Part Two
In this second interview with the Wimberley View, National Geographic award-winning photographer and Wimberley resident Rodney Bursiel and Australian filmmaker James Douglas Cooper continue their conversation about their expedition to Antarctica last month to film the documentary, “True South: An Antarctica Story.” Here is Part Two of their story.
Wimberley View: Why Antarctica?
Bursiel: Some time ago, I caught the tail end of a documentary that my Dad was watching on TV about Ernest Shackleton and the 2015 book, “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage,” by Alfred Lansing. (Editor’s note: Lansing narrates the harrowing tale of the British explorer’s 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, an extraordinary feat that defined heroism for the modern age.) If you haven’t read the book, it is, in my opinion, the best book ever written. It’s the most amazing story of survival ever. It’s 1914, so there’s no Gore Tex, no North Face, no Patagonia. These guys are wearing reindeer skins and they’re going to cross the Antarctic. Ever since then, I’ve been enamored with this kind of adventure.
Cooper: I never expected to go to Antarctica. But you called and I recognized it as a sort of literal call to adven- ture. I could either refuse the call or open up to it. And then, we had an amazing community come up around us, lift us up and send us off.
Wimberley View: Can you describe being there?
Bursiel: It’s like being in a decompression chamber because it’s so quiet. Other than the sounds of the boat and the noises from the wildlife, there was nothing else. I was out on the bow of the boat, and I was by myself and I couldn’t hear any voices. I could hear the ice crackling and the sounds of the penguins in the background and the whales coming up and blowing, but other than that, there was nothing. It was indescribable. There’s no place on this planet where you can get away from all the noise. It was like a cleansing for the brain.
Cooper: We both had crazy dreams. . .
Bursiel: Everyone did, not just us. Everyone on the boat was talking about having some really strange dreams. Remember the morning I asked you if I was talking last night?
Cooper: Yes, you were talking about some very weird stuff.
Bursiel: Usually when I have a dream, I’ll partly remember it or how it made me feel. But the dreams I had there, I don’t even remember what they were.
Cooper: I had life review dreams where suddenly I’m seeing the girl I took to the high school dance. I remember the first time I walked. I’m hanging out with my grandparents who have passed away and I’m thinking, are we still in this life? It felt otherworldly and transcendental. . .
Bursiel: It’s funny. Apparently, on WiFi, I could occasionally receive calls. Somehow a call came through from a caller about some prescription issue. I’ve never been more irritated in my life. Dealing with real world problems in the middle of this place was an atrocity.
Cooper: I heard you from the other end of the boat. “Now is not a good time. . .” “That’s not convenient . . . ”
Bursiel: To be disturbed by real world stuff in this place. . .
Cooper: It is worth saying that I don’t think we had a solid night of sleep for twenty six nights. That affects your lens when you’re operating at a certain level of fatigue.
Wimberley View: Did the wildlife meet with your expectations?
Bursiel: Just about everywhere we went in Port Chacot, there were just hundreds and thousands of penguins and seals and whales everywhere.
Cooper: When we came ashore on South Shetland and Deception islands the terrain looked like Mars or the moon. I needed a moment to take it in before I started looking at the wildlife. But I don’t think I could have been prepared for what I saw.
Bursiel: There are rules to protect the wildlife and we were supposed to stay 15 feet away.
Cooper: But it’s impossible because there are so many. . .
Bursiel: . . . and they just come right up to you. There was this one elephant seal. He was sleeping and I’m just waiting for him to wake up and yawn. And then I look over in the distance and see a big smoke cloud coming up. And I thought that it must have been a hot spring or something. I walked over that way and I counted 28 elephant seals just all wadded together.
Cooper: They sounded like a bunch of old men.
Bursiel: . . . making horrible sounds Cooper: . . . and horrible smells.
Bursiel: They were constantly shifting and changing and getting irritated with each other and then they’d rear up with their mouths open and I could get a photo.
Cooper: In terms of wildlife, I think the humpbacks were the key for me. They seemed so majestic, almost spiritual.
The first time we got in the water with our underwater housings and we’re just bobbing for a minute, I looked over at you and thought, “This is happening, Rodney.” And not far off was a humpback. I felt totally safe, totally connected to the animal and to the experience.
Bursiel: The only animals in the water with us were seals, whales and penguins. Nothing coming up from the deep.
And then I hear a lot of splashing and hundreds of penguins are just coming right at me and I’m in the middle of them. And then the humpback came behind because they were working together. The penguins knew where the food was. There were just so many great moments.
Wimberley View: Do you feel changed in any way?
Cooper: I am forever changed by seeing that landscape and being right up close with the animals we saw. I felt the energy of the place, the intensity of “big nature.” My perspective changed. I was tiny and everything else was massive. It’s humbling and it also made me think, “What’s the deal with always checking our emails?” We get so myopic, so task-focused in our day-to-day life. This massive nature reminded me that we’re distracted from the elemental forces of the world. I think I totally surrendered to Antarctica.
Bursiel: This is by far the most extreme trip I’ve ever made, in terms of the time frame and what it took to get there. I’ve been in front of just about every Apex predator there is, from saltwater crocodiles to great white sharks to tiger sharks to killer whales and now leopard seals. Of all the trips I’ve taken during my life, nothing compares to the response I’ve gotten from people when I shared our plans to travel to Antarctica. You’ve felt it too. There’s just something about Antarctica… Cooper: There’s a sense of danger, of risk, of the extreme distance. I think people resonate with the sense of danger and they ask themselves, “Could I do that?” Antarctica carries with it a powerful mystique. I’m so glad I’ve seen it in my lifetime.
Wimberley View: Upon returning, what was the one thing that truly said, “you’re home”?
Cooper: I can’t speak to that since I haven’t been home since January 7 because of the fires in L.A. (Editor’s note: Cooper was evacuated from his neighborhood because of the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles from January 7 to 31.)
Bursiel: And now it is March 5.
Cooper: I will probably have that experience when I truly get back to my home, but getting into a bed and getting a cup of coffee in town this morning was beyond great. Having fish and chips last night. . . I was so grateful to have it.
Bursiel: One of the greatest things about traveling is coming home. All of my adult life, I’ve never had a dog but I have one now named Luna. Every day on the trip, I found myself missing her. Coming home, walking in the door and having her jump up on me was just pure love. I’m hesitant to go anywhere anytime soon because I don’t want to leave her again. That damn dog has made my house my home now. I love coming home.
