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By
Kerry Kells
Palmer correspondent
Palmer received an important visitor on Jan. 20 –
Her Royal Highness, Princess Anne, the only daughter of
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The princess was visiting Palmer Station for the first
time.
Princess Anne, patron of the United Kingdom Antarctic
Heritage Trust, was on an eight-day tour of the Antarctic
Peninsula aboard the British Royal Navy’s HMS Endurance.
The princess’ stops included the British Antarctic
Survey’s year-round Rothera Station; the Ukranian
Station, Vernadsky; Palmer Station and several historic
sites in the area.
Accompanying the princess were her husband, Rear Adm.
Timothy Laurence of the British Royal Navy; Jane Rumble
of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Philippa Foster
Back, chair of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust; Capt.
Nick Lambert of the Endurance; the helicopter crew and
a Royal Navy photographer.
This is the second visit to Antarctica by Princess Anne,
including her visit to Ross Island in February 2002 for
the 100th anniversary of Robert Scott’s arrival in
McMurdo Sound.
The Antarctic Heritage Trust researches and seeks to preserve
the Ross Island historic huts at Hut Point, Cape Evans
and Cape Royds, among other sites.
Princess Anne was given a tour of Palmer Station. A reception
rounded out the visit, after which the princess and her
husband departed the station.
There were plenty of other visitors over the last week
as Palmer’s tourist season remained in high gear.
Some of the cruise ships sent passengers for tours of
Palmer Station and some received off-shore lectures.
We began the week hosting eight passengers from the motorized
yacht Whale Song. This was followed by a cruise ship,
the National Geographic Endeavour, which had been chartered
by members of the World Presidents’ Organization.
These individuals had all been presidents or CEOs of a
business before they were 40 years old.
On Jan. 18, the cruise ship Ushuaia visited Palmer Station.
The following day, the sailing yacht Le Sourire, with
mostly French-Canadian passengers, arrived for a quick
tour of the station. The Rotterdam stopped near station
that afternoon and members of the community went out to
the ship to give presentations.
On Jan. 16, the R/V Laurence M. Gould came within sight
of Palmer Station again while taking high-density gridline
measurements for the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research
project.
Krill researcher Alex Lowe and our boating coordinator
went out to meet the LMG with a specially equipped Zodiac
to assist in sampling along the grid for the day.
Palmer rounded out the week with a sunny day and low winds
on Sunday, perfect for boating.
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