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| Me and a few Gentoo penguins on Saunders Island, Antarctica, on January 26, 2018. What an experience! |
“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”
“One of the most curious facts about Ireland takes place in the town of Killorglin in the Reeks District. Here, a festival known as the Puck Fair sees a goat crowned as King Puck for three days. The Queen of Puck, traditionally a local young schoolgirl, crowns the goat.”
When we noticed this news story from a popular news source in the UK, we researched to ensure this story was true. We all know how sensationalism is rampant in the press.
Having been to Antarctica on one of the most amazing small ship cruises, Ponant Le Boreal, heading out on Zodiac boats often twice a day was an experience we’ll never forget.
The price was high for this cruise but, in the end, we understood the reasons for the higher cruise fare. It was truly a life-changing experience that will remain at the forefront of our minds about past and future cruises.
When we confirmed the story was true, we decided to share it here. Having visited Saunders Island on that Antarctica cruise, this story suddenly had special meaning for us.
Following is the story from the news source that we discovered a few days ago and this photo from the article:
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| Not our photo (obviously). Antarctica: The active volcano sits on Saunders Island near Antarctica, as seen from space. |
“Antarctica SHOCK: Scientists have found a monstrous LAVA lake under a sub-Antarctic island
ANTARCTICA scientists have just discovered a never-seen-before lake of bubbling lava under an Island in the sub-Antarctic circle.
The shocking discovery was made by the British Antarctic Survey using powerful satellite imagery of the Southern Hemisphere. The Antarctic survey confirmed the presence of molten lava in the crater of Mount Michael, an active volcano on Saunders Island.
The small island in the sub-Antarctica circle is part of the British Overseas Territory (BOT) in the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica’s icy continent. But the fascinating part of the discovery is the lava lake is the eighth of its kind to be found on Earth.
“Identifying the lava lake has improved our understanding of the volcanic activity and hazard on this remote island, and tells us more about these rare features, and finally, it has helped us develop techniques to monitor volcanoes from space.”
The incredible findings were submitted to the latest issues of the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.
The researcher’s paper reads: “This is the first evidence for a lava lake within Mt Michael from data that can resolve the crater floor, and the first evidence for magmatic temperatures.
“As thermal anomalies were detected in all images showing the crater, we suggest that the lava lake is a common and persistent feature.” This is not, however, the first time scientists have suspected the presence of a magma lake in Mount Michael.
Mount Michael is an active stratovolcano on Saunders Island in the South Sandwich Islands. This small grouping of islands sits in the Southern Atlantic Ocean near Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.”
While on the Big Island in Hawaii in 2014, we were able to see the lava spewing from Mount Kilauea. Of course, we never knew of, nor did we see, the volcano. From our position close to the beach, it wouldn’t have been possible.
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| This is a photo I took of a photo of when the lava crossed Apa’a Street on October 25th. See this link for a news report. See our post from this date. Please click here. |
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| This was my favorite shot from the evening with the backdrop of the glow from Mount Kilauea. For more photos, please click here. |
Even the quiet, uneventful days can bring adventure into our hearts and minds. All we have to do is “Dream, Dream, Dream.”
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| A calf is born weighing 100 to 150 pounds and measuring in at 6 feet tall. A calf will begin to forage at about four months old. For more photos, please click here. |