In 2005, a group of Eckerd students traveled to Antarctica for the first time in Eckerd’s history. This year, 21 years later, Eckerd students were brought back to the South Pole for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Patrick Schwing, assistant professor of marine science and an alumni, was a student on the original trip to Antarctica. The trip impacted his life so much that when he was hired at Eckerd, the idea of going again and bringing his own students was always in the back of his mind.
The planning for the trip took several years, and the original plans to for a 20th anniversary trip in 2025 had to be postponed.
“I legitimately worked on it for two years, putting some of the framework together for at least three or four years,” said Schwing.
Students were immersed in Antarctica before the trip even began, meeting up three times before winter term to learn about Antarctica. The lectures covered four main topics: the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the geosphere, and the biosphere. The biosphere ranged from the typical Antarctic critters to humans and their development of what is known as the “7th Continent.”
“It was a really cool approach to the trip because you kind of got to get a really, really amazing baseline of what Antarctica is,” said Milena Lynch, a junior majoring in marine science.
Traveling to Antarctica consisted of a 34-hour travel day to get to Ushuaia, Argentina. The group remained there for several days before continuing their journey to Antarctica. Although the path to Antarctica by sea is through the dangerous Drake’s Passage, the students were met with calm waters.
“Drake Lake is zero to six meters of swell, so not a lot of swell essentially,” said Mac Cole, a junior majoring in marine science.
One thing that Schwing noticed on the passage was the surprising lack of icebergs in areas he had seen plenty of on his last trip. It took them a day and a half longer to see an iceberg than when Schwing originally went in 2005.
Despite some seasick students the learning did not stop on the ship. While on board, the guides would give planned lectures on their expertise, ranging from science to history. Students also participated in discussions centered around dissecting what they’d seen that day and what it implied for the Antarctic environment.
Students saw a wide variety of animals, but many also spoke fondly of their trip to Edinburgh Hill, a 10,000-year-old volcanic neck that formed huge basalt columns.
“I really had no idea about how they were formed before the trip. So I found them really interesting, and it was the tallest rock formation I think I’ve ever seen,” said Cole.
Students also had the option of participating in a polar plunge. The boat the students were on had them wade into the water, then dive in when they were ready.
“When I tell you, you hit that water, and everything freezes. You literally hit that water, and everything from head to toe is numb and hurts. You basically send your body into shock to do it,” said Cole.
Students participated in many other things as well, such as visiting Deception Island, an old, drowned volcano, and hiking in Orne Harbor. As if their adventures had not shown them enough, on their way out of Antarctica, they saw a special sight.
“We were in the middle of a really cool lecture, but then, over the intercom, someone said, ‘orcas at 2 o’clock.’ Everybody stood up and booked it to run outside,” said Lynch.
The students were greeted with a pod of 20 to 25 orcas. The orcas remained near the boat and even went under it.
“We were about to leave like we were already kind of emotional, and it felt like oh my goodness, we are nearing the end, but it was kind of like the orcas were saying,’ goodbye, come back soon!’’ said Lynch.