Marty and Milo's Great Adventure! by Marty Behr
Our speaker for February 29, 2024, was our own Sunriser, Past-President Marty Behr. Marty presented the story of his trip to Antarctica in December and January with his grandson, Milo. Getting to and from Antarctica is complicated and expensive but fortunately Marty’s employer, Abercrombie & Kent, paid for much of the travel, including the 466’, 122 cabin cruise ship “Le Lyrial.” Before embarking on Le Lyrial in Ushuaia, Argentina, Marty and Milo spent two days in beautiful Buenos Aires enjoying the street art, Teatro Colon, and the steaks! They also met the group traveling with them to Antarctica in Buenos Aires; Milo danced the Tango - Marty did not!
From Ushuaia (the world’s southernmost city), they cruised to the Falkland Islands and then east to South Georgia Island. They saw the 45-mile wide, 3,000 foot tall, 6-mile deep D30-A iceberg, which had broken off the tip of Antarctica about 3 years ago and has been floating around ever since. They then sailed all the way to Antarctica, a 6-day crossing. Marty discussed the wildlife in depth. They saw a few orcas, a lot of humpback whales, 4 species of penguins (there are 3 million penguins in Antarctica), skua birds, leopard seals, and elephant seals. The skuas and seals are major predators of penguins; the skuas while the penguins are out of the water and the seals while they are swimming. They also saw lots of icebergs, especially in Antarctica itself. Throughout the trip they feasted on excellent food and lived luxuriously while not traveling around on small boats in freezing water and running around on icebergs. In fact, when not making crossings, they were able to get off Le Lyrial almost every day.
Marty also discussed the role of Antarctica in global warming. Antarctica is home to 70% of the earth’s ice. The good news is that global warming in Antarctica has been less profound than in the north. There is so much ice that Antarctica makes its own weather. Studies show that warming of the earth by 10 degrees centigrade will melt all the Antarctic ice. Florida and California’s Central Valley would be completely underwater. On South Georgia Island they spent time at the island’s main town, Grytviken. An explorer, Ernest Shackleton, led several British expeditions to the Antarctic. After failing to be the first to reach the south pole, Shackleton attempted to cross Antarctica from sea to sea via the pole in the Trans-Antarctica Expedition 1914-1916. The mission ended in failure when the main ship became trapped in ice. The members all ultimately survived but it took 21 months for the entire crew to get back to Grytviken from Antarctica. Shackleton died in South Georgia and was buried in Grytviken.
Many thanks to Marty for the great presentation of Marty and Milo’s great adventure!
Click HERE to see a limited-time recording of Marty's trip to Antarctica.
