Schenck travels to Antarctica

Dr. Jeb Schenck recently traveled to the continent of Antarctica with his daughter, Jessie Cruickshank, on December 1 and returned on December 11. They first traveled through Buenos Aires, Argentina then took a small cruise ship with almost 70 other professional photographers to the Antarctic Peninsula. 

Schenck said about their ten days on the sea, "We have never been on a ship before. We were concerned about crossing the Drake, which is the roughest seas in the world and our conditions were considered mild with 9 to 13-foot high waves. We later encountered 17, 18-foot high waves coming back. Jess was sick. I was on medications. And I had serious problems with walking and stability. I was just being slammed all over the place. Our cabin was the most forward cabin of the whole ship, right next to the anchor chains. And it was like being way out on a teeter-totter. We were bounced up and down more than any other cabin."

Along the way, they made many stops and used Zodiacs to reach the shores. Zodiacs are small inflated boats that hold about eight to ten people in them and use a motor to steer. They are able to maneuver over ocean waves and are easy to move around. 

Schenck added, "The first place was just a series of narrow passages with incredible waves or pulses of waves coming through them, which we rode on Zodiacs. There was no landing. And we even went through a tunnel at one point which two other Zodiac drivers decided against. They didn't feel we had the skills to do it."

Regarding accessing the shore, Schenck said, "We were very specific. Places were found on shore with a crew ahead of time. And we had to go through a very precise procedure to get on and off. Our boots had to be disinfected, getting even on to the Zodiac and our boots had to be again disinfected before we got back on the ship. That was so we did not bring or introduce viruses or bacteria infections to the native animals."

Schenck explained that the routine of disinfection of their boots was also to protect one colony from another colony of birds. Schenck said, "It's very important because a number of these species are endangered. Plus, it's also economically important because Antarctic cruises are a huge multimillion-dollar business. And so everybody involved has a huge vested interest in the health of the animal population."

During their many stops along the Antarctica continent, Schenck photographed a number of species of penguins, humpback whales, and orcas. They also went through the Lemere passage. Schenck said it had "extraordinary rock and ice peaks on either side and a few colonies of penguins. And it was very beautiful. But we had to just virtually go zigzagging through at the other end of it."

One day, as part of the passengers' trip, some participated in the "polar plunge." Schenck's daughter Jessie was brave enough to jump into the frigid water of the Antarctic seas. Schenck said, "But first they had to push out an iceberg about the size of a house. They had dozens of people who were jumping."

They also observed many huge icebergs that are about 90% underwater. Schenck said they were about the size of a couple of gymnasiums or a football field. Some icebergs were as big as all of Thermopolis. He added, "You have to be careful because, without warning, they can roll over and push out of a huge wave."

Emotionally about his trip, Schenck said, "I was very nervous about the Drake Passage, but excited because this was a major bucket list trip, 52 years in the making." Schenck wanted to visit Antarctica when he was already a professional mountain guide on Mount McKinley or Denali. He said, "I was supposed to go down when I was 19 and I was told basically I was too young. And that was the same year I met the girl who would become my wife. So my plans all changed."

While on his photography trip, Schenck said he was frustrated because of his back injuries and new regulations for the passengers. He said, "Because of the infections, you're not allowed to sit or lie down to get angles for the best angles for photographing the penguins. And that was a brand-new regulation. Understandable. But I wasn't able to make my best shots because I couldn't squat down, I couldn't lie down, and I couldn't get the angles I wanted. But I did get some stunning landscapes, and I got some good penguin shots."

Comparing this trip to other trips, Schenck went on, he said, "I've seen lots of mountains, lots of glaciers all around the world. But this was still incomparable. Nothing else compared to it. It's just so huge right from the sea. There were tens of thousands of penguins. Well, I've seen penguins before, but not like this. And I'd heard about the incredible color on some icebergs, but to see it just took your breath away. I've not seen anything like that before. And of course, big icebergs. Yeah. There's nothing else I can compare it to."