The First Sunrise

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The sun has finally made its first appearance after a 2 month long polar night on 22nd July 2009. This is a day of rejoicing for all of Antarctica, when the first rays of the sun kiss the ice briefly (the first sunrise is all of 4 min long).

Shown above is the pic of the first sunrise seen by my expedition team members last year on 24th July 08 (the sky was cloudy on 22nd and 23rd July).

The Vakil Saab from Antarctica- Tiny Ones

Adelie Penguins at Maitri

Confused?
Well… These are the Adelie penguins. Their black and white coat reminds one of the lawyer’s dress (as does that of any other penguins).
They are quite short at just above 2 feet. These are the only penguins found in Schirmacher Oasis, where Maitri and Novolazarevskaya are located. Usually found in groups, they live off the sea as does all of Antarctica’s wildlife. The krill forms the staple diet of the Adelie penguins.
During the winters, they migrate to lower latitudes in search of warmer lands. This is usually around April. They swim most of the way, and walk and toboggan where they find sea ice. They return to Antarctica in October. Navigating by the sun, their sense of direction is amazing. They return to the same nesting sites year after year.

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Penguin sunbathing in Priyadarshani lake in Schirmacher

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The Adelie penguins are fantastic swimmers. They can swim for hundreds of kilometers. Since they are dependent on the sea for food, they are found only in the coastal regions. When our ship moored on the fast sea ice, hundreds of Adelie penguins lined up as if to welcome us to their home. Small groups camped right next to the ship as long as it was there, as if to keep a watch on our activities. The Adelies are inquisitive creatures.
Their nests are made of stones, which are a rare commodity in Antarctica, most of which is only ice. This makes them come to Schirmacher oasis, although it is about 100 km inland. In summers, Schirmacher Oasis swarms with penguins that can be found everywhere, swimming in the lakes, sunbathing on the ice, sometimes even inside Maitri. The biggest penguin rookery in Schirmacher is on Lanka, an island of exposed rock right next to Schirmacher. One can find about a hundred penguins here (a far cry from the lakhs of penguins found in a full fledged penguin rookery).



Their sojourn to Schirmacher is also their undoing. They make their nests with stones in circular formations, lay their eggs, and the male and the female take turns to incubate them. While one incubates the eggs, the other goes to the sea to get food. After about 25 days, the eggs hatch, and noisy chicks come out. But the food is insufficient. For the first 7-8 days of their lives, they feed on the parents’ bile. But as the chicks grow, this becomes insufficient. With the parents taking too long to get food from the sea, which is 100 km away they grow weak. Then they either die, or are hunted down by the Skuas, the predatory bird of these parts. Once the kids die, the parents must head back to the sea, else they would also meet the same fate.
I followed up a penguin couple for about a month right from the time they made their nest and lined it with penguin guano. While a parent incubated its eggs, it would not even budge an inch from its place, though it would sometimes lie down on its stomach. It would be in the same posture even after 3-4 days. The hatching of the eggs is heralded by the noisy squeaking of the chicks, snuggled between the parent’s feet. The chirping continued for 4-5 days. Then one day, I witnessed 2 lifeless bodies between the parent’s feet. There was no chirping to greet me. But the parent remained faithfully in its place, as if hoping against hope that the chicks would revive. I hoped that the parent saw reason and returned to the sea, else it would also meet the same fate. Thankfully, it had left by my next visit 2 days later.

A Penguin Nest Streaked with Guano

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Adelie Penguin Incubating its Eggs

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Adelie Chicks

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Dead Chicks

Antarctica FM 28.0

That's Dr Sanjeeva Nayaka in the centrestage

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This post is by a guest blogger, Dr Sanjeeva Nayaka. Dr Nayaka was a summer team member of the 28th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica that concluded in March 09. Dr Nayaka is a scientist at National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow and was conducting research on Antarctica Lichens. The following is the post by Dr Nayaka:


Dear Readers,
It gives me immense pleasure to write about my Antarctic experiences. I am a repeater having participated earlier in 22nd Indian Antarctic Expedition (IAE) as well.

An Antarctic expedition is like going back to your college days, with a lot of mauj- masti. During 28th IAE one such ‘masti’ thing happened was launch of ‘Antarctica FM 28.0’. It was a group of likeminded, fun loving guys who loved singing.

It started during training and orientation of 28th IAE team at Auli. Three guys (Nancio, Maha and JP) who were sitting at the last seats of bus started murmuring some Hindi film song. Suddenly it struck Nancio - ‘hey we can make a group called Antarctica FM 28.0’.



The idea took shape in ship ‘Emerald Sea’. Since the 28th IAE team had many talented youngsters it was not really tough to form such a group. K.P. Mishra, Nageshwar Rao, Anant Pandey, Maheshwar Singh, Devendra Sharma, Jai Prakash (JP), Hari and Raman Murthy were all great singers. There were many chorus singers (including me) like Manjeet, Saroj Sahu, Maha, Alok, Saurabh, Ritesh, Anand. Whenever there was a function, they used to sing and entertain people. It was not simply singing but involved a lot of preparation as well. A list of songs suited to the occasion was prepared. Later small medleys of 5 to 6 songs (of one or two stanza) were prepared and rehearsed before the function, finally they were sung in group. We did not keep any slow songs in our collection.

The CEO of the Antarctica FM 28.0 was Ashish Nath, RJ was Nancio and Alok was the informal secretary. Mr Anant coined a slogan for the group “kao peo bhar pet, sunte raho Antarctica FM 28”. The team had the support of the leader, Ajay Dhar. Antarctica FM 28.0 performed on board Emerald Sea for all occasions like B’days, marriage anniversaries, festivals etc. There were songs suited to each occasion. By the time the 28th IAE team reached Maitri, Antarctic FM 28.0 was a huge hit.

I had reached Maitri by air, instead of by ship. So I really missed the initial activities of Antarctica FM. When the team reached Maitri, the original RJ, Nancio was on the ship, conducting his research. Hence I was made the RJ. The first function at Maitri was the welcome party. My job was to announce the next program, and every now and then shout “Aap sun rahe ho Antarctica FM 28.0.- kao peo bhar pet, sunte raho Antarctica FM 28”, as it is announced on radio. We did not spare the helicopter crew either. We made them sing and do something for us. Pilots Martin, Jimmy and Engineer Nick really enjoyed FM. Antarctica FM 28.0 was such a channel which people not only could listen, but also see, because we danced, had skits and games as well.

We had many singers of repute on board. Mr Nageshwar Rao (NGRI) is a singer on Akashwani. Now he is wintering at Maitri. Dr. K.P. Mishra (DIPAS-DRDO) is famous for his ‘Gajari’, a type of folk songs in Eastern UP. Apart from this he used to sing lots of bhojpuri songs, both in group and solo. He was the back bone of FM team. Mr. Anant Pandey (ISc-Mumbai) was a good photographer and a good singer, known for his poem ‘Kaliyug mein na aana re… pyare krishanakanaih’. Mr Somdutt (DEAL), apart from being a singer, he also played tabla and drums. He is now wintering at Maitri. Mr. Ramesh Petwal (DEAL), while he was on ship, used to beat table and utensils for music. At Maitri he was our tabla master. Mr. Devendra Sharma (BRO) is a folk singer. Apart from the regular FM team members one more singer worth mentioning, was Mr. Kuldeep Wali (IMD). My God! What a voice and style for Gazals (Mr. Wali died at Maitri recently due to massive heart attack).

Among several function that the FM team gave, the most memorable for me are the occasion Holi and grand finale after reaching back Cape Town. There were lots of songs related to holi, sang in good spirit. To make it more colourful, gulal (pink colour) was smeared on everybody’s face. Somebody brought ‘haldi’ from the kitchen.





On the ‘grand finale’ both I and Nancio anchored the programme. We also had guests from the Indian High Commission along with their families. That day we sang a patriotic song ‘main bharat ke rehane wala hoon’ and a national integration song ‘mile sur mera tumarah’. We also organized a game, ‘pappu can do’. Names were selected by draw of lots. Whosoever name comes has to perform the task again decided by draw of lots. If that person cannot do it, he is awarded the title of ‘pappu’. There was a skit on Gabbar Singh of Sholay. Also, that day was Mr. Sandip Ojha’s b’day, so we dedicated Mogli’s title song (jungle jungle pata chal hai) to him. After the function we had nice dinner and congratulated every one for huge success of Antarctica FM 28.0.

After reaching Lucknow and getting busy with work, I really wonder whether I am the same guy who used to shout ‘Aap sun rahe ho Antarctica FM 28.0. - Kao peo bhar pet, sunte raho Antarctica FM 28’?. Am I the same guy who used to recite those funny jokes and ‘babbar shares’? My God, give me a break and send me to Antarctica again.


Kao peo bhar pet, sunte raho Antarctica FM 28.

Airport During our Departure from Antarctica

Antarctica gave us all a grand farewell. Nowhere else in the world can a aircraft take off under conditions half as bad as these. I took this video was taken during summer time, temperatures were subzero, and it was snowing heavily. The airport cafeteria was half buried in snow.