How many of you are there on the ship?
Marie-Pierre Nault, age 10
At the moment, there are 16 of us on board. This winter, we’ll be down to 13.
Are you afraid you’ll never come back?
Michelle Beaudoin, 11 ans
No! This is simply because we’re always very careful not to get ourselves into dangerous situations. As an example, I myself spent six months in Antarctica before taking part in this expedition. I got to know ice and learned how to watch for crevasses on glaciers.
How does electricity work on board the ship?
Jérémie Couture, age 11
On board Sedna, we have three generators producing electricity. These generators run on diesel and are very noisy.
Do you melt ice to get drinking water?
Maxime
On board Sedna, we have an apparatus called a “reverse osmosis watermaker ”. The reverse osmosis watermaker forces the saltwater from the sea through a series of filters to extract all of the salt. The water that comes out no longer contains any salt at al, so it is drinkable. We use this water for showers, laundry, dishwashing, the heads (toilets), and so on.
Are you cold?
Jérôme
Where we are, it is now summertime. Whatever season it is in the northern hemisphere, it is the opposite season in the southern hemisphere. So, it’s not very cold yet. This afternoon, it’s about 11 degrees Celsius outdoors. When it’s summer in Quebec, it will be winter here in Antarctica. And that’s when we’ll take out our warm winter coats (while you’ll be taking out your swimsuit to go swimming!).
How do you feel about being so far from your families?
Laurence Beaucage-Bélisle, age 10
When you have a spirit for adventure, it often means leaving your family behind. It’s not that we adventurers don’t love our families. It’s more that our thirst for adventure is so strong that we always need to go out and discover new things. On the Sedna, we are, in a way, a big family. We share everything: work, chores, leisure time, etc. Just like a real family. What’s more, we do have a phone and are able to send and receive email, so we won’t feel too lonely!
Does the ship sail at night?
Annie Gauthier, age 11
Yes indeed! We have two captains. René takes the helm from 6:00 in the morning until noon, then Marcel takes over from noon until 6 p.m. Then it’s René’s turn again from 6 p.m. until midnight, then back to Marcel from midnight to 6 a.m. At night, the other crewmembers also assist the captain. In the dark, navigation is trickier. You have to keep your eyes open so you don’t ram into an iceberg!
How do you avoid colliding with icebergs?
Philippe
On the surface of the water, there are often a great many chunks of ice—especially where we are, in Antarctica! Icebergs come in all shapes and sizes. The big icebergs are easy to spot on the radar: they show up as a spot on the screen, and the captain can therefore easily avoid them. This technology was not yet available when the Titanic sailed...and you know what happened to the Titanic! But since we are able to see the big icebergs from several kilometres away on the radar, we don’t run the risk of running into one. We do often run into small icebergs (called berglets by sailors... cute name, don’t you think?). But they are very small and do no damage to the ship’s hull, because it is quite robust. The worst thing about it is that the noise of the berglets hitting the hull sometimes raises quite a din! Oftentimes, this wakes me up at night. But just like anything else, you get used to it.
How do you manage to communicate with the outside world from the Sedna?
Sophie
On board Sedna, we have a very sophisticated system for communicating by phone or email. We have several types of phone line link-ups of varying quality (and cost, ranging between $1.50 and $5.00 per minute). When we give live radio interviews, we use the high-quality line. Otherwise, there is a great deal of static and we have a hard time understanding.
In addition to the phone link-up, we have Internet access, but it’s very expensive ($15 per minute). So not only can we send and receive email, we can also give live television interviews (with video!). We hook our camera up to the computer and use iChat or MSN software to communicate with people. People can see us on screen and we can converse! Maybe you’ve seen us on Radio-Canada TV.
Have you ever touched a humpback whale?
Karine Bergeron Bourque, age 11
No, I never touch animals. I really don’t want to disturb them, hurt them or frighten them. It’s better to observe them without touching them.
What animal did you most like seeing?
Maude Trudel, age 10
I love birds. The bird that impressed me the most was the wandering albatross. It is the world’s biggest bird that is able to fly. The wingspan of an albatross can be as much as 3.6 metres!
How do penguins avoid freezing their feet when it gets very cold?
Lucille
Penguins are very well adapted to life in the cold. Like species of animals that live in the Arctic, Antarctic penguins possess a protein (which I like to call the “antifreeze protein”) in the skin of their feet. This protein prevents the formation of ice crystals in their tissue, which protects them from chilblain. Like the carpenter who lives in a run-down house I, who study how animals adapt to the cold, and who discovered this protein in birds’ feet…I like the cold, but my feet are always frozen!
Are there pingouins in Antarctica?
Joëlle
(Translator’s note: The question was in French: “Est-ce qu'il y a des pingouins en Antarctique ?” Pascale’s reply explains the difference between les pingouins, found only in the Arctic, and les manchots, found in Antarctica.)
Many people confuse les manchots (the penguins found in Antarctica) and les pingouins (the penguins found in the Arctic, also called auks). Yet these two species are quite different. Les pingouins live exclusively in the northern hemisphere of our planet and are capable of flight. Les manchots, on the other hand, live exclusively in the southern hemisphere—and they can’t fly! So the birds that we see waddling around the icepack in Antarctica are les manchots, and not les pingouins!
Does global warming affect land animals?
Sébastien
Penguins spend part of their life on the land (or ice) of Antarctica. Penguins, like all species of plants and animals, are very vulnerable to climate change. This is because the changes now taking place are happening so fast that these species don’t have time to adapt. So plants and animals die and are replaced by other species. Indeed, there are species that are disappearing off the face of the earth! This is what is now happening to polar bears in the Arctic. The bears need ice to hunt seals, and since there is less and less ice, the bears no longer get enough to eat. Here in Antarctica, there are no polar bears. But the Adelie penguins are no longer able to reproduce because they lay their eggs in puddles that form when the snow melts. This is why the Adelie penguin population has been in decline for several years. And as the Adelie penguins nest in the same place from year to year, they continue to nest in these puddles of water. If things continue the way they’re going, Adelie penguins will completely disappear from the Antarctic Peninsula within a few decades.
This is all very sad. I hope that people like you, who are interested in animals that are vulnerable to climate change will continue to help us in our grand mission to help them!
Are there insects in Antarctica?
Isabelle
In Antarctica, there is only one kind of animal considered to be a “land animal” (that is to say, an animal that lives out its entire life on land). This is the Antarctic fly, or Belgica Antarctica, a wingless (and flightless) midge that measures 2 to 3 millimetres long! The Antarctic fly hides in the moss and the small amount of vegetation found on the land. A very curious little creature indeed, this Belgica Antarctica!
Do penguins have fur?
Sabrina
In fact, penguins do not have fur. They have feathers…like all birds. Do you know another characteristic that all birds share? There are many, but I will tell you two: (1) they lay eggs and (2) they have a beak.
Does global warming affect life in the oceans?
Sandra
Climatic warming affects marine organisms. For example, let’s look at the impact of glacial ice melt. With global warming, glaciers (which are made of ice and snow) melt. In the area where we are, the glaciers are melting twice as fast as they were 13 years ago! And all that melting ice becomes water that runs off into the sea, carrying with it enormous quantities of sediments (debris such as rocks, sand and mud). These sediments are then in the water. They block out light for the algae and settle to the bottom on top of the starfish, marine sponges and other organisms that live on the sea floor. Marine life is thus impoverished, because life is tremendously dependent on the light used by the algae to perform photosynthesis.
The warming of the water also causes huge changes in sea currents. And since one of the roles of these currents is to transport the nutritive elements necessary to the life of small organisms (phytoplankton and zooplankton), climatic warming depletes marine life in the oceans significantly.
On board Sedna, we study the temperature and the salinity of the water all along the Antarctic Peninsula. The water’s salinity will change significantly because of the melting glaciers: the more the glaciers melt (producing fresh water), the less salty the neighbouring waters will be...
Do you think your expedition is impressive?
Émilie Constantineau, age 11
It’s true that our mission is quite ambitious. We are doing things that are important for the planet. I am in charge of scientific research conducted aboard ship to study the effects of climatic warming. We are doing important work.
Has Sedna ever sunk?
Cédric
The Sedna IV has never sunk, but she did once run aground. In 2002, in the Arctic, Sedna IV got caught in very shallow water that was not shown on the nautical charts. Fortunately, the tide gently lifted Sedna free. That was a very close call!
Do funny things happen on the ship, or is everyone always serious?
Malivai
I must say that I find our captain, Marcel Dubé, to be the funniest person on board. He sings, he dances, and he loves to tell me funny stories to make me laugh. I laugh a lot on board Sedna, because Marcel makes me laugh. We also laugh a lot around the table at suppertime. Sometimes, Joëlle even makes faces at Amélie while she’s eating, and it makes her laugh a lot.
And finally, my mother asks...
“Are you taking your vitamins, sweetie?”
Yes, Mama, your little girl is taking her vitamins...
Bye bye !
Pascale
