Antarctic itinerary cut-and-paste

[poletopole]

Below is the planned (optimistic) itinerary from Quark Expeditions covering the next 5 weeks aboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov on its east-to-west semi-circumnavigation of the Antarctic continent.

• December 2-5: AT SEA TOWARDS SOUTH GEORGIA
  
  Our education program will start and includes the Conservation guidelines, South Georgia and safety briefings.
  En route to South Georgia, you will cross over the convergence zone, which indicates that you are now biologically in Antarctica. This zone can be an opportunity to find marine mammals and sea birds.
  As the ship approaches anchor positions anywhere in South Georgia, plan to be out on deck to scan the lower ridge lines and cliff faces for Light mantled sooty albatross, circling and soaring in tandem above their nesting cliffs.
  Weather permitting; on shore landings you may be able to see fur seals, elephant seals and several species of penguins.
  For an up close and personal encounter with a King Penguin, simply stop and wait, often they will approach you!


• December 6-7: SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
  
  We continue south following the line of the Scotia arc towards the rarely visited South Sandwich Islands.
  They are the most jagged, mountainous islands of the Scotia arc. In the ocean east of the islands is the deep South Sandwich Trench (8325m) together with the relatively shallow seas of the Scotia Sea, this creates an upwelling where wildlife can be plentiful.
  Your Expedition Leader and Captain will assess the weather and sea conditions to see what opportunities are the best. You may have good views of the Traversay Islands, Wisokoi, Saunders and Montagu Islands.


• December 8-10: WEDDELL SEA
  
  Heading south to 66° 33’ South latitude, the Antarctic Circle, your lecture series will continue.
  South of the Antarctic Circle is the world of the midnight sun. Plan to be on deck late evenings or early mornings as this can be the most colorful light and makes it a favorite time for photographers.
  You will also enter the realm of the Weddell Sea where you will encounter the ice that circulates through the Weddell gyres. Massive tabular bergs from the south often get caught in this circulating current and sea ice may block our path.


• December 11-13: DRONNING (QUEEN) MAUD LAND
  
  Along Dronning Maud Land the ice can be thick and causes navigation challenges to the Captain and his team.
  Massive tabular icebergs are often seen frozen into the pack ice. Helicopters will be used to find the best way through the ice and may provide an opportunity for exploring the continental edge.


• December 14 – 20: AT SEA, ENDERBY LAND – INDIAN OCEAN SIDE / SOUTHERN OCEAN
  
  In the bio-acoustic world of research in Antarctica the Indian Ocean side has proved more recordings of Blue whales than anywhere in the entire Southern Ocean. Maximizing your time out on deck may provide the opportunity to see whales. Minke and Orca are often seen working the leads in the pack ice.
  For hundreds of miles sheer ice cliffs lead to sweeping vistas of the dome of ice that covers the continent.
  Permissions pending, we hope to make a landing at the Russian Research Base Mirny, which means "peaceful".
  This station opened in 1956 and is used mainly as the base to service Vostok Station which is 1400 km inland.


• December 21 – 27: ENDERBY LAND, MAWSON COAST
  
  This coast line known as the Mawson Coast hosts the largest and one of the most scenic Emperor penguin rookeries with massive icebergs as protection from winter winds.
  Australia maintains three stations on this coast line. Permissions pending there may be a chance to land at the one of them.
  Weather and ice permitting, we may stop at the impressive rocky towers or monoliths of Scullin and Murray which is a magnet for sea birds such as Antarctic petrels, southern fulmars, snow petrels and storm petrels.
  Again ice permitting, there is a hope of approaching Fram Banks where hundreds of icebergs are stranded in the shallow area.
  Nearby, Cape Darnley has a large Emperor Penguin rookery and 10,000 pairs of Emperor nest at Auster. It can be challenging for the Captain and expedition team to find the best way to try to access this colony. Often miles of heavy pack ice separate it from the open ocean.
  We can view the Amery Ice Shelf which drains 20-30% of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.


• December 28 – 30: PRYDZ BAY, LARSEMANN HILLS & DAVIS STATION
  
  Weather permitting we hope to visit the Larsemann Hills the bizarre moonscape of rolling hills which is one of the ice free areas of Antarctica.
  When in the pack ice or following the ice edge, keep a look out for the elusive Ross seal. This can be the best place to see them in all of Antarctica.
  Davis Station is another of the Australian bases that may welcome us for a visit.


• December 31, 2007 – January 6, 2008: AT SEA
  
  Oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface. The different oceans merge into one another, forming the largest habitat on earth. Heading north our lecture series will wrap up your education program. Out on deck you will re-enter zones of sub-Antarctic and temperate waters. This will provide a diversity of bird life that you must be on deck to see. Distribution of sea birds in the Indian Ocean is little known and all your sightings will be important.


• January 7, 2008: FREEMANTLE, AUSTRALIA
  
  Late morning, we disembark at the port of Fremantle located on the west coast of Australia near Perth.

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Here is a file photo of Kapitan Khlebnikov

where your PoleToPole correspondent resides in cabin 521.

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Some ship data:

Staff & Crew:	70
Guests:	108 (circa 70 on this voyage)
Length:	122.50 m
Breadth:	26.50 m
Draft:	8.50 m
Displacement:	12,288 tons (tons? tonnes?)
Propulsion:	6 diesel-electric engines Total 18.5MW = 24,000hp
Hangers:	2 helicopters
Ice Class:	LL3
Cruising Speed:	14 knots in open water
Registered:	in Russia by Far Eastern Shipping Company
Launched:	in 1980. Built by Wärtsilä in Finland

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Here's Quark's blurb on the expedition staff of the voyage:

• JONAS WIKANDER, Expedition Leader
  
  Born in Sweden, Jonas immigrated to the United States in 1980. He joined Quark Expeditions in 1992 exploring the Arctic destinations of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, the Northeast Passage and the Geographic North Pole and in Antarctica to the Weddell and Ross Seas, the Peninsula and nearly all of the sub-Antarctic Islands as well as a full circumnavigation of Antarctica in 1996.


• DANIELLE SOGNO, Assistant Expedition Leader
  
  Danielle was born in South Africa and has traveled extensively most of her adult life. Her adventurous spirit led her to expedition cruising three years ago and since that time she has worked on board every icebreaker that Quark Expeditions has operated to the North Pole, the Arctic and Antarctica.


• MIKE CRAVEN, Logistics / Zodiac Driver
  
  Mike has wintered many times in the Antarctic and spent nearly every summer there over the past 20 years. He began his polar career as an Auroral Physicist, chasing fantastic lights in the sky -- the beautiful Aurora Australis. As a Glaciologist his field work has brought him farther and farther to into the interior of the continent to survey glaciers as well as atop vast floating ice shelves where he used hot water drills to melt through hundreds of meters to sample the ocean cavity below.


• AARON HALSTEAD, Logistics / Zodiac Driver
  
  An internationally qualified Mountain Guide, Aaron has led expeditions to mountain and Polar Regions around the globe. He is a qualified Paramedic, and has led New Zealand's only dedicated Alpine Rescue Team. Aaron's Antarctic background includes deep field science sojourns, teaching survival training, and working for the international Rescue Team on the Antarctic Plateau. In a previous life he has lectured in Outdoor Recreation Management and holds a degree in Social Psychology.


• NORMAN LASCA, Geologist
  Dr. Norman P. Lasca is Professor of Geology and Senior Research Scientist at the University of Wisconsin. Widely traveled, he has worked extensively in the Arctic and sub-Arctic areas surrounding the Arctic Ocean, as well as in the Antarctic much of his professional life. Dr. Lasca is a widely published scholar, and editor and contributor to the Geological Society of America's volume entitled: the Archaeological Geology of North America.


• ROBERT KEITH HEADLAND, Historian / Geographer
  
  Bob Headland is a Senior Associate of the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. His principal interests are historical geography; specifically concerning human effects on Polar Regions. Bob is an advisor to several expeditionary organizations, departments of government, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a member of the Institute for Historical Research of the University of London. In 1984, he was decorated with the Polar Medal and is a member of both the Arctic Club and Antarctic Club.


• KARA WELLER, Marine Biologist
  
  With a B.S. and M.S. degree in wildlife biology, Kara's research experiences range from studying whales in the Bering Sea, to mouflon sheep in Eastern Europe. She has worked extensively in the ecotourism industry leading and lecturing on board cruise ships in Alaska, British Columbia, eastern Siberia, Europe and the North Atlantic as well as Antarctica.


• AKOS HIVEKOVICS, Ornithologist
  
  Akos was born near a wilderness area of Southwestern Hungary and at the age of eleven began working at a bird banding station where his love of ornithology was born. He completed his degree in Hungary on environmental sciences and research and joined Quark Expeditions as a lecturer of Ornithology in 2001.


• TONY SOPER, Guest Lecturer
  
  Tony Soper is an avid naturalist and filmmaker who co-founded the BBC's famous Natural History Unit and became its first film producer. As one of Britain's leading ornithologists, he created and presented the live TV programs- Birdwatch, Discovering Birds and the series Beside the Sea as well as the long running environmental series- Nature. He is also a popular narrator of programs for National Geographic.


• HILLARY SOPER, Guest Lecturer
  
  Hilary studied Geography (BA Hons) at University of Liverpool and Ecological Conservation (MSc) at University College London. She began her academic career at the University of the Andes, Merida, Venezuela.


• DAVID McEOWN, Artist in Residence
  
  David is currently a director of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolor and is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design. Through teaching painting at the Royal Ontario Museum as well as many other venues David hopes to share his passion and bring an awareness of our diverse yet fragile natural heritage through the creative act of painting.


• DAISY GILARDINI, Digital Producer
  
  Daisy began taking photography seriously during her first trip to India in 1989 and since then has visited more than 30 countries, the Arctic and Antarctica with camera in hand. Her work has been published in prominent travel magazines such as Animan and Smithsonian Magazine and Nature's Best Magazine. Her images have been honored in several photo contests.


• JOHN B. WELLER, Guest Photographer
  
  John B. Weller is a nature photographer and writer based in Boulder, Colorado. He has been photographing professionally since 1999 and his work has been shown in galleries and included in private and corporate collections throughout the United States. His work has been published in books and magazines and his first book of photography and essays, Great Sand Dunes National Park: Between Light and Shadow, was published in October 2004. John's association with Quark Expeditions began in 2006, when he introduced his current project, The Last Ocean.


• JOANNE FELDMAN, Quark Physician
  
  Dr. Joanne Feldman practices emergency medicine at Stanford in California. She has a keen interest in wilderness medicine.


• DAN ZAK, Quark Physician
  
  Dr. Dan Zak practices emergency medicine in the Seattle, Washington area. He has served on many prior Quark trips.

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Sorry for all the boilerplate, but people have expressed interest in itineraries in the past, and there aren't going to be a lot of as-it-happens updates from the no-hot-and-cold-running-internet Khlebnikov.