One of the goals of the trip was to visit an Emperor Penguin Rockery. The plan was to anchor about 40 km from Snow Hill, travel by chopper to within 45 minutes of the rookery and then walk the remaining distance. Three days were allotted, allowing for three attempts. To get to Snow Hill we had to navigate through the Weddell Sea. We initially made good progress, but as we progressed south, the ice pack became more dense and the water between ice bergs disappeared until there was nothing but solid thick ice.
It was disappointing to learn that we would be unable to make it to the rookery. However, it was quite extraordinary to experience the solid ice pack...... to feel the power of the ship's engine grinding forward, to watch cracks form in the thick ice and to listen as the steel hull carved through the ice only to come to a dead halt.
In the Antarctic nothing is usual, every trip is unique. The weather, ice and wind change constantly. Our journey took us into the vast, empty solitude of endless pack ice, then to high winds with huge waves and finally to scenes of wind sculpted ice bergs under sunny, windless skies.
Our first views of the Antarctic Peninsula
Reaching the peninsula by zodiac
A beautiful day cruising the iceflows ......aka the calm before the storm.
The next day with high winds and waves crashing on the bow of the ship. This photo was taken from the Bridge with winds of 50 km/hr. The winds were as strong as 150 km/hr but no passengers were permitted on the bridge at that time.
Icebergs floating in and around the ship.
Icebergs as viewed from the air while on a helicopter ride in the Weddell Sea.
A beautiful sunny day heading toward Discovery Bay
Views of the crater and surrounding area on Half Moon Bay.
No comments:
Post a Comment