A new day begins and I’m on my way to one of the most extreme places on the planet, the continent of the future and science, to learn about the connections that one day united Antarctica with Patagonia more than 45 million years ago.
Today, I’m going to Collins Bay, located approximately 25 minutes navigating to the southeast in zodiac, from the Chilean Antarctic base Profesor Julio Escudero. Villa Las Estrellas, belonging to the Fildes Peninsula in King George Island, is waiting for us with an imposing glacial area of approximately 12 km², an ablation zone elevated 120 meters above sea level, and a projected accumulation area of over 500 meters high.
We managed to disembark on a central island that allowed the glacier to bring us an incredible and safe view as if it were an amphitheater built millions of years ago by the come and go of the ice. In Antarctica, most biodiversity of species lives and develops in marine areas, especially in coastal edges and small islands, since only 2% of the surface is ice-free. Hence, vegetation is almost imperceptible, being only two types of vascular plants: Antarctic Deschampsia and Antarctic pearlwort. There are also more than 140 different types of seaweeds and a grand variety of lichens, mosses, and bryophytes, some of the latter having multiple descriptions.
Collins Bay stands out for being a sighting place for humpback whales, elephant seals, sea lions, and Antarctic penguins like Adelaida, Papua, and Barbijo. Also, there are large pelagic birds that can be observed such as albatross and petrels that remind me of the evolution of some species that come from theropods and other dinosaurs that existed in Antarctica between the Paleocene and the Tertiary period (Cenozoic).King George Island has a surface of more than 1100 km², the biggest one in South Shetland. Our Argentinean brothers call it “25 de mayo” [May 25th] and Russian scientists know it as “Waterloo Island”. It was described for the first time by the English navigator, William Smith when he crossed the Drake Passage in February 1819.
On January 16, 1820, Edward Bransfield along with William Smith took possession of King George Island in the name of the king of Great Britain and Ireland, George III.
I want to invite you from this first entry to follow this record where we explore Antarctica’s nature, from its gigantic glaciers to its wide range of flora and fauna.
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/mKA2J6wRF5U2
