Our journey through the Drake Passage down to the "frozen continent" was smooth and uneventful. That is not always the case - the passage is well known for unstable weather, high rolling seas, and general marine mayhem. I've sailed the passage round trip three times now and most times it's been okay.
We were to spend 4 days cruising around the Antarctic Peninsula, meandering through channels and bays and even touching up against the mainland. But Mama Nature had other things in mind, and not all of our itinerary went according to plan. It was cold (well, duh, it's always cold here), windy (yep, windiest place on earth) and overcast. The Coronavirus from China even got in the way - the Palmer Station (U.S. summer research station on the Peninsula) cancelled their call to our ship to be on the safe side - it is very remote here and wouldn't do well to get a virus that could potentially infect everyone at the station.
Ice prevented us from channeling into some of the smaller bays and inlets - and fog on the morning of day 4 completely wiped out any plans for crusing that day - so we left early and made a slow sail for Cape Horn.
There were wonderful opportunities for photographs in spite of some of the weather-related problems and we did see a bit of sun from time to time - also whales, penguins, seals and birds. Below is a selection of my favorites from the time we spent there.
To be honest, I didn't label the photos as to exactly where we were - but we visited Deception Island, Admiralty Bay, Paradise Bay, Gerlache Strait, Errera Channel, Anvers Island (where Palmer Station is located), King George Island (part of the South Shetlands) and others. We passed several research stations, among them Chile, Brazil (brand new), Ecuador, Poland, and I think also, Peru.
We passed glaciers, ice forms:
- icebergs are the big ones, at least 16 feet above sea level
- bergy bits, which are between 3 and 8 feet above sea level
- growlers, less than 3 feet in height
- brash ice, which are little pieces that crackle when they melt in the sea water (I took a short video of these, and the crackling sound was much louder than I thought. Trying to upload a video, however, takes forever using satellite internet, so I didn't include it)
A very different trip than last year - but still an incredible opportunity to visit this massively fantastic place at the bottom of the world.
See that brownish green stuff on the left side of the rock? It's ice algae. Signs of a healthy ecosystem. That metal tower acts like a lighthouse for ships in the channel.
The glaciers in Antarctica are different from the glaciers in more temperate climate zones - think Alaska - they are not confined to valleys but are so deep and massive that they completely take over the land and cover mountain ranges. They make up a "massive shroud of ice" called an ice sheet. The Antarctic Ice Sheet dwarfs all other ice sheets on earth. The sheet covers Antarctica up to a depth of over 15,000 feet. It's so heavy it smashes the land underneath. When the glaciers meet the sea water, big pieces fall off and that's what makes the icebergs.
I loved seeing the bergs and bergy bits from a top deck on the ship, as you can see the beautiful blue hues below it. You can also see how much of the bergs are below the water line.
Above is the brand spankin' new Brazil station, built by the Chinese (but of course). It just opened in early January.
Up close and personal with what I call striated ice walls.
"I shall call it" Spectacle Berg. This is known as a tabular iceberg. It's HUGE.
Look!! Some blue sky!!!
I'm pretty sure that bird is an albatross. They soar and are so beautiful to watch.
Their wingspans are about 11 feet.
Part of the Chilean station. It's also a penguin rookery. Humans and penguins can co-exist quite well, if you can stand the smell.............
This photo, above, demonstrates what kind of eerie pictures one can take from one's filthy dirty cabin windows....That is a small research ship in the middle of the frame.
There are the small little snap crackle and pop brash ice bits.
The other side of the Chilean station. If you look carefully, you can see the little pengies along the land.
A humpback moseying along.
Ever in mind to generate revenue, the ship sent out a tender one morning to photograph the ship. Pictures later were printed and for sale in the photo shop. Imagine that.
Yes, there are parts of Antarctica without snow....at least in summer.
This California girl found the 33 degree temps and heavy winds to be a bit on the COLD side.....But check out my smile. My hands were freezing. I had gloves in my pocket but had taken them off to take some pictures.
That fluffy round thing in the photo above is an ice berg. That's at least a mile away....
I'm far from a professional photographer, one could argue I'm far from an amateur one too, but I tried to get this photo to demonstrate how tall bergs and mountains are compared to our ship.
Stay tuned for more Pig Tales!!
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