as we set off again for the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica.
Dissected cinder cone...
in Neptune’s Bellows, the entrance to the inner caldera at Deception Island.
(Click image to enlarge.)
Priorities at EWU...
I just received this very disappointing information from the curator of the gallery at EWU:
Good afternoon, Dr. Buchanan,
I wanted to share with you that the EWU Downtown Student Gallery will be closing its doors this June 2019, and will not be able to host your exhibition fall quarter of 2019. While I was very excited to host this exhibit, given the university’s current budget situation, it has been decided to close the gallery.
Thank you so much for your support and I wish you well.
Sincerely,
Beth
I bet the athletics program at EWU continues to receive full support!
Sunset over Livingston Island...
as the Silver Explorer turns north to return to Ushuaia.
(Click image to enlarge.)
Half Moon Island...
is the last landing of this voyage.
Chinstrap penguins.
Elephant seal.
Jawbone of baleen whale, with me for scale.
Deception Island caldera...
Active geothermal activity in Whaler’s Bay.
British Antarctic Survey station Biscoe House destroyed by a lahar in 1967.
Norwegian whaling station oil tanks.
Snow and surf on the black sand beach.
Ukranian station Vernadsky...
Nearby yawning crabeater seal.
Crabeater seals on ice, and, by the way, they eat krill, not crabs.
Whaling era relicts at Enterprise Island...
Sunken factory ship Governoren.
Wooden boats called “jollen” used to haul blubber to the factory ships.
Panorama view across Stonington Island towards Northeast Glacier...
our furthest point south on this expedition, and my personal best at 68° 12′ 0″ S.
(Click image to enlarge.)
Stonington Island in Marguerite Bay...
is the tiny rocky platform on which both British and American bases were established in the 1940s.
British Antarctic Survey Station E.
United States Antarctic Service - East Base.
Pushing south across the Antarctic Circle...
Happy guests and expedition staff on the foredeck, celebrating crossing the Circle!
A face that only a mother could love...
of the snowy sheathbill, a scavenger that resides in Antarctica, living among penguin colonies.
Neko Harbor in early morning light...
(Click image to enlarge.)
Day 26 of “retirement” above the glacier in Neko Harbor.
Windy weather in the Gerlache Strait...
(Click image to enlarge.)
First landing at Fort Point...
on this second voyage to Antarctica. Here we are on Greenwich Island in the Shetland Island group, arriving on a pebble tombolo beach populated by fur seals and gentoo and chinstrap penguins.
(Click image to enlarge.)
“JD,” our expedition leader, expressing joy at Fort Point. Life is good!
Returning to Ushuaia...
following a terrific 18 day long voyage to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. The guests will depart tomorrow and the ship reprovisioned, welcoming new guests aboard later in the day with a return to Antarctica.
Rejuvenation, not retirement...
is a more positive way of thinking about my new focus in life. Here I am in Gold Harbour on South Georgia celebrating this wonderful exploration of the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
Bertrand Glacier and me!
Sedimentary sandstones consisting of a series of stacked turbidites.
Expedition staff member Ingrid Nixon, who took the images of me shown above.
Telefon Bay on Deception Island...
was the site of phreatomagmatic eruptions in 1967, 1969 and 1970. Since then, a glacier is advancing into one of the maar craters formed during the explosive eruptions.
Another day at the office at Whaler’s Bay in the Deception Island caldera.
Humpback whales at Mikkelsen Harbor...
that I photographed while alone in a Zodiac. Wonderful!
