: South Georgia Bound! The perilous voyage of the James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia is ranked as one of the greatest boat journeys ever accomplished and is an achievement unique in the history of exploration....
ePostcard #70: Elephant Island!
click images to enlargeePostcard #70: Elephant Island! After months spent in makeshift camps on the northward drifting pack ice, the situation for Shackleton and his men had become increasingly dire. At Patience Camp in early March (photo #1; left to right: Wild,...
ePostcard #69: Drifting On Ice!
click images to enlargeePostcard #69: Drifting On Ice! By October, ceaseless pressure from pack ice would force the crew to abandon the Endurance. I can’t imagine what a profoundly emotional departure that must have been. With the ruin of their ship looming behind...
ePostcard #68: Endurance in a World of Ice!
click images to enlargeePostcard #68: Endurance in a World of Ice! The expedition arrived at South Georgia on November 5th 1914, and Shackleton and his men would learn much from the whaling captains about the conditions in the Weddell Sea. The would also receive the...
ePostcard #67: Endurance Underway!
ePostcard #67: Endurance Underway! As Germany declared war on Russia, August 1st, 1914, Shackleton left London on his ship the Endurance intending to be the first to successfully complete a trans-Antarctic expedition. It took 4 months to reach a whaling yard in South...