#sub-antarctica

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Title

Stronger Together

The Sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica

Virgil Reglioni

France

Neutral Density Photography Awards 2023

[comicavalcade]

Submariner Summer 30

Ay mi amigos, it is time for a key edition of #SubmarinerSummer, because here in part 30 we are covering Tales to Astonish #96: Somewhere Stands...Skull Island! Namor faces off Plunderer and his vibra-gun on Skull Island right on the cover; love both figures' sense of motion

Raymond Marais takes over the tale, with Everett pencils and Colletta inks. The Title page gives us Namor back on his throne in Atlantis, ready for another Council of War. Dorma's still voicing her misgivings, though, thinking he's acting in rash hatred.

But Namor can't let go that the "air-breathers" had the temerity to build an undersea city in his territory. He feels its too late for diplomacy and he must act now. Vashti speaks up and reminds him he'd best take care of Plunderer first; Namor agrees, and knows where he is

As a Ka-Zar villain, Plunderer's base is of course in the Savage Land. So, Namor goes towards Antarctic waters since the Savage Land is hidden there. While there he visits the crumbling ruins that was his boyhood home, the previous Atlantis now destroyed, and makes his way to-

-the grave of Princess Fen, his dear beloved mother, the very sight of which threatens to overwhelm him. He attempts to banish the sadness with a happy memory. But he soon recalls instead the city's death and destruction, and her's, at the hands of an attack from the surface

So now we've seen how he lost his first city, his mother, and his memory, though he isn't sure who on the surface is to blame. But the surface keeps pushing, so he feels he must go to war...once Plunderer is taken care of. Before he can, though: Savage Land sea monster attack!

Just then, Dorma arrives, having felt compelled to go where Namor went. Unfortunately, she picks the wrong moment to get closer, as just then Plunderer attacks Namor and she gets caught in the blast radius!

But it takes more than that to stop Namor, especially when he's in the water, much to Plunderer's shock. Just as Namor is about to wrap him up, he reveals he saw Dorma sink from the previous attack and a wild-eyed Namor lays him out before going to her. She's actually fine, but he's angry

She wants to be beside him, but he tells her to return to Atlantis. She wonders if there's something else behind his anger. You ask me, he should keep Action Dorma. Unfortunately by the time Namor returns to the Plunderer, he's laid a trap for our Prince

Um. Plunderer sure knows how to outfit some henchmen, huh? Better rename it from Skull Island to Beefcake Island. At any rate, Plunderer has a scheme in motion because, y'know, villain. Meanwhile, Dorma makes it back to Atlantis, where their screens give a puzzling view of Namor

But the truth is Namor is caught, and the Plunderer's plan is conquest! We are once again at a cliffhanger, Namor Nation.

Once again we see the debate between Dorma and Namor about war, we revisit the site of the Atlantis from the Golden Age comics, go over its destruction, and the loss of one of the key characters in all Namor's history, his mother Fen. Oh, plus a sea monster, and a villain scheme. Quite a full issue, and you see why I called it key right at the start!

But now we look forward, because NEXT we will cover Tales to Astonish #97: The Sovereign And The Savages

[dogwittaablog]

Do you know where Nolan is based now?

Good old Winnipeg!

[p0orbaby]

Not All Heroes Wear Capes

summary: you and alexia attend marriage counselling

warnings: suggestive

a/n: i have no clue what this is but i like it and i hope you do too !

word count: 1.4k

-

You’re sitting on a lumpy beige sofa, the kind that looks like it’s been stolen from an old woman’s sitting room. The armrests have stains that could either be coffee or something much more sinister. You don’t want to think about it too much. You also don’t want to think about the fact that you’re sitting next to your wife, who might be one or two millimeters closer to you than she’s been in the past week, but you’re not counting.

Alexia looks at the therapist like she’s evaluating her for a spot on the team. This is her default face—cool, calm, like she’s about to suggest subbing you out. You’re not sure how you feel about that. You’re also not sure how you feel about the therapist, who introduces herself as Dr. Bristow but who you immediately decide looks like a "Betsy."

Dr. Bristow, née Betsy, gives you both a gentle smile, the kind of smile people give puppies before they realise they’re about to chew through their expensive shoes. “So, why don’t we start with what brings you both here today?”

“I don’t know,” you say, crossing your arms because you’ve seen people do that in movies when they’re trying to look defensive. “Why don’t you ask Alexia?”

Alexia doesn’t even glance at you. “We haven’t had sex in a month”

You choke on absolutely nothing. The last time you checked, your sex life was no one else’s business, but apparently, Alexia’s decided that it’s Betsy’s now. Wonderful.

Betsy’s eyes widen, but her tone remains professional. “That must be difficult for both of you. Would either of you like to share why?”

Alexia shrugs, her muscles rippling under her tight shirt. You try not to notice, but you’ve always had a thing for her biceps—who wouldn’t? But now isn’t the time. You tell yourself this even as your mind decides to replay the last time those biceps were wrapped around you, gripping you like you’ll blow away with the smallest gust of wind.

She’s talking, and you force yourself to focus. “We’ve just been… busy”

You almost snort. Busy. That’s one way to put it. Busy with training, busy with travel, busy with being one of the best footballers in the world while you’re busy just trying to keep up. It’s not that you don’t understand, it’s just—God, it’s frustrating.

“Busy,” Betsy repeats, nodding slowly, as if she’s letting the word marinate. “That can definitely take a toll on intimacy. Have you both discussed how you feel about this?”

Alexia turns to look at you, and you suddenly feel like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. You wonder if you look as guilty as you feel.

You clear your throat. “We’ve talked about it. Sort of”

Alexia’s eyebrows raise. “You mean I’ve tried to talk about it, and you’ve changed the subject”

There it is. That thing she does. You know she’s right, but the way she says it makes you want to argue just for the sake of it. Maybe that’s the problem. Or maybe the problem is that you’d rather wrestle a rabid dog than talk about feelings.

Betsy’s eyes flicker between the two of you, clearly sensing the tension. “It’s not uncommon for couples to struggle with communication. What happens when you do try to talk about it?”

You exhale slowly, trying to avoid looking at Alexia’s lips because that’s just distracting. “She’s always so… calm”

Betsy blinks. “And that’s… a problem?”

“Yeah,” you say, exasperated. “It’s like she’s a robot. No offense”

Alexia just shakes her head, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “None taken”

“I just want to see some emotion, you know?” you continue, warming up to the topic. “I’m over here, losing my mind, and she’s just… chilling. Like, I could tell her I’m moving to Antarctica to raise penguins, and she’d probably just ask if I packed a warm coat”

Alexia finally shifts her gaze to you again, her eyes softening, which is somehow worse because it makes your chest tighten. “You know I care. I just… I don’t always show it the way you want”

Betsy leans in, like she’s watching a particularly juicy soap opera. “And what about you, Alexia? How do you feel about the way your wife expresses her emotions?”

Alexia’s eyes meet yours, and there’s that spark again. You know the one. It’s the one that usually ends with you pinned against the wall or thrown onto the bed, Alexia’s mouth on yours, all lips and teeth and heat. The one that reminds you why you fell for her in the first place.

But then she says, “I love how passionate she is. But sometimes it feels like she’s on fire, and I’m just trying to keep from getting burned”

Ouch.

You narrow your eyes. “I’m not a fire hazard”

“No, but you’re combustible”

“That’s just because you’re too controlled!”

Alexia laughs, and it’s not the reaction you expect. She actually laughs, and you’re left wondering if you’re missing the joke. “That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? To figure out how to meet in the middle?”

Betsy nods sagely, like she’s the Buddha of bad relationships. “Finding balance is key in any marriage. Have you both considered how you might do that?”

You both sit there, silent for a moment, probably considering how much easier it would be to just skip to the make-up sex and forget the rest. The thought must cross Alexia’s mind too because she gives you that look—the one that says, Let’s just go home.

You’re about to suggest it, too, but then Betsy has to open her mouth again. “Sexual intimacy is often a reflection of emotional intimacy. If you’re not connecting emotionally, it’s likely to impact your physical connection as well”

You want to groan, but instead, you offer a tight smile. “Thanks for that, Betsy”

Alexia stifles a grin, and for a moment, you feel like you’re on the same team again. You used to have so much fun together—where did that go? It wasn’t always football and fights. There were nights when you’d stay up until dawn, just talking, laughing, and occasionally getting tangled in the sheets, not caring about anything but each other. Maybe that’s what you miss the most—how easy it was back then, how effortless it felt.

“Remember that time in Cartagena?” Alexia suddenly says, as if she’s reading your mind. “When we got locked out of the hotel room after that party?”

You can’t help but laugh. “You mean when you tried to break in using a hairpin and almost got us arrested?”

“Yeah,” she says, her eyes glinting with mischief. “But you tackled me before the security guard could, and we ended up in that broom cupboard”

You’re both grinning now, and it’s like a weight lifts off your shoulders. That night was a disaster, but it was your disaster, and you wouldn’t trade it for anything. You remember how you’d both been breathless with laughter, trying to keep quiet in that tiny cupboard, your bodies pressed together in the dark, and then… well, things got heated, and you’re pretty sure the broom cupboard got more action that night than most honeymoon suites.

Betsy’s watching this exchange with mild interest, but you’re too caught up in the memory to care. “Maybe that’s what we need,” you say, half-joking. “More broom cupboards”

Alexia leans back, her hand sliding casually onto your knee, and you almost jump at the contact. “Or less pressure”

“Or more spontaneity”

“Or,” Betsy interjects, her voice slightly louder, “a bit of both?”

You look at Alexia, and for the first time in weeks, you see the possibility of something other than just surviving this rut. Maybe you don’t need therapy. Maybe you just need a reminder of what made you fall for each other in the first place��a little more broom cupboard, a little less beige sofa.

Betsy’s droning on about communication exercises, and you’re nodding politely, but you’re already planning your escape. You catch Alexia’s eye, and you both know exactly where this is going.

You’re going to leave here, and you’re going to find the nearest cupboard, or alleyway, or even just the backseat of the car if it comes to that. Anywhere you can be alone together, no talking, no therapy, just you and her and that spark that never really went away.

As Betsy wraps up, you stand, practically dragging Alexia out of the office. You thank Betsy on the way out, but you’re already halfway out the door before the words even leave your mouth.

And as soon as you’re out of sight, you push Alexia against the wall, her mouth on yours before you can even think about it. Her hands are in your hair, on your waist, tugging you closer, and you realise that maybe you don’t need therapy, or a broom cupboard, or anything else.

Maybe all you need is her.

[gothamite-rambler]

The Ocean one of the many, many unexplored places.

Context: Bruce is headed to Atlantis to help Aquaman with an issue, but doesn't want to admit it's because they're friends and Jason tags along.

Batman: All right, the sea—the most mysterious place, with so much still undiscovered. It’s the last frontier on Earth that mankind hasn’t fully explored.

Silence for ten seconds.

Red Hood: What about space? There are planets that remain undiscovered by humans.

Batman: Okay… that’s somewhat true, but we’ve encountered aliens. Some members of the Justice League are aliens. Space is mostly explored.

Red Hood: Hm, what about parallel universes?

Batman: That doesn’t count.

Red Hood: How?

Batman: It’s a whole different subject, and I’ve been to different universes, so there.

Red Hood (trying to stump Batman): Death.

Batman: Well, you’d have the answer for that. If you remembered, you could answer the question.

Red Hood glares at Batman, then resumes staring out the sub window.

Batman: Uh-huh. What ever happened to your fire sword summoning powers?

Red Hood: What happened to Bat-Mite?

Batman: Not discussing that. As I stated, the ocean is a mysterious place that hasn’t been explored.

Red Hood (spiteful at this point): Antarctica.

Batman: I have a few answers for that, so point me.

Red Hood: All right... The entire god-awful Star Wars mythos, especially the Jedi!

Batman: I told you, midichlorians make sense!

Red Hood: They don’t, and you’re one of the only people who defended the actor who played Anakin.

Batman: I've stated this numerous times, bad direction was the issue—Silence is golden. Let’s sit in silence.

Red Hood: You’re still wrong.

Batman (parental tone): I will turn this submarine around!

Red Hood (smug): I’ve proven my point.

Batman: Why did you come with me? To annoy me? Because I can lower your monthly allowance.

Red Hood (threatening): And then I’ll shoot you in the kneecaps!

Batman (serious): Answer my question.

Red Hood (honest): I’ve never traveled to Atlantis before, and Aquaman was nice to me once, so I wanted to help.

Batman (suspicious): And?

Red Hood: And I want to see if mermaids look like they do in the Hans Christian Andersen book.

Batman (shrugging): Honestly, understandable.

[dontforgetukraine]

From the Ukrainian polar researchers down in Antarctica:

With spring, thousands of sub-Antarctic, penguins are returning to Galindez island to take the best nesting places. Now, there are more than 3.500 penguins in the island. And they keep coming. Their nesting period will begin in late October - early November, depending on the weather. —National Antarctic Scientific Center

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

groupings based on biogeographic regions which do describe something of a reality of biological distributions in the modern world even if they are woefully inaccurate when it comes to human groups

[chaosmenu]

i hope one of these children becomes a sad indie folk singer/song-writer who angsts about wanting to leave ur hometown because the music that would spawn from a teenage mind that tormented would go crazy

[atari-phantom]

Hey! Welcome, make yourself at home!

This blog was formerly pyramid-heads-knife. That name has been moved to a DBD sub-blog of mine. @pyramid-heads-knife.

Heya, welcome. You can call me Atari, or Pyra. I'm 24, your local transmasc/nonbinary ace cryptid. He/They.

I mostly (during normal times) post a bunch of random bullshit here, usually just things related to special interests of mine (I have a lot of them, so...), mixed in with a bunch of other random stuff.

Special interests include (but are not limited to): Retro games and tech in general, Dead by Daylight, Pokemon, The Thing (1982), MHA, Creepypasta, Dark Souls, various subgenres of metal music, horror in general, etc.

I have autism and have some other serious mental health conditions that I don't feel comfortable disclosing here, so don't mind me. We have lots of issues here.

Please keep this in mind. Thank you.

Be safe, friend. And don't you dare go hollow.

Sideblogs include:

@pyramid-heads-knife - My DBD-focused blog

@mashtyxchaosgremlin - A DBD-focused blog from Nea Karlsson's POV

@antarctica-escapee - The Thing but we assimilate things through tumblr polls

@confusedandzalgofied - My zalgo blog (I need to post here more again and draw that bigass demon more but here we are)

@pc-box-ghost and @the-sky-llama - INACTIVE rotomblr blogs

[alpaca-clouds]

Arctic Solarpunk

Let me continue with areas, that kinda get overlooked when it comes to Solarpunk worldbuilding, even though there is of course the anthology "Solarpunk Winters". Which is something I really do enjoy as a concept.

Yesterday we already talked: Most Solarpunk is set either in foresty (sub)tropical climates or in temperate climates. Which is also what the aesthetic focuses on.

But, of course, quite a few people live in colder climates. Especially up north. Sure, again, most humans will be drawn towards the temperate climates, but there are and always will be people living in colder climates.

So... How do we solarpunk this up?

First of all: One thing that humans living in those climates will not get around is heating. Because humans are not made to survive in cold temperatures, so we need heat. Probably one of the reasons our ancestors once upon a time figured out the entire fire thing.

At this point we can now argue, whether or not we should allow people living in those areas to burn some sort of ressource, even though it creates CO2, just on the basis that only few people will live there.

But again, like in the deserts, we will also be able to use something else: Passive warming through heat exchange. Because we can in fact warm buildings and other facilities through the heat from the ground.

In some areas, like Iceland or Hokkaido, this works even better, because we have geothermically active ground, so we can draw a lot of heat from the ground and use it for all sorts of purposes.

But there is also the food problem. See, historically speaking, cultures living far up north tended to go down more on the "gathering and hunting" part of the human evolution. Even though they had the knowledge about farming, they barely used it. Because farming so far up north is hard for several reasons. Outside of the temperatures, that do not work with a lot of crops, there is just simply the fact, that it is pretty dark for half of the year, which does not make for good growing.

So, a lot of these cultures lived especially from meat of all sorts and fish. With the cold temperatures being used to allow to keep the meat fresh for longer. We still see this to this day with the Inuit, of whom many will still mostly hunt for survival.

But, of course, within a Solarpunk world we would also have other possibilities to grow crops. For example we could create massive green houses, that also use artificial lights to keep the crops growing during the dark months of winter. We could also heat this up with warmth from the earth and geothermal heating.

And speaking of geothermal: We can use geothermal energy to create electricity as well. This is already done today in Iceland to account for some of the energy use of the island.

Otherwise it is a bit more dire when it comes to energy. While a lot of northern places do have access to bodies of water and hence also to hydroenergy, photovoltaic often does not work, due to the dark months. In fact, in the colder climates often wind turbines do not work either, as we have not figured out how to keep them going during especially cold periods and them also creating additional hazards.

So, this is something to most certainly keep in mind.

Other than that: Even the colder climates are habitat to a lot of fauna and some flora. As such we need to keep in mind that they have as much of a right to live their as we have.

Oh, and if you wonder: What is with the cold areas in the South?

Well, in general the habitable landmasses do not reach as far south as they do reach north. So even stuff like the tip of South America are not as extreme as northern regions. And Antarctica will never be home to any human, who ain't there for scientific reasons.

[travelella]

Gentoo Penguins in Antarctica

Birger Strahl

Name: Gentoo penguin

Scientific Name: Pygoscelis papua

Class: Aves

Domain: Eukaryota

Family: Spheniscidae

Location: Antarctica and Sub Antarctic Islands

Conservation status: Least concern

Diet: Crustaceans (krill), fish, squid

DISTRIBUTION

Antarctic Peninsula, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands

ECOSYSTEM/HABITAT

Nest on flat or rocky beaches and beach grass; feed in cold nearshore waters

[weclassybouquetfun]

I'm seeing all of these headlines from critics about how ridiculous FAST X as if they are just learning what the Fast and Furious films are. They are ridiculous. And? So? Your point being? Are you going to write that Looney Toons cartoons are silly?

22 years, 10 films, countless implausible moments.

You're going to say the franchise is stupid because you have people driving through skyscrapers or parachuting with cars or even surfing on a car but you say nothing about how we're supposed to believe Paul Walker as an LAPD cop when no LAPD cop in the history of the force has ever looked like that?!

This is the real stretch of imagination.

FAST X. The X stands for X-TREME SPOILERS

THE GOOD -I like a bit of fan service and the franchise keeps doling out heaping helpings of it. We got Letty back, Han back, Owen Shaw, Deckard Shaw, Elena back (briefly), whoever the hell Lucas Black and Bow Wow played in TOKYO DRIFT, Hobbs back and now the gal - Gisele.

Their babies are no longer babies.

At this pace I can't even feel bad that John Cena's Jakob died because we didn't see his body. For all we know he could have jumped out the car when it exploded! We see Han's body and he still returned from the dead so...I'm just saying don't count your dead characters before they hatch.

-I loved that they tied this story into Fast Five because that film was my entry into the Fast and Furious films so I remember that one distinctly enough that I could appreciate how they re-did scenes to add the idea that Dante was in their orbit then.

-Following THE SUICIDE SQUAD's lead and relegating Scott Eastwood to bit player. This feels like they were just trying to help him retain his SAG-AFTRA health insurance.

-The twist with Alan Ritchson's character. They intro him giving a wall of exposition about how the "cult with cars" win everyone over and then we see him won over and I think, "Exactly. As it should be." But no! Mans was luring Dom into a false sense of security. Dom was probably too blinded by that tan Ritchson was sporting for some reason.

-Paul Walker's daughter Meadow having a small role. Wouldn't be la familia without her.

-Jason Momoa was having so much fun and he certainly made for an entertaining villain. I'm all in for a villain who wears nail polish and space buns. And I liked how they actually used his photos from his BAYWATCH: HAWAII and STARGATE ATLANTIS years instead of photoshopping it.

THE BAD -Momoa IMO didn't find a good balance between unhinged lunacy and camp. I wish he was able to blend the menacing aspects of the character into his character when he was being more flamboyant. I think an actor who pulled that balance off perfectly was Chris Pine in SMOKIN' ACES.

-I can turn my brain off, I want to be entertained. If I wanted to logic police these films I'd just tweet Neil DeGrasse Tyson and ask his opinion. That said, bad writing is bad writing and this film had some awful writing. The script was written by Justin Lin, Dan Mazeau (Wrath of Titans) and Zach Dean (The Tomorrow War). I like to think Justin Lin knew some parts of the script was absolute dog piss and quit because he didn't want to have to massage a performance out of his actors using those words.

Justin Lin when handing in the final draft to Universal.

-The CGI was so bad! Regressively so. It was like they were using 2001 technology in some of the big scenes.

THE REST A cliffhanger? Editors exist for a reason. You're telling me I am going to have to sit through another 2 hours watching Letty, Cipher and Gisele on their sub adventure through Antarctica, Deckard saving his mum, Dante acting like he's on RuPaul's Drag Race, Roman with the weak jokes (Tyrese isn't as funny as he thinks he is), then a race to hurriedly find a way to give Brie Larson something substantive to do and because everyone comes back, we will see the return of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and then shoehorn back in Rita Moreno to close out the film with another speech about family?

[eros-sinclair]

Jesus I haven’t posted in almost 3 months… uuhhh anyways have this Gay Penguin webcomic pitch!

First pic is just the “main cast”

King Ataneq is the king of the northern most sub kingdom of the greater Antarctic Empire, his name means "King"

Tapeesa is our protagonist, and the heir to the kingdom of Cher. (see below o=for name meaning)

Sangilak is the love interest and the eldest son of the Antarctic Emperor, his name means "Strongest of All"

Then of course the Emperor himself, Atkonartok, ruler of the Antarctic Empire, his name means "God that lived on land"

Second pic is Tapeesa and all of his sisters and cousins.

Sibling groups are as follows;

(Onartok and Palartok) (Tapeesa, Inungoark and Silatuyok) (Unnuk and Quvianuq) (Ipiktok)

Onartok is the eldest out of all of them, her name means "Warm"

Unnuk is the second eldest and elder sister, her name means "Evening"

Ipiktok is third eldest but an only child, her name means "Keen"

Tapeesa is the eldest of his family and the only boy, his name means "Artic Flower"

Inungoark is the second born in her family, her name means "Doll"

Quviannuq is the younger sister , her name means "Joy"

Silatuyok is the youngest of her siblings, her name means "Cute/Intelligent"

Palartok is the youngest of all of them, her name means "Quiet"

While the story is kind of based in an Antarctic region its not the Antarctica of Earth, its a Pseudo-Fantasy world where the people are based off of various animals like Penguins, Seals, Orcas and such things.

If you want me to follow the story of Love Artic and actually make a kind of webcomic for it please, Reblog this and show your interest!

[dappergamelord]

having a coffee with namor the sub-mariner. hes showing me around his underwater kingdom in antarctica

[aberooski]

okay so i’m trying to get chazz to be my bestie in tag force right now but he’s being a major prick and won’t even talk to me. so obv i googled to see if i had to do something specific and

so first off this game is so biphobic for gatekeeping him for TWO MONTHS considering it starts on May 1, second off…

chazz leaving DA, going to north, and coming back is all stretched out over a MONTH?????? A MONTH????? maybe it’s because i haven’t seen s1 in a minute but that did NOT feel like a month. maybe a week at MOST.

(side note — do we know where DA is?? one of the NPCs said the island is the pacific ocean, which makes sense if it’s near japan, but. i don’t even know with this series anymore man 😭)

first of all, I agree, supremely fucked of the game to gatekeep him like that.

Secondly, excUSE ME????? A M O N T H ?????

Now I don't claim to know a goddamn thing about how time passes in this fuckin show but A MONTH??? I guess I can see that in the sense that he left, was gone for a while, I think it's like 11 episodes he's gone because he leaves during episode 13 and he arrives at North Academy in episode 24. But therin lies the question, is that chronological? Because the duel off between Bastion and Jaden happens before that and that's how they decide Jaden's representing them in the school duel and Sheppard comes to the conclusion they should use a first year student in the spirit of competition because he's been informed that North Academy is using a first year student, WHO IS CHAZZ. And like, we know from episode 24 that Chancellor Foster's plan to use Chazz was totally premeditated, like did he say they were using a first year student before he like fuckin shanghai'd and bogarted Chazz into North Academy or after? In which case, episode 24 would have happened chronologically before the duel off, and time has clearly passed between episode 24 and even just the cold open of episode 25, like the school duel was not the next fucking day after he got to NA like I highly doubt that.

But anyway, yeah, when he got to North Academy he could've spend a couple weeks there before the school duel or something, that would make that feel less insane a time jump aksksk but bro had me fucking shook for a second like how much of that month was him stranded in the middle of the ocean??????????? 😰 Hopefully not very long but my god I will not be able to rest 😭

(And I mean I don't think they ever say where it's at specifically in the anime, at least I know in the dub they don't to my recollection. I couldn't say if they do in the sub or not. Still gotta get around to my full show sun watchthrough but that's soo many subtitles man and I have a horrible attention span I'm too antsy and fidgety 😭 But on the first page in the manga it says the island is in the southern sea

which according to my google search research, is either the sea around Antarctica, decidedly NOT where the school is located, or the southern part of the Pacific, I.E. the South Pacific some great songs in that musical lol so I'd say Pacific Ocean is accurate lol)

[seabreeze2022]

It’s official, Dec. 19, 2024 we are off to the Antarctic for a once in a lifetime adventure. This is a 16 day trip on an “expedition style” cruise. Wise people book these a year in advance. We booked it 10 days out. We did buy a book on “What to expect on an Expedition Cruise.” Looked like we would be in the heart of baby penguin season. Not bad timing for last minute, eh!

Three ways to visit Antarctica. Either fly directly to the continent and stay in some yurts or something. Very expensive and little to no wildlife. Or take a ship. Two types of ships travel there. Large cruise ships with 200-500 people, which are not allowed to land any passengers anywhere. They just keep cruising by land and icebergs. The third way to see Antarctica is “Expedition style.”

Tourism is highly regulated here. No more than 100 people at a time are allowed at any site. We are ferried by large zodiacs to shore or sometimes only a zodiac cruise if a landing is too risky. In the background is our ship the Atlas World Voyager. It can hold 200 passengers with a working crew of 133.

On this trip, there were only 150 passengers. Around 60% were Chinese. Many of them ex-pats living in Canada. The majority of passengers spoke multiple languages and had at least one PHD, if not two. This sub-set of travelers have been to every corner of the world. At least three had been on Gorilla trips. Many had one or more safari trips. Several had been to the Arctic circle or photographed polar bears. The average age was much less than you would assume, maybe 45-55. I was slewing the Bell curve at 68.

This was the supposed itinerary. We actually did it in reverse order which damn near caused a passenger mutiny when they did not place a foot on their 7th continent. Many passengers prioritized the bragging rights of stepping foot on Antarctica, over seeing all the wildlife we saw.

The charter flight to Ushuaia, Argentina was around 3 hours. We were bused to a cafe in the National Park for lunch. The World Voyager had just off loaded the previous passengers and were busy reloading supplies and cleaning rooms. They have this down to an art. We were then driven to the ship, and given ID cards. The friendly staff then escorted us to our rooms where are luggage was waiting for us. As the young man we were following, started up the stairs from the fourth deck meeting area. We told him our rooms were on deck 3 below us. After a quick check he said that we had been upgraded to deck 6. What a surprise! We expected a 2’ x 3’ portal eye level with the whales and seals.

Instead we had a private balcony with a huge sliding door. The whole deck 3 was empty, we would have been the only passengers down there. Livin’ right!

After watching the Safety video in our room. We were required to bring our life jackets, that stay in the closet, to deck 4 Muster Station 1. Hoping they stay in the closet the rest of the trip. Water here is a bit chilly.

We attend the meet and greet with the ships officers and other guest. Here Nancy is talking to Capt. Terje Ulset, a Norwegian. Ships officers are mostly Portuguese. The Doctor is Romanian as is the staff nurse.

For the next 14 days it was non stop eating great food and drinking fine wines. Sometimes we endured 2 hours without some kind of a meal, snack or high tea. Seating was casual. You could eat breakfast and lunch buffets any time during a 2 hour window. But dinner was staggered 30 minutes between deck 6 passengers sitting down at 1900. Then deck 5 passengers sitting down 1930. Dinner was always a 3-5 course dinner from the changing 5 star menu.

After exiting the famous Beagle Channel we steamed two days to the Falkland Islands. During the first day we sat through a Bio Security Check. Every piece of outer clothing we might wear on any island is checked for the smallest seed. This is taken very seriously. Besides bringing in an invasive species that could destroy the environment we need to be concerned about moving any disease from one penguin colony to another. Above one of the Expedition guides John does our Bio Security check. In October of 2023 the Avian Bird flu, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), was detected on South Georgia island. This has the ability to kill 95% of all the birds and seals in a colony. It probably arrived by migrating birds and not humans. Penguin colonies can be 100,000 birds with hundreds of seals mixed in. We spotted dead seals at every landing ashore. Luckily not a high percentage but still concerning.

During the open sea crossings the decks were off limits.

Deck 3, Mud Room. We each had Green Atlas Jackets, Inflatable Life Jackets and heavy boots in these receptacles. We get to keep the heavy jackets. The passengers are divided up into 25 person groups. Nancy and I are in the “Icebergs.” Each group meets on deck 4 and then brought down to the mud room in intervals.

Here we are about to board the zodiac for the first time. Our ID’s have been scanned. When we come back aboard we will step through the boot wash machine on the right. It scrubs and sprays our boots with disinfectant.

About to make our first landing at West Point Island, West Falkland Islands. This will be a “dry landing” coming along side a small pier.

Everything is done by the book. Here the head of the Expedition Team, Aaron takes Nancy’s arm in the “Sailor’s grip” to help her to shore. Aaron always meets each zodiac when they come ashore giving directions, cautions and time to return.

Above is the route we hike from the farmers residence on the east to the penguin colony on the west. Temperature is around 45 F. We end up getting very sweaty in these heavy coats. Only later do we learn there are shoulder straps on the inside of the jacket. You peal off the jacket and then it hangs off your back like a back pack. Wish we knew that earlier.

This is the German ranch manager. He lives on a sailboat in the harbor. He gets to Port Stanley once a year. Food and supplies are delivered once a month. They ranch sheep here.

We follow red flags for the trail. These are permanent, later trips temporary red flags are placed for us to wind in and out of the animals.

The Expedition guide Ana, directs Nancy to step into the disinfectant before walking down to the Albatross and Rock Hopper nesting site.

We are in over our heads in centuries old tussocks. Theis area is deep peat from the grass.

We get within a few feet of nesting Albatrosses. Several birds are constantly flying just over our heads. Interspersed between the Albatrosses sitting on foot high peat nest, are Rock Hopper Penguins with their new borns.

Albatross buzzing by.

Baby albatross being groomed by parent. Note the peat nest they make.

Rock hopper penguin with its chick dead center.

More Rock Hopper penguins.

Rolling tundra like hills. Several geese in the far side of the photo.

Back to the jetty for our ride back to the ship. We usually get to spend about 2 hours ashore. Til the next group gets their turn. We did not see any dead animals on this excursion.

Once aboard we will go through the boot scrubbing machine then have our ID’s scanned before leaving our gear in the mud room.

We will be welcomed back aboard with hot towels, warm drinks and rocking music. Anyone want a shot of Bailey’s? Nancy and Albi hamming it up with her Llama hat.

Once everyone is onboard the ship will move a few miles to our next shore excursion during our lunch break.