Dec 26, 2017: We are well on our way to Antarctica! When we got up this morning we were at 60 degrees south latitude. Sunrise is 3:48 am and sunset is at 10:55 pm at this position according to the ship's information board. While we were eating breakfast we entered a fog field and got to hear the Ship's fog horn blow three times.
The seas in the Drake Passage were pretty rough throughout the night with a lot of circular motion. Bow up, roll starboard, stern up, roll port. Repeat.This motion made for some interesting experiences laying down or walking around the cabin!
Another interesting presentation in the Mondriaan Lounge this morning "She's Gone Boys - Shackleton and the Story of the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition" by Gabriela Roldan.
This told the harrowing story of the Shackleton Expedition to cross the Antarctic. Their ship became ice-locked and they never set foot on Antarctica. They crossed open water in 3 lifeboats to Elephant Island
and then Shackleton and 4 others set off to South Georgia across open seas in the lifeboat James Caird to find a rescue ship. Surprisingly he was successful and all of the crew survived. An amazing story.
When we got out of the lecture and headed back to our room, we saw our first iceberg off the port side of the ship
*-*-*
We continued our journey south and made exceptional time. Soon we were seeing a snowy peak in the distance. At first it was ethereal and almost looked like clouds on the horizon
that were both white and shades of blue. When we found a map of where we were headed we decided it was one of the Shetland Islands - likely Smith Island.
Our first view of the area around Antarctica - perhaps Smith Island.
*-*-*
We arrived at the the coast of Antarctica around 6:30 PM and there are no words to desribe the visually breathtaking scene that is this land. It is not just white but an infinite varity of whites, blues and grays. Light and shadow dance together to create a landscape like no other.
It was a beautiful sunny evening with only a few clouds. It was around 35 degrees with relatively calm winds.
There was also a bounty of wild life from the elusive humpback whale of which was saw dozens but never really captured in a photograph to the adorable penguins that like to play on icebergs.
We spent the next 3 hours cruising in Dallman Bay between Brabant and Anvers Islands up to the Gerlache Strait. The next photos are all taken from this area.
A view of the mountains surrounding Dallman Bay.
*-*-*
An iceberg near shore in Dallman Bay
*-*-*
Along the shore of Dallman Bay
*-*-*
A beautiful cliff face in this rugged land. One of the differences between Antartica and the Arctic is that Antarctica has land below its extensive ice cap. In some areas, like this, the mountains poke through. In others, the ice is so heavy the land has been pushed down under the weight.
*-*-*
A permanent cloud over this mountain, Dallman Bay
*-*-*
Everyone clustered to take a photo of a whale in the bay. Not your average "warm-weather" cruise! As we later found out - this was a warm evening. Worse was yet to come in terms of weather.
*-*-*
The edge of a glacier. The lighting is perfect to see the deep shades of blue present in the packed ice.
*-*-*
A close-up of the ice wall. This wall is 50-70 feet high.
*-*-*
This is a typical view of an ice field. Sometimes the floating icebergs and floes are much bigger and sometimes they are just small chips of ice. But in all of the straits and bays they are ever-present.
An iceberg is a mass of (fresh water) ice that has broken off a glacier or ice sheet. An ice floe is a large pack of floating sea (salt water) ice.
*-*-*
This is the back of one of the humpback whales we saw. It was very hard to capture them photographically. After a while you stop trying to take the perfect picture. You just sit back, relax, look for the
water spouts (a couple of feet tall) just before they come out of the water and just watch them breach.
*-*-*
And if you are really lucky, you capture a tail before they go down again.
*-*-*
Another whale tail as the whale submerges. There is an adjacent whale about to breach because you can see the puff of the spout.
*-*-*
Humpback Whales breaching
*-*-*
Lori on deck enjoying the view
*-*-*
Here is a beautiful iceberg with a group of penguins playing. Once in the water the wind and the waves scuplt the icebergs into beautiful works of art.
*-*-*
A close up of the penguins playing. These, according to our guide, are chinstrap (two at upper left) and gentoo (cluster of five in the center) penguins.
The chinstrap penguins are named for the black stripe under their chin like the strap from a hat. The gentoo penguins have an all-black head with a white spot over their eyes.
*-*-*
Dec 27, 2017: Another gorgeous day dawned in the Antarctic. It was bright, sunny and a balmy 35-37 degrees. This morning in addition to the terrific scenery, a group of scientists and support folks from the US Palmer station came aboard to give a lecture on their research, answer questions about living in Antarctica and provide commentary as we participate in some scenic cruising in this area of Antarctica.
Today we were the furthest south we are going on this cruise at 64 degrees 57 minutes, South. We were just above the Antarctic circle. Sunrise was at 2:22 AM and sunset was at 12:11 AM - a little over 22 hours of daylight! It was really strange to have that much light.
Since we have a window in our cabin - we go to bed in daylight and wake up in daylight. And with it being light so late we find our bedtime gets later every day.
The talk by the Palmer Station folks was fascinating. There are three US stations: McMurdo Station, Palmer Island and South Pole Station.
The South Pole station is devoted mostly to astronomy because of the long winter nights (24 hours) and the atmosphere over the pole is compressed so it is thinner resulting in less shimmer and distortion of the stars.
Palmer and McMurdo are mostly performing biological and geological research. All three are funded by the National Science Foundation.
McMurdo Station has the largest contigent of people on Antarctica (of all nations represented).
Antarctic stations get supply deliveries only 2 times a year by ship and have warehouse buildings to store the supplies. The buildings have modern labs, internet connectivity, a cafeteria, gym, and sleeping quarters. People sign on for 6 month contracts and can stay for multiple tours. The biggest problem reported is a feeling of isolation and not being able to see family and friends for long stretches of time. Most of the participants seem to be young and unmarried, although they reported one married couple at Palmer Station.
Around 2 PM, we returned to the vicinity of Palmer Station and met with the two Zodiac boats that came out to pick up the scientists.
The crew of the Zaandam provide fresh fruits and vegetables for Palmer Station as a way of saying thanks!
As they left, many of the cruise passengers were out on decks cheering and clapping as the scientists sped away.
The Palmer Station scientists waving goodbye to the passengers on deck.
*-*-*
The Palmer Station "pirates" making of with their "booty" of fresh vegetables!
*-*-*
Some of the sights of Antartica as we cruised around a bay near Palmer Station and through the Neumayer Channel along the Antarctic peninsula.
A wind eroded icebeg evocative of Stonehenge
*-*-*
A beautiful granite monolith. Its sides are too steep to accumulate snow or ice.
*-*-*
Dramatic peaks on a small island or peninsula
*-*-*
As we cruised around the bay enjoying the different geography we passed by this formation which reminded me of an iguana hiding in a cave. He laying with his chin on the ground and is facing left to right. His eye is a bare patch of rock just behind his very bumpy nose. The vertical triangle of bare rock (at the photo's center) forms the separation between his head and shoulder. The ever-present cloud forms the cave overhang.
*-*-*
Another iceberg - this one very spikey and lumpy. The various shades of blue are captivating.
The darker blue beneath the water is the continuation of the ice below the surface. It extends down at least as far as the mass above the surface extends up.
*-*-*
Barry spent a lot of time on deck taking pictures in wind and cold. Here he had a tripod with him and took a self portrait.
*-*-*
This iceberg had a small penguin colony resting on-board. The ridges are deep enough for the penguins to lay in.
*-*-*
This iceberg is also occupied by penguins. The guide indicated they were probably enjoying the sun as a respite from fishing in the waters.
*-*-*
A close-up view of the penguins. These are Gentoo and Adele (A deli) penguins. Adele penguins have an all-black head.
*-*-*
This beautiful iceberg looked like an ice-castle. The blue in the alcove and window almost looks like it is being illuminated from within. It has a lagoon adjacent which is contained by the arms of the iceberg. The black dot on the near arm of the lagoon is a seal in the sun.
*-*-*
A close-up view of the seal in the ice castle. His tail flippers are sticking up.
*-*-*
After dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room, trivia in the Crow's Nest (we didn't do as well as previously), we headed to see a juggler in the Mondriaan Lounge: Luke Burrage. He was extremely good, very funny and thoroughly entertaining. We laughed so hard at his banter and were amazed by his juggling ability on a rolling ship.
Dec 28, 2017: This morning we were supposed to cruise the Gerlache Strait between the mainland and Anvers Island. Unfortunately the entrance was blocked by ice, it is snowing heavily and the winds are high. We are told this is more typical Antarctic weather and our last two days were our good fortune. We headed to an alternative viewing area in very rough seas in hopes that is is at least clear.
The bad weather held and the Captian determined it would not be safe to enter Gerlache Strait from the north end either as ice floes and bergs were blowing out from the waters of the strait.
The day was spent enveloped in fog with frequent snow showers that reduced visibility even further with a strong 45 knot wind blowing. The fog horn was sounding regularly. We have the benefit of radar which can pick up the icebergs we pass so that the ship can avoid them.
Today has brought us a small taste of the Antarctic weather that plagued early explorers. We can only imagine how scary it would have been 100 years ago when this area was first explored without benefit of the modern weather forecasting and technology. We are now heading to destination 3 for the day - Deception Island.
The weather has cleared a little and we have arrived at Deception island - named because its shape was deceiving. It looked very formidable and inhospitable with its high cliffs.
But on one side there was a breack in the rocks which allowed small ships to slip inside into a very safe harbor. In the 1800s it had a whaling station located in its welcoming interior.
It is a volcanic caldera which is filled in the center with water. The high walls around the periphery block the storms, wind, and waves.
This island is also the home to several hundred thousand chinstrap penguins.
The entrance to the natural harbor of Deception Island. The interior water is too shallow and the opening too narrow for our ship to enter.
*-*-*
A second partial caldera at Deception Island.
*-*-*
One of the Deception Island Chinstrap Penguin colonies. It is late in the day, still foggy and snowing lightly, thus the picture isn't really clear.
But each of the white specks is a penguin and the number of penguins is breathtaking. At the center of the picture, they are playing in the surf.
*-*-*
Dec 29, 2017: The morning dawned foggy, miserably cold and snowing heavily with 50-70 knot winds and we went hunting icebergs!
We had positioned ourselves in a path that would take us near, but not too near, several large icebergs. Unfortunately the weather, for the most part, didn't cooperate for pictures of the really big ones.
Proceeding slowly through the fog and snow, with fog horn sounding regularly was otherworldly. Then out of the mist a huge shape would slowly become visible and as the ship drew closer you could see the wall of ice. Some were almost as tall as the ship. Some were low and flat. One low iceberg we encountered was more than two miles long (according to radar). Wow!
We also saw many small ones with penguins and Barry got some terrific pictures.
One of the smaller icebergs materializing in the mist of fog and snow.
*-*-*
Ice on the railings at the ship's stern. The interior of the ship was cold, too. From the cabins to the lounges and the dining rooms - everywhere was cold. With all of the glass making up the exterior and
the number of people going in and out to the outside decks all day long, all of the passengers looked like refuges from a ski lodge in the Rockies, all bundled up.
*-*-*
Barry caught this little guy jumping back into the water.
*-*-*
A close-up of the jumping penguin - an Adele Penguin.
*-*-*
A group of Adele Penguins
*-*-*
More Adele Penguins
*-*-*
These Adele Penguins have struck some pretty comical poses
*-*-*
Another ice floe with a larger group of Adele penguins, including a pile to the left
*-*-*
Another iceberg which has broken in half with penguin passengers. One penguin to the left is a Gentoo penguin. The others look like Adele penguins.
*-*-*
During the day, Dr. Peter Carey gave a lecture: "Disaster and Luck, The 1902 Swedish Antarctic Expedition". This was a fascinating look at these early explorers where luck played a particularly serendipitous role in the survival of the entire team.
With the weather not cooperating for further exploration, our ship turned northward planning to pass Elephant Island (where Shackleton's men spent a really cold winter) and then head for our next stop, The Falkland Islands. When we got to Elephant Island, the fog and snow were still very thick and nothing could be seen.
So we bid Antarctica goodbye thankful for the two days of wonderful weather, the spectacular vistas, visually stunning landscapes, the plethora and variety of iceberg encounters and, oh yes - the penguins!
We were also glad to have experienced the more "normal' Antarctic adventure - fog, snow, cold, wind and slow speeds through somewhat dangerous icefields. No tale of an Antarctic Adventure would be complete without that!
