Questions from Needham, MA Third Grade Class

Questions from a Needham, MA Third Grade Class:

1. How do you travel around Antarctica?

There are many ways of traveling around Antarctica for scientists. We use ships, helicopters, twin otter planes and military transport planes. At the moment our cruise has just ended and our ship is stuck in the ice. A helicopter will come and take us from the ship to McMurdo Station. Once we get there a military transport plane (usually called a Hercules) will take us to New Zealand. It is about an 8 hr flight from McMurdo to New Zealand.

2. How big are the cliffs?

Some cliffs are thousands of feet high along the Victoria Land coast. We saw some very steep ones near Terra Nova Bay where the Italian research Station is located. Many of the mountains here are between 7,000 to 13,000 feet high.

3. How many penguins have you seen?

We have probably seen thousands of penguins on this trip. Almost all of them were Adelie Penguins.

4. How many kinds of penguins live in Antarctica?

It depends on where you are in Antarctica. The two common ones are the Adelie and the Emperor. They live in the coldest part of Antarctica. On the peninsula side of Antarctica we can find other kinds of penguins such as the Chinstrap, Rockhopper and Macaroni Penguins.

5. How big are the emperors to you?

The Emperor's are about 3 feet high and come up to about my chest.

6. Are you playing with any penguins?

On New Year's Eve we had fun watching the Adelie penguins come very close to us. They are very curious animals that seem to enjoy humans.

7. Have you seen any penguin eggs?

No, we have not. It is now late in the summer and all the penguin eggs have hatched. Soon, darkness will start to arrive here in Antarctica before it is immersed in total total darkness.

8. Have you seen any Chinstrap penguins?

No, as I mentioned the Chinstraps are found on the other side of Antarctica and further to the north.

9. Have you seen any Yellow-Eyed penguins?

No, we don't have those here either. They prefer much warmer temperatures.

10. Have you seen any Emperor chicks?

We tried to see some Emperor chicks on Cape Washington but we could not land because the ice was not strong enough. At this time time of year, the Emperor' chicks have moved to the water with their parents. But some of them are not strong enough and have remained behind. Sadly, these chicks will not survive..

11. How long have you been studying there?

I've been an oceanographer for 26 years. I have been coming to Antarctica for 16 years. I love it here. I always miss it when I leave. It is so peaceful and beautiful.

12. What kind of penguins did you see?

As I mentioned we only saw Adelies and Emperors. This year we saw very few Emperor's. Perhaps only 10 or 20. But we saw thousands of Adelies.

Thanks for all your questions!
Jack