In Search of Land

Day 10: December 18, 2008, The Weddell Sea

One of my fellow passengers asked me today what has been the most surprising part about Antarctica. I said scale, which I’ve mentioned in previous posts. It’s difficult to distinguish size, mass, and even time in this environment. For example, we started passing by immense tabular icebergs today. I learned that most of these bergs had once been part of the Larsen Ice Shelf, which protrudes from a large part of the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Part of this ice shelf broke off several years ago, and satellites have spotted another large crack in the shelf this season. Most scientists are attributing these events to global climate change, so by observing these icebergs, I am most likely looking climate change directly in the face. But back to scale…it’s impossible to tell whether these bergs are 50 ft. or 400 ft. tall, and some of them look like they could be a mile long.

The woman who asked me the question said that texture has been the most surprising part to her. We see texture changing constantly – through distance and through time. Each iceberg has its own texture. The land has texture, from glaciers to rock to moss. And then the water has texture. Sometimes it’s been rough with waves and white caps. Just once it’s been so smooth as to create a mirror. Right now it’s dark and wavy, and the entire ship is listing to the starboard side from the wind.

As if yesterday’s gigantic colony of chinstrap penguins weren’t enough (and the estimate went up from 50,000-60,000 to 70,000 breeding pairs), today we visited an Adelie penguin colony on Paulet Island with an estimated 100,000 breeding pairs (meaning at least 200,000 individuals, not counting chicks). The real treat was to see that many chicks have already hatched and are probably at least a couple of weeks old. After leaving Paulet Island, we headed south down the peninsula through the Weddell Sea (not far from where Shackleton and his crew drifted northward after their ship was crushed by ice farther south), intending to go to Snow Hill Island. Once again, however, wind and ice have dictated our fate, and some very dense sea ice has forced us to turn around and head north. Given that tomorrow is our last full day in Antarctica, we will go south no more and will continue to make our way north, hopefully with a few more stops along the way.

Day 11: December 19, 2008, Gerlache Strait, then Charlotte Bay, then Neko Harbor, then Paradise Harbor

Last night felt like the Drake Passage all over again. The ship started rocking as we headed north and back around to the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, and it didn’t stop until well into this morning. In fact, the swells seemed to get larger through the morning until we got into the shelter of the Gerlache Strait and on the lee side of some islands.

Our objective today was to land on the continent proper (meaning the actual peninsula rather than the bordering islands). Several people on the ship don’t consider themselves to have actually been to Antarctica unless they’ve stepped foot on the continent. Dad and I agreed that we’ve seen what we wanted to see and had the experiences we’ve hoped for, and that we have the Antarctic “credentials” no matter if we’ve actually stood on the peninsula. Because the wind has been very strong today, the crew had difficulty finding a good landing, and thus we traveled from harbor to harbor. We finally called upon the staff at the Chilean Gonzalez Videla base, and they welcomed us (and our dollars) with open arms so that we might step foot on land once more – and this time officially on the peninsula. The tiny base also sported a small colony of gentoo penguins, so I snapped a few photos and said goodbye to the land and the penguins.

The one thing I hadn’t really seen before today was whales, and given my previous good karma with whale watching, I thought it was about time. After lunch, a bunch of us decided to go up on the bridge to look for whales as we continued to search for a place to land. As luck would have it, within two minutes of getting up to the bridge, we spotted two humpback whales – a mom and her calf, and the captain was gracious enough to slow the boat so we could observe them for some time. So now I am truly satisfied with all we have seen and witnessed, and though I am sad to leave, I plan to be back someday and am ready to face the Drake once more.

Day 12: December 20, 2008

Back in the Drake

Sure enough, as soon as we got away from land yesterday evening, the swells built up again and the ship started rocking. I spent a couple of hours after dinner up on the bridge riding the swells with some other brave but happy souls. It’s better than a roller coaster!

I kept waking up in a dreamy state last night, thinking that as the bow rose on top of one of the swells, a gust of wind was going to knock the entire ship on its side. It never happened, of course, and I still feel the ship is very stable and safe, but it just shows what 10 days of moving water will do to the mind.

A note about pictures, again: Because the internet is so slow on the ship and we only have limited minutes, I have not posted any pictures, and I apologize. A description of Antarctica is certainly not complete without pictures. I’m hoping that I can get a faster connection at one of the airports on the way home and at least start posting a few, and then I’ll post more once I’m back in Vegas. So stay tuned…it’s not over yet!