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Gulf Breeze High School
Gulf Breeze, Florida
Over the winter holidays, I was one of 75 students from the United States and Canada selected to travel to Antarctica with Students on Ice, an organization that takes students from around the world on expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic. Traveling with the students is an international team of scientists and polar experts. They usually make a trip during our winter to Antarctica and a trip during our summer to the Arctic region.
Our adventure started in Ushuiaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. There, we boarded the ice breaker "Polar Star" and headed into the Drake Passage toward the Antarctic Peninsula. After one and a half days of high seas, we reached our first stop, Point Wild, on Elephant Island, where very few humans have visited. Our expedition by Zodiac boats was the first of many in which we saw glaciers, icebergs, penguins, seals, and whales. During the next seven days, some unbelievable experiences unfolded: glaciers calved in front of us, penguins of different species greeted us, and we swam in the ocean and were warmed by volcanic sand. We frolicked in 24-hour daylight, and we formed bonds with each other, with nature, and with the only pristine continent on earth.
Rachel Harvey in Antarctica
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Our education team was comprised of world-renowned experts in their fields, some being the only representatives of their specialties. We participated in multiple lectures and workshops concerning wildlife, geography, and environmental concerns. Global warming was a central topic for our expedition. Antarctica, the untouched, undisturbed continent, proved to be the only place where hope for environmental preservation still exists. We calculated our individual carbon emissions from the beginning to the end of our journeys. Our Canadian members, upon returning home, planted a calculated number of trees to offset our carbon burden. Measures like this are the first steps to insuring our future on this planet, and show that we can compensate for our effect on the earth.
To learn more about exploring the Antarctic with Students on Ice and read students' expedition journals, visit www.studentsonice.com.
"STUDENTS ON ICE is an award-winning organization offering unique learning expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic. Our mandate is to provide students from around the world with inspiring educational opportunities at the ends of our earth, and in doing so, help them foster a new understanding and respect for our planet."