Wednesdays with Joanne - "The End of the World ... or it's Beginning?"

Hi all,

If any of you ever have the notion or the opportunity to visit the White Continent, you must!

As a reader, writer, romantic-at-heart, naturalist, Audobon Society member, scientist, or otherwise interested party ... Antarctica will change your life; oh, maybe not movement of tectonic plates or anything, but a change nonetheless.

The entryway to Antarctica is via Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern-most city in the world. In fact, this entryway is known as The End of the World, but I believe it is The Beginning. For to visit Antarctica is to go back in time millions of years, before man. You step into a world you couldn't even imagine before and know it is a gift, that you're there. The animals are curious about us red aliens (the parka, you know) but that is all. You wait, you let the penguins ... whether gentoo, adelie, or chinstrap, pass ... you watch as the new-born chicks struggle to survive, hoping the rain will stop since they've no protection from it or from predators ever-waiting to snatch them from their mother ... you sit very still in your zodiac while humpback whales play all around you ... you make no loud noises or threatening moves that might annoy a leopard seal lounging on a floating iceberg, so close you can see her mouth and know how her teeth can tear ... you study the ice, in awe of the greens and blues, the shapes, the sizes, the magic ... you see the albatross and petrals overhead, knowing the great seabirds stay out at sea years at a time ... you marvel at all of the animal life, all of the beauty, all of the secrets of life hidden deep beneath the ice ... hallowed ice, indeed.

Stops at some of the international research stations give evidence to the fact that Antarctica belongs to the world, no one country lays claim to any of it. Scientists and researchers come together from all over the world to help preserve Antarctica and to protect its vital surrounding waters. Krill is the basis for life in Antarctica. To lose the krill will mean the beginning of the food chain will be gone, and all else will follow. This is a tremendous threat to Antarctica now. It's not just illegal fisheries, but others, too, that take the krill to turn into fish meal to sell to fish hatcheries all over the world. I will never buy farm-fed fish again, suffice is to say. The best is always to buy Certified Fish where you can. Be mindful, too, of Chilean seabass, since ... in the catching of the bass ... many petrals and albatross will die going for the baited long-line hooks, never to return home to the waiting chicks, who will now starve and die.

It's in the ice ... the secrets of life ... hidden there ... waiting for discovery ... ways to protect our planet and preserve life for all mankind. I returned from Antarctica aware of problems, yes, but more aware of how strong our planet is, how vast, how intact it is in many ways. Antarctica is bigger than all of us ... chunks of ice are gone ... but I have a feeling that others are forming, just round the next turn of our zodiac. Life is hard and harsh at the South Pole. Endurance and survival is the order of the day, every day.

I returned from the White Continent, believing I am watching The Beginning of Life, and not its End.

Until next time ...

Jo(anne)

www.joannesundell.com