Polarstern / CAML expedition: our first iceberg !
Our first Iceberg
© Gauthier Chapelle / Alfred Wegener Institut
That's it, we are getting there ! A quick breakfast followed by a dash to the outer deck to spot the first iceberg. The sky is gray and the wind is strong, but for all of us coming to Antarctica for the first time, this moment will stay.
Second session of scientific presentations, and the opportunity for me to officially explain the outreach programme towards the media and Google-Video. Julian Gutt from the AWI, our chief scientist, presented us the second part of the expedition, which will be dedicated to the study of the Larsen A & B area's bottom fauna. As a reminder, "Larsen A & B" are the two chunks of the Larsen ice-shelf which collapsed due to the recent warming in the Antarctic Peninsula. An ice-shelf being itself the floating part of a glacier reaching the sea, and from which icebergs will gradually calve.
Meanwhile, outside, the birds confirmed again and again that we are entering a vast zone permanently cooled down by the presence of the huge ice mass of the Antarctic continent. While other species become scarce, the Antarctic Petrel made his first appearance at the beginning of the afternoon, to become the dominant species at the end of the day. And in the middle of the night, it was the Snow Petrel which came into sight in the beam of the giant search lights of Polarstern, like immaculate bats. Tomorrow we will reach the first sea ice zones ! Only one more night to go ...
