Day 6: Port Lockroy & Neko Harbor
January 2nd, 2015
“Glittering white, shining blue, raven black, in the light of the sun the land looks like a fairy tale.
Pinnacle after pinnacle, peak after peak, crevasses,
wild as any land on our globe, it lies unseen and untrodden.”
– Roald Amundsen
Pinnacle after pinnacle, peak after peak, crevasses,
wild as any land on our globe, it lies unseen and untrodden.”
– Roald Amundsen
This morning we woke up just off of Base Camp A, Port Lockroy – a British base set up on the peninsula during World War II that has been running summers-only as the southernmost gift shop in the world (yes, you can use your credit card in Antarctica) to help fund the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust since Port Lockroy was refurbished in 1996. We first had a quick orientation to the site from the staff – it’s small and there are penguins everywhere, so watch your step. We got to stop on a nearby island to see some courting Imperial Cormorants (Blue-eyed Shags) and a pair with a chick, as well as some blue whale bones between penguin nests. Our trip to Port Lockroy was brief, as we all had to fit through the small building that housed the museum, shop, and the penguin post office before shuffling back along with the penguins to get back into the zodiacs. During lunch we made the short cruise to Neko Harbor (the location of the most active glacier on the peninsula) and even though there was a nice hike up the mountain that we could have taken, we chose to take it easy and hang out on the beach with the gentoos. The wonderful thing about these penguins is that they’re either as curious about us or they just don’t care about our presence – so in the hour we hung out in between the rocks on the shore, plenty of penguins ambled by us and most paused to look back at us. Just before we decided to head back to the zodiacs, a Weddell Seal poked it’s head up in the water ahead of us, swam to shore, and wiggled it’s way up the rocky beach to the cool snow behind us, providing much entertainment for all of us watching. On our way back to the ship we took a detour past some of the icebergs in the harbor. While we were zooming around, we heard a large crack and looked up at the glacier, anticipating the ice to calve and fall into the water. It wasn’t the ice calving, but a massive avalanche of snow falling onto the glacier. As someone who has never seen an avalanche before… wow. After determining that the avalanche was not going to cause the ice to break, we headed on our way and found another Weddell Seal hauled out on a piece of sea ice. The rest of our afternoon and evening was spent napping and sorting through our many, many photos as the NG Orion headed north past the Trinity peninsula for our day in the Antarctic Sound tomorrow.
Day 7: Antarctic Sound & The Weddell Sea
January 3rd, 2015
“Swans of weird shape pecked at our planks, a gondola steered by a giraffe ran
foul of us, which much amused a duck sitting on a crocodile’s head…
All the strange fantastic shapes rose and fell in stately cadence with a rustling,
whispering sound and hollow echoes to the thudding seas.”
– Frank Worsley, captain of Endurance, describing ice
foul of us, which much amused a duck sitting on a crocodile’s head…
All the strange fantastic shapes rose and fell in stately cadence with a rustling,
whispering sound and hollow echoes to the thudding seas.”
– Frank Worsley, captain of Endurance, describing ice
We woke up late this morning as we approached “iceberg alley” in the Antarctic Sound. After peeking outside at the many icebergs, we all headed inside to listen to the expert photographers on board talk about the many merits of iPhone photography. After a tutorial on taking panoramas, we came up next to a giant tabular iceberg and many people got to practice what they’d just learned. We left “iceberg alley” for a place called Active Sound where there was fast ice. We certainly aren’t ice experts (although it’s so fascinating – there are so many different types based on size/origin), so we just shrugged and were excited that we were heading closer to the Weddell Sea. It turns out that fast ice is the ice that spreads from shore to shore and isn’t terribly thick, which allows ice breakers like the NG Orion to break in and “park.” What this meant for us? We got to disembark the boat via the gangplank and walk straight off onto the ice. It was a beautifully sunny day, so we decided to have some extra fun with it and don our bathing suits and jean shorts for some chill times on the ice! Yes, we’re crazy. Hasn’t that already been established? We spent the last 30 minutes on the ice watching the penguins on the edge jump in and out of the water, watching us, and scrambling across the ice on their stomachs. Then, we rushed through dinner tonight for our very last Antarctic continent landing at Brown Bluff (and also the closest we would get to the icy Weddell Sea) where a colony of over 20,000 nesting pairs of Adelie Penguins call “home.” It was bittersweet being there – sweet because the Adelies are about a month ahead of the Gentoos and Chinstraps – which means fluffy grey chicks were everywhere! And bitter, of course, because we’re sad to be leaving this awe-inspiring magnificent continent. Before we were back out of the Antarctic Sound there was a whale sighting – and this time it was two Blue Whales! It’s estimated that there are only about 1,000 Blue Whales in the southern waters, so it was incredibly special to be able to see these two cruising alongside an iceberg. We’ve now begun the journey north and have only one more stop before crossing the “furious fifties” again on our way to South Georgia!