The afternoon sun is hiding on the horizon. I walk on the wet sand, the foam of the waves on my boots. Winter is already arriving in these latitud. I find it hard to adapt to this abrupt change of climate. From the torrid tropical lands of South America to the cold northern regions of Alaska.
I enjoy the last days of sunlight to enter the winter of darkness. They say some people get depressed. Suicide cases are high among foreigners who have ventured to Alaska. This winter will be my trial by fire. Will I get depressed? it's possible. The important thing is that I get through it. I am looking forward to it, but I think I will enjoy this adventure.
Where I come from, the sea is blue and golden sands. There are seagulls and pelicans. Here there are seals and walruses lying on the ice, with their big tusks. Through my glasses I see Professor Fairbanks approaching.
“¡Mariana, there is a storm coming and the temperature is dropping very low. What are you doing out there in the water? Let's go to camp.”
I'm coming Professor Fairbanks, I was watching the sunset and taking some pictures of the walruses resting. Have you noticed that the seals haven't migrated south? They should have by now.”
“You are right Mariana. Tonigth we are going to do an assessment to analyze what might be going on, the temperature is already dropping.”
The dogs drag the sleds over the ice and quickly approach the camp buildings. I walk down the hallway leading to the rooms and meet Antonio my co-worker on this project. He is a man of 40 years old, dark, born in Brazil and is dedicated to the study and research of climate change in different parts of the world.
“¡Hello Mariana, how was your tour?”
“It went well Antonio, although we saw some strange behavior from the seals and also from the walruses.¡Uff! I was freezing out there. The wind was very strong.”
“I guess we are going to meet up after dinner. I have something to tell you too. Go change those clothes so you don't catch a cold.”
Mariana is a simple and thin girl, with short black hair, very nice and always smiling. She arrives at her room, a bed, a bedside table in one corner and her clothes hanging in a small closet. The wooden floor and white walls give a clean feeling. A small window allows you to see the great masses of white ice and the mountains to the south.
The whole team dines, the meal is grilled salmon, potatoes and some frozen blackberries with vanilla ice cream for dessert. After a cup of coffee they go to the lounge where they meet.
“Today has been a day of many surprises in the Arctic and we are just a week into winter and this place where we are should already be showing signs that living organisms are preparing for changes or migrating to less cold areas”, saids the professor ”
“I have been taking temperature measurements near the coast and they are really very high, well above average. There I found a cave and I have seen some seals going in there and so far I have not seen them coming out. It is strange that this cave has not been reported in any of the previous reports,” Antonio explains.“We have to organize an expedition to find out what is going on”.
That same night they organize the expedition, Antonio coordinates it, Mariana goes as the marine fauna specialist, John the geologist and Sebastian the photography expert. At 6 a.m. the next day they set off for the cavern.
Upon arrival they observe some seals entering and begin to follow them, the cavern is very dark and seems deep. The walls and floor are made of ice, but when they have covered about three kilometers, the path begins to descend like a slide and forces them to slide down. When they reach the bottom, the temperature has risen a few degrees and the ice has begun to melt and they can see a dark stone with white tones. “Its quartz” says Jhon.
“¡Look... there are seal tracks and excrement here, it looks like they have been here for a while”, Mariana tells them as she observes and wonders “Why the seals are looking for this place?” This is an important find, she thinks, and while she is excited, she is also a little scared.
While they are talking, Sebastian is taking pictures. Let's move on, Antonio tells them, we need to go back today.
“When was this cavern formed?” Sebastian asks.
“It was formed many years ago, it just wasn't open, it must have happened after last year's earthquake” answers Jhon.
“And now the seals are using it either for shelter from the weather, which doesn't seem very logical to me, or as a natural passageway,” Mariana tells them.
As they continue walking they begin to feel warm, the temperature is almost 20 degrees Celsius, there is no more ice in the cavern and they begin to observe insects and spiders that walk along the walls and hide through the openings.
“Look at these butterflies, they look tropical," Mariana points out to them as she tries to take some insects as samples.
They arrive at a crossroads where there are several trails and decide which one to take, where they continue to see seal droppings.
The heat they felt gives way again to cold, the walls are covered with ice. They have lost track of time. The clocks have stopped. They continue walking, amazed by everything they see. They do not feel hungry or thirsty, only the desire to get somewhere. On the way they meet some seals and Mariana observes that they belong to the group she has been studying, they have the tags on their legs. A light indicates that they are reaching the end of the cave.
When they get out, they are amazed to see a colony of seals, but also penguins. The sky is very blue, although it is very cold and the wind is very strong.
Where are we? it should be night and penguins only live in Antarctica? are the questions Mariana asks herself, while her companions look around in amazement.
After walking for a while, very tired, hungry and almost without strength, they arrive at an Argentinean Base. There they are attended to and as soon as they can they communicate with Professor Fairbanks.
“Hello professor”, says Antonio.
“What happened, they had not communicated and we were worried. I sent a group to the cavern and they couldn't find it.”
“You won't believe what I'm about to tell you Professor, but at this moment we are in Antarctica. Somehow I can't explain... the cavern brought us here. We are all fine.”
“And we know where the seals are going," says Mariana with a smile.
The image of the presentation was edited in Canva with free use photographs.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)