The view from our room
Before I get into today’s blog I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who have posted comments or emailed me to say that you’re reading the blog. Even though I can’t respond right now, it’s definitely motivating me to keep writing despite the fact that this is usually happening at midnight after an action pact day! (this is also why there are some grammatical errors… I’ll fix them when I get home). Tonight we were charged with writing up the Daily Expedition Report (DER) that will be sent out by Lindblad so my own blog will be fairly similar since it’s now 1:15am and we’ve just finished our writing!
We awoke this morning to the sounds of something scrapping and crunching along the sides of the ship. We opened our porthole and found that the sea was a soup of “bergy bits”. During the night we had made our way into Cierva Cove.
I quickly dressed and started off my day with a coffee in the bridge. There were only two other people there and enjoyed those few minutes of quiet, looking out at the mountains, glaciers and icebergs that surrounded us.
We awoke this morning to the sounds of something scrapping and crunching along the sides of the ship. We opened our porthole and found that the sea was a soup of “bergy bits”. During the night we had made our way into Cierva Cove.
I quickly dressed and started off my day with a coffee in the bridge. There were only two other people there and enjoyed those few minutes of quiet, looking out at the mountains, glaciers and icebergs that surrounded us.
We had a quick breakfast and then headed back to our cabins to prepare ourselves for our first zodiac tour around this bay. I jumped into a boat with the two other Fellows, a family, our naturalist guide, Gabriella, and Patrick, the videographer who is charged with making promotional videos for the GTF program. He wanted to get footage of us doing “teacher-y” kinds of things.
The zodiac tours were our first chance to get up close and personal with ice and I was instantly struck by how dynamic it all was! While I’m aware that glaciers flow, I guess I’ve never really stopped to think about the fluidity of ice in general. In no way were sitting and watching a stationary structure. First there were the currents and movements of the slush and bergy bits, moving and shifting through the bay. While the larger bergs appeared to be more stationary, they too were alive with the crackling of internal air bubbles popping under pressure, and it is this popping that leads to the circular holes that could be seen by the water line of many. Then there was the color! It ranged from your traditional white along a spectrum towards vibrant blues. Not what I was expecting at all!
The zodiac tours were our first chance to get up close and personal with ice and I was instantly struck by how dynamic it all was! While I’m aware that glaciers flow, I guess I’ve never really stopped to think about the fluidity of ice in general. In no way were sitting and watching a stationary structure. First there were the currents and movements of the slush and bergy bits, moving and shifting through the bay. While the larger bergs appeared to be more stationary, they too were alive with the crackling of internal air bubbles popping under pressure, and it is this popping that leads to the circular holes that could be seen by the water line of many. Then there was the color! It ranged from your traditional white along a spectrum towards vibrant blues. Not what I was expecting at all!
What used to be the underside of a berg
Such fascinating colours!
Within minutes of being on the zodiac a call came over the radio to say that a leopard seal had been spotted on one of the ice pieces. While he lay motionless on the ice for the most part, he did give us a good yawn and visual of his gnarly tricuspid teeth specialized for filtering out krill which makes up 60% of his diet. The cherry on top of this outing, was a little zodiac motoring towards us with a flag that read Hot Chocolate. Hot chocolate delivery in the middle of the icy ocean is the way to go!
Leopard seal chilling on the ice
After an hour or so we re-boarded the ship in order to let the next group get a turn on the zodiacs. By moving up to the very top deck of the ship we were able to get a different vantage point on the ice we had just been looking up at. We also had the opportunity to play around with the Ricoh Theta and get some pretty amazing 360-degree pictures of the area. After our morning excursion we listened to a presentation on ice and glaciers, which served to enrich our earlier experiences with the ice.
We arrived at Enterprise Island, and found that the conditions were too choppy for our original plan of kayaking so instead we went out on zodiacs again. It was definitely a wet and wild ride, especially towards the end, but it was worth it for the view of the shipwreck.
We arrived at Enterprise Island, and found that the conditions were too choppy for our original plan of kayaking so instead we went out on zodiacs again. It was definitely a wet and wild ride, especially towards the end, but it was worth it for the view of the shipwreck.
Ship wreck off of Enterprise Island, site of an old whaling station.
Another wreck
Prior to dinner we treated to a number of different presentations in the lounge. The National Geographic photographer on board spoke about using photos to tell a story, using her experiences in Alaska as an example. This was followed by two of the naturalists on board teaching us more about Antarctic seals. They encouraged us to become citizen scientists by providing them with our images of leopard seals that might be used for identification. During the daily recap, they also surprised us with an extra excursion planned for the later in the evening.
Orne Harbor held our first Gentoo penguin colony and marks are official first steps on the peninsula (it’s all been islands prior to now). I chose the hike option which was a mile 1000 feet up to the top of Spigot Peak. It was nice to have to work a bit to get to the top and was rewarded with spectacular vistas, including Antarctica’s version of a summer sunset (that said, it’s 1:15am and it’s still fairly bright outside and sunrise is scheduled for 2:15). Other people chose not to go all the way to the top and instead sat by the “penguin highways” watching them go to and from the rookery and the ocean. The best part though was definitely the ride down. Again, bag strapped to the chest, head first and on my back is the best way to get down a hill in Antarctica!
Orne Harbor held our first Gentoo penguin colony and marks are official first steps on the peninsula (it’s all been islands prior to now). I chose the hike option which was a mile 1000 feet up to the top of Spigot Peak. It was nice to have to work a bit to get to the top and was rewarded with spectacular vistas, including Antarctica’s version of a summer sunset (that said, it’s 1:15am and it’s still fairly bright outside and sunrise is scheduled for 2:15). Other people chose not to go all the way to the top and instead sat by the “penguin highways” watching them go to and from the rookery and the ocean. The best part though was definitely the ride down. Again, bag strapped to the chest, head first and on my back is the best way to get down a hill in Antarctica!
Penguin saying goodnight to the setting sun
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