Penguins, ice, penguins, ice....

Day 7: December 15, 2008, Crystal Strait and Grandidier Channel

Today was a day of foiled landings and more spectacular views. In the morning, we were hoping to stop at Fish Islands and Prospect Point, but the sea ice was thick and the staff was not able to find a suitable landing spot. So we stayed on board, heard a lecture on ice (by a pagophile, or ice-lover!), and watched the scenery pass by. The weather was mostly clear with no wind – some of the nicest weather we’ve had so far. They took us to a place where we’d be kayaking in the afternoon, and the captain parked the boat by crashing into a sheet of fast ice. This time I was smart and got right up on the bow to watch as the ship broke into the ice – truly amazing, as the ice is quite thick. Just as amazing, however, is to watch the thick ice slow and eventually stop the forward progression of the ship. Time for lunch!

In the afternoon, we loaded on to inflatable kayaks. The water was perfectly still, and the reflections of the icebergs and bergy bits (smaller icebergs) were stunning. It felt really good to be moving about somewhat, as we have yet to set foot on actual land since we boarded the ship in Ushuaia. Amazingly, we were too warm in our hats, gloves, and multiple layers.

Though kayaking in Antarctica is pretty unique and spectacular, the highlight of the day for me was probably passing through the Lemaire Channel – a narrow passage between two high, rocky, highly glaciated peaks. As we passed through, the still water created a mirror against the peaks – a remarkably breathtaking sight. We also had to remind ourselves that we were standing out there at 10:00 pm watching this.

Here’s a description I wrote today to try to describe more clearly the sights I’ve been seeing: I’m sitting in the observation deck, on the top floor of the ship. It’s a long, narrow galley with big windows on each side. I’m having my afternoon green tea and butter cookies, and it’s the first few moments of quiet I’ve had all day. Outside, the water is like glass, reflecting the images of the snow- and ice-covered peaks on the starboard side of the ship, with the breeze creating small ripples every now and again. Scale is impossible to determine here, so that these peaks could be 1,000 ft. or 10,000 ft. tall. Every few minutes, we pass by an iceberg – sometimes tabular (flat on top), sometimes with non-descript shape, but always unique and awesome. The mixture of blues and whites within each berg are impossible to capture on film. The sun, which is managing to shine clear despite the considerable cloud cover all around, provides the only shading relief to distinguish sea, sky, and ice. To each passing land or ice form, I send one thought: I’ll be back.

Day 8: December 16, 2008, Cuverville Island and Port Lockroy

We are halfway through our trip. In some ways, it feels like we’ve been gone a month. On the other hand, I dread that we only have three days left in Antarctica.

Weather and ice dictated our activities today. The sea ice conditions can change so fast, so that even if we find a good landing, the ice could move in during our time ashore and make our departure difficult. We were able to make a landing this morning at Cuverville Island, at a gentoo penguin colony with 6,000 breeding pairs. It was a great opportunity for me to just sit and observe penguin behavior at very close range, while everyone else was very concerned with taking pictures. For all of you waiting for your own live penguin gift, I tried my hardest to lure them into my jacket, but these birds of Very Little Brain are just a bit too smart. Really, though, the highlight for me this morning was the sighting of one of the two vascular plants on the continent: a grass (Deschampsia antarctica). I dropped to my knees and started taking pictures and examining it, while the other guests looked at me quizzically, curious as to why I’d be more interested in this green thing than charismatic penguins.

This afternoon we made a landing at Port Lockroy, which is a former British research station and is now maintained as a museum and gift shop. Theoretically, I now have an official Antarctica stamp on my passport. The weather turned more and more inclement throughout the afternoon, so that as we boarded the Zodiacs to go back to the ship, it was quite windy, getting colder, and starting to snow sideways. Gave us a small idea of what it would be like to live here, and this is the middle of the summer.

Day 9: December 17, 2008, Deception Island

When I woke up this morning and pulled up the shades on our window (which is the first thing I do every morning and one of the favorite parts of my daily ritual on the ship), I saw brown land. This is quite remarkable as virtually all the land we’ve seen thus far in Antarctica has been white, with the exception of the vertical rocky cliffs of the mountains. I was looking at Deception Island, a donut-shaped volcanic island that houses a flooded caldera in its center. The staff had told us last night that we might be able to visit a very large chinstrap penguin colony on the island, but that the landing is usually very difficult and subject to wind, tide, and wave conditions. Mother Nature worked in our favor this morning (really some of the first real luck we’ve had in that department), and we did indeed get to go ashore.

This colony of penguins has 50,000-60,000 breeding pairs (meaning up to 120,000 breeding penguins plus assorted non-breeding individuals). The colony is divided into smaller sub-colonies, which tend to sit atop rocky outcroppings or hillocks. There’s a penguin superhighway that goes from each of the sub-colonies to the ocean, where the little birds go to clean themselves and feed in between spells of sitting on eggs and chicks. The birds walking towards the water are dirty with mud and feces, and the birds walking back towards the colonies are shiny clean. Amazing. After hiking a bit around a little section of island, both Dad and I just sat and watched. Several penguins would come to within a few feet – I swear they’re just as curious as we are, and they would probably take as many pictures if they knew how to operate cameras. Given the sheer numbers of birds, I was fortunate to observe most of the behaviors we’ve been learning about: feeding young chicks (probably less than a week old), partners changing places in the nest to sit on the egg(s), nest-building, aggression towards unwanted individuals hanging out near nests, evidence of egg predation by skuas, and I’m pretty sure I even saw some mating.

I’m actually sitting out on this afternoon’s activities. We’ve traveled inside the caldera on the island, and we can go ashore and visit some old whaling station buildings, but I’m not all that interested and sort of just need a break – from the cold, the people, and the feeling of being constantly overwhelmed. But this evening we’re heading around the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula into the Weddell sea, and I’ll definitely be ready to get back out there and see, smell, hear, and absorb more tomorrow!