Christmas in Antarctica!

Just signed up for a month of underwater exploration in Antarctica spanning Christmas and New Years. With its unnamed invertebrates, below freezing temperatures, and carnivorous seals that stretch the length of a mid-size car, our earth's most southern continent is a place of wondrous finds.

Swimming amidst grounded icebergs and penguins while losing sensation in your lips from the 29F/-1.6C water is the kind of diving that challenges the mind, body and whatever other ingredients make us human.

For laughs, I have included a link of some hijinks Patrick Gilmore and I got into when exploring the islands and channels of the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the National Geographic Explorer.

Penguins: High Def vs. Standard Def

As well as the recent article from scientist Skye Moret using my underwater images to compare the color differences between what is above and below the waters off the white continent.

In Living Color: Antarctica's Vibrant Wildlife Under the Sea

The Wilds of Alaska

Alaska provides.

Redefining our notions of wilderness.

Eliminating the gap that we imagine exists between ourselves and the natural world.

Letting us breathe again.

Far away from the stains with which we have colored the world.

And if it is only for a day, then a good day it is to reset our expectations for how we should interact with the creatures inhabiting this world.

My First Magazine Cover - The Walden Quarterly

Spring 2015 issue - featuring an 8 page spread of photography from Antarctica, Alaska, and other far flung locales and including an interview that attempts to explain what exactly an Undersea Specialist gets up to down there.

Befriending the Leviathan – The Gray Whales of Baja California

How easily we draw the line that separates us from the wild. Presuming that our ability to name the creatures of this world somehow separates us from them, and worse yet gives us dominion to do with them as we please.

Yet out of all the places in the world where we have abused animal life as a resource, none tell a more magical tale than the lagoon of San Ignacio in Baja California where the California Gray Whales have suffered both slaughter and revival.

Beginning in 1845, these whales were found to be easy prey for the bold whalers that chose to hunt them. Injuring the newly born calves, the whalers knew that the mother would seek to help her young, thus dooming herself to die under the heft of their spears. Such hunting was easily accomplished with the known breeding grounds with water too shallow for the whales to dive and escape.

Without conscience, the slaughter brought the California Gray Whales down to the brink of extinction with population estimates at only 250 whales remaining in the North Pacific at the time. Luckily, Mexico stepped up and became the first country to enact protection over these magnificent and intelligent creatures, and over the last one hundred plus years the whales have been recovering and greatly adding to their numbers.

With the fortune of visiting the lagoon aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion, I was privileged to encounter these marine mammals in the very place that they are born. In the shallows water, the mother’s exercise their young against the current to prepare them for the five thousand mile journey to the feeding grounds of Alaska.

Once known as the Devil Fish for how fiercely they fought against the whalers, the Gray Whale mothers now, unbelievably, encourage their calves to approach. Out of all the marine mammals encounters that I have enjoyed, this one takes the prize.

Petting the calves as they rolled and rubbed our zodiac, I was close enough to look into their eyes, see the newly growing hairs that remind of the heritage that we share, and even get my hat blown off when they exhaled.

Words have no place in trying to describe the experience, thus I share some of the images I was able to capture with hope that the reader will be as endeared to them as I am, and perhaps visit such a place for themselves one day.

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All photos © Paul North (unless otherwise noted)

King Penguins of South Georgia Island

Whether or not we have the capacity to admit it, much of the world we know was segmented long before we had the chance to experience it. We cherish the natural world, but are rarely able to see it without boundaries. So when I learned that I would be traveling to South Georgia Island - a remote landscape in the South Atlantic - I began to do research to get a sense for what I would see. It was not until I arrived though that the full impact of the wildlife began to effect me.

Both my eyes and camera had trouble focusing due to the vast numbers of King Penguins taking over the landscape from the surf line continuing way back in the hills where glaciers hung.

The second largest of all penguin species after the Emperors, King Penguins can stand over 3 feet tall. Reaching their adult plumage, they appear as if painted.

Their feathers have great complexity, layered in a way to make them completely water proof. Combined with the ability to control each feather individually, these King Penguins can quickly air themselves out to dry when on land.

And as the seasons turn they molt the old feathers to make room for the new.

South Georgia is a rare place in this crowded world. An island absent of man, except for the few who stand steadfast to guard it. The amount of life sends a shock through the system. Reminding one of what the world was before our innovation began to wear away at it.

Many more King Penguin photos to come!

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Seabirds of the Drake Passage

Headed out from our embarkation port of Ushuaia, Argentina the National Geographic Orion pointed south toward the Antarctic Peninsula. Followed by a myriad of sea birds, I enjoyed the challenge of trying to capture them on film as they swooped past our vessel using the updraft to cruise above the waves.

Sooty Albatross

These birds spend the majority of their lives flying above the open ocean. Only returning to land when the season calls for them to mate and hatch their young. Using the strong westerly winds, it is rare to see them flap their wings.

Pintado Petrel

Conserving their energy, some are even known to spend weeks at a time without landing due to the consistency of the wind and its ability to carry them many hundreds of miles in search of available food.

Black Browed Albatross

Southern Petrel

I never thought I would consider an albatross sighting to be a common thing, but after seeing more than a hundred I now view them as welcome travelling companions.

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My First Dive in Antarctica - Neptune's Bellows

December 2014 - 62°58′37″S 60°39′00″W

After a two day crossing of the Drake Passage, the National Geographic Explorer came upon Deception Island. Part of the South Shetlands archipelago and one of the safest harbors in the Antarctic, the island fooled whaling boats for many years. Causing them to sail on by without knowledge of the narrow entry and the safety therein.

The islands hidden nature is caused by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption. Known as caldera, you may already be familiar with this geological phenomenon if you know of Oregon's Crater Lake. But whereas that is filled with crystal blue fresh water, Deception Island is open to the changing tides of the Southern Ocean.

Joined by my team of divers, Oscar Johansson and Jesper Westermark, the Baker and Head Chef onboard our vessel, we set off to dive the narrow entrance to Deception Island known as NEPTUNE'S BELLOWS. With a strong current and 30F water (-1C) it was not a place for any tomfoolery. Not to mention the potential traffic of large ships passing through.

Whereas Antarctica itself is considered a desert we quickly found that not to be the case underwater. Large Frond Tang (Kelp) stretched up to 8 meters curtaining down from the vertical walls leftover from the volcano's collapse.

Barely an inch of the islands substrate was visible. Covered entirely by sponges competing for real estate.

It was not until the late 1800's that we even realized that sponges were part of the Animal Kingdom. Now, the more we study them the more we learn how vital the role they play is in filtering our ocean's water. Here we see a magnified close up I was able to capture off of Haida Gwaii last summer. Note just how many canals there are for water to pass through which feeds the sponge and cleans the water simultaneously.

Descending to 92 feet, we found all manner of invertebrates. The most interesting being this isopod measuring nearly 5 inches as he reached out with antennae to see who was obstinate enough to put a camera in his face. Many more Antarctic dives to be posted, but there is nothing like the first!

Penguin Colony Lifecycle on the Antarctic Peninsula.

After a two day crossing of the Drake Passage, the National Geographic Explorer steered a course toward the penguin colonies upon Brown Bluff. Being the northernmost tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, it is a known location for penguin colonies.

Waiting for the austral summer to commence, the penguins know exactly when to come to ground to begin preparations. As the ice clears, moss and lichen begin to show their colors once again.

Here Adélie penguins gather in great numbers and choose to nest in close quarters. This can make nest building a bit of a competitive sport.

Choosing which beach rocks to build with is important and competition is everywhere.

Neighbors are not to be trusted, often stealing a rock away when someone is not looking.

But there is satisfaction when finding a mate who can help with the work load.

Once the chicks are hatched they are still in need of the parents warmth and protection.

And of course, the free meals that they provide.

This Brown Skua is one of the many predators that a penguin colony must endure. Patiently waiting at the edge of the colony, it seeks out those who stray too far from their parents' protection.

Unattended eggs also make a meal. Trading a life so that another may go on. As gruesome as this may seem, it is a necessary factor in maintaining the equilibrium of the colony's population.

The cold climate can preserve remains. Telling the story of survival in a landscape riddled with dangers.

And once the breeding season has run its course and the chicks are grown, it is back to the waters of the Southern Ocean to seek food and furtherance for these hearty, flightless birds.

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