Day 2: At Sea – The Drake Passage
December 29th, 2014
“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto
the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”
– Sir Francis Drake, 1857
the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”
– Sir Francis Drake, 1857
We awoke this morning 350 nautical miles from the South Shetland Islands to… calm conditions. Our day was full of talks from the naturalists and photographers about the sea birds we would be seeing in the Southern Ocean, the plate tectonics and Antarctic landforms, an introduction to the wildlife we would see once we arrive, and an introduction to Antarctic expedition photography. We also managed to fit in a few naps, because we’ve been told that as soon as we arrive, the action isn’t going to stop until we leave! This evening before dinner our expedition leader informed us that we had crossed the Antarctic Convergence and are officially within the biologic boundary of our seventh continent! Tim also told us that this Drake crossing is “one of the smoothest crossings [he’s] ever had.” There are three different boundaries that can identify what “is” Antarctica. The first we crossed between talks today, the Antarctic Convergence – which is the biologic boundary formed by tectonic plates and is most easily identified by the sudden drop in water temperature that separates eco-systems. The second boundary is the legal boundary – 60”S – within which the Antarctic Treaty is in effect to keep the land of Antarctica dedicated to peace and science, which we’ll pass over tonight. The third boundary is the Antarctic Circle. Navigating the waters along the Antarctic Peninsula can be quite dangerous and ice-filled, which prevents many boats from crossing the latitude of 66”33’S. It was a long and information-filled day – but it looks like we’ll be landing in Antarctica tomorrow and we’re almost too excited to sleep!
Day 3: Arriving in Antarctica: The South Shetland Islands
December 30th, 2014
“Some of us are over the seasick stage and no longer want to die.”
– Harbord, after 10 days aboard the Nimrod with Shackleton
– Harbord, after 10 days aboard the Nimrod with Shackleton
We woke up this morning to an early announcement: we’re surrounded by whales and we’ve made our first iceberg sighting! We slowed down and changed course a little, because there were humpback whales, fin whales, and our very first iceberg looming on the horizon! Once we had slowed down to watch the whales, we realized there was another cute animal in the water with us – chinstrap penguins! We rushed through breakfast in order to make it to our IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators) briefing where we discussed protocols for cleaning our clothes/shoes and safe distances to keep from animals and the routine of decontamination and safety. Naturally – afterwards we brought our outermost layers to the main lounge to be cleared or cleaned (if necessary). After all of our belongings were cleaned, we headed the observation lounge above the bridge to watch our approach to the South Shetland Islands – our first Antarctic stop! After lunch, we all ran back to our cabins to prepare for our first landing, which would be on Barrientos, a small island in the Aitcho Islands. The very first thing we noticed while standing on the bow of the ship was the smell. Before we had even gotten into the zodiacs from the ships, we could smell the penguin guano. A short trip later and we had landed on the Antarctic island’s shore. This was it and we couldn’t have been more excited. We had both stepped foot on our 7th continent (at approximately 12:15 EST, December 30th 2014). Just over 6 months after beginning our journey, we made it to #7 of 7 with 4 months left to go in our journey. As we trekked along through the penguin guano and between rookeries, we caught sight of many adorable Chinstrap penguins and their orange-beaked friends, the Gentoo penguins. It wasn’t long before everyone was cooing over the sight of a penguin parent feeding a newly hatched chick (most of the chicks had hatched in the last week and many penguins were still sitting on eggs). We also caught an occasional view of the Blue Eyed Cormorant. Two hours of meandering up the black pebble-y beach, taking as many photos as our cameras could handle of penguins in the water and on an iceberg and walking up & down the beach from the rookeries and male penguins delivering pebbles for their mates nests and the occasional baby penguin poking it’s head out from the nest and penguins with whale bones and on rocks and navigating the “penguin highways” up the island’s large hill it was all so much to take in and we loved every minute of it. Once we stopped however, we noticed we were cold enough to warrant a zodiac ride back to the ship and some hot chocolate. At dinner everyone was excited to talk about what a full day it had been, when we remembered we weren’t done yet – we would be arriving tonight at Deception Island, an active caldera volcano, which we would be sailing right into. We all bundled up again and onto the bow to watch our ship approach Neptune’s Bellows, the very small (and easily missed) entrance to the caldera. After entering the active volcano, we headed for Whaler’s Bay, an abandoned whaling station and the site of the airplane strip where the first flight from Antarctica took off from. What made the terrain especially interesting and different than the already mysterious glacial terrain of the Antarctic was that it wasn't rocks poking out from underneath ice – it was volcanic ash from the 1967 and 1969 eruptions of the volcano on top of glaciated ice. What an incredible day and another night we went to bed before the sun went down (at 11:30!). Tomorrow should be an early rise – as we want to watch our boat enter the Gerlache Strait!