Poseidon Expeditions Blog

Poseidon Expeditions // May 22, 2018

Kings of the Southern Ocean: 9 Delightful Facts About the King Penguin

Generous, athletic, caring, and gregarious — with all their charms, it's no wonder King Penguins often serve as the quintessential image of the black and white bird.

These dapper, distinguished birds are much more than feature film fodder, though and boast some pretty impressive features.

In no particular order, here are our nine favorite facts about the King Penguin:

Poseidon Expeditions // May 16, 2018

How To Leave a Smaller Footprint When You Travel

We travel because we love seeing the world and all its splendor.

Poseidon, like many of our friendly competitors within the expedition ship segment of the cruise industry, is always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly. Poseidon is also a member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), which advocates and promotes the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic.

Poseidon Expeditions // May 10, 2018

South Georgia is rodent-free: How they did it and why it matters

South Georgia's birds are a bit safer this week after a years-long project to rid the island of invasive rodent species was complete.

The Scottish-based South Georgia Heritage Trust Habitat Restoration Project (SGHT) announced on May 9 the long, narrow, mountainous and glaciated island located in the southern Atlantic Ocean was free of rodents for the first time in at least 200 years.

Poseidon Expeditions // April 10, 2018

The Sea Spirit's State-of-the-Art Stabilizers | Poseidon Expeditions

Polar adventurers aboard Poseidon Expedition’s 114-passenger vessel Sea Spirit will now benefit from advanced technology when the ship is equipped with new retractable fin stabilizers next year.

The 4,200-GRT vessel will be retrofitted with Rolls-Royce Zero Speed Stabilizers during the scheduled dry dock in May 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal, just prior to the commencement of the 2019 Arctic season.

Poseidon Expeditions // March 14, 2018

Polar Bears – An Insider's Perspective

A quick browse of the internet brings plenty of information about the king of the Arctic region – Ursus maritimus – commonly known as the polar bear or ice bear. But what are the thoughts and anecdotes of someone who’s worked in polar bear territory for more than a decade? What can she tell us that you won’t find in Wikipedia?

Meet Anja Erdmann, one of Poseidon’s expedition leaders who can tell us plenty of stories about polar bear encounters. Growing up in Werder/Havel, in the eastern zone of Germany near Berlin prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, she adopted the Arctic as her second home as a young adult, one she would quickly grow to love. We had a chance to catch up with her shortly before she was heading to Antarctica, to finish the current season as expedition leader of the 114-passenger Sea Spirit before the ship makes its way north to begin the 2018 Arctic season in late May.

Poseidon Expeditions // November 27, 2017

The Midnight Sun and More from West Greenland

So, you think far-flung Greenland is just a travel dream? Think again. This Arctic country and largest island in the worldis undeniably huge, but a trip focused on western Greenland offers a breathtaking range of sights, from Disko Bay’s iceberg-studded waters to valleys so immense you’ll feel like the last hiker on Earth. Consider just some of the following experiences, and before you know it you’ll be blinking in wonder under the midnight sun.

Steve Wellmeier // November 22, 2017

The Search is On...

Photograph the white penguin and the champagne will be on us!

After reports surfaced from Antarctica a few years ago when an expedition ship passenger photographed a chinstrap penguin with a rare genetic abnormality – isabellinism – our Sea Spirit expedition team has kept their collective eyes peeled for such a unique specimen.

Sometimes confused with albinism, which is an animal’s inability to produce melanin, isabellinism happens when normally black, grey or dark brown feathers appear greyish-yellow or pale brown. This condition isn’t restricted to a particular breed of bird; it has been noted in 12 of the 17 species of penguin, including the Adélie, gentoo and chinstrap in the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands.

Steve Wellmeier // November 17, 2017

A Front line View of the Falklands and South Georgia

“The stark polar lands grip the hearts of men who have lived on them in a manner hardly understood by people who’ve never got beyond the pale of civilization.”

—Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton

After two days at sea from Puerto Madryn, Argentina, we make a morning landing to observe birds near a small settlement on Carcass Island in the Falklands. The number of species in the Falklands (over 200) is impressive. These islands, we’re told, have more striated caracaras, slender-beaked prions and pale-mantled sooty albatrosses than anywhere else in the world.

Lauren Farmer // October 23, 2017

Citizens Science Project "GLOBE Observer" – Passengers Measuring Data at the North Pole

Part Two – Observing the Atmosphere and Melt Ponds in the High LatitudesGuest blog post by Poseidon expedition team members Lauren Farmer and Alex Cowen.

(Note: in our last blog post, we covered how we enlist the assistance of our passengers to help measure and observe sea ice and meteorology during our voyages to the North Pole.)

Lauren Farmer // October 16, 2017

Citizens Science Project "Ice Watch" – Passengers Measuring Data at the North Pole

Guest blog post by Poseidon expedition team members Lauren Farmer and Alex Cowen.

Part One – Measuring and Observing Sea Ice in the High LatitudesThis past July, Poseidon’s North Pole expedition team once again carried out an ambitious citizen science program with our guests aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker, 50 let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory).

Since 2015, the two of us, along with marine biologist Annette Bombosch, have been working with the International Arctic Research Center and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth to collect valuable sea ice data, which is readily available to the research community through a program called Ice Watch.

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