Collection XP: Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary Family CollectionSeries: North Pole Diaries
[double underline] C. Columbia [/double underline]
16 ret. m. 61 d.
Wed-Thurs. Apr. 22-23
8.-a.m. Apr. 23
My life work is [ended - crossed out] accomplished. The thing which it was intended from the beginning that I should do, the thing which I believed could be done, & that I could do, I have done.
I have got the North Pole out of my system.
After 23 yrs. of effort, hard work, disappointments, hardships, privations, more or less suffering & some risks, I have won the last, great, geographical prize, the North Pole, for the credit of the U.S., the Service to which I belong, myself, & my family.
My work is the finish, the cap & the climax, of 300 years of effort, loss of life, & expenditure of millions, by some of the best men of the civilized nations of
Have you ever seen the Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri)? During breeding season, males sport green plumage in a pattern that's reminiscent of glasses. While this doesn't make their vision sharper, it does help males stand out from the crowd.For the rest of the year, they revert to mottled-brown plumage, similar to females, which have more subdued spectacles year-round. This duck is unique in that it lives in the frigid high Arctic. It sustains itself on a diet of mostly mollusks and crustaceans, diving to pluck prey from the ocean floor.
Photo: Olaf Oliviero Riemer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Endurance frozen in the ice, 1914-1917. Frank Hurley
Platinum print.
The Endurance was an exploration ship that became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica in 1915. It was Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The ship was squeezed by the ice for ten months before being crushed, but the crew all survived.
Found in the polar Arctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia, the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is perfectly equipped for life below zero. This carnivore reduces its exposure to winter weather through a variety of adaptations, including compact body size, small ears, and short limbs. But the Arctic fox is also a seasonal fashionista. During winter, this species sports a dense coat of white fur that helps insulate it from the cold. Did you know? It can withstand temperatures of up to −90°F (-67.8°C). By comparison, frostbite can affect humans at temperatures below 31°F (-0.6°C)!