January 4, 2009 - Deception Island

The South Shetlands are a 540 km-long string of islands laying across the southern end of the Drake Passage, separated from the Antarctic Penninsula by the Bransfield Strait. These are the warmest, wettest and most colourful part of Antarctica. Deception Island is one of 11 main islands and is the largest of three recently active volcanic centers in the South Shetlands. We entered Telefon Bay by way of the narrow entrance known as Neptune's Bellows.
A hike up to one of the craters on the island was the objective of our first landing. What a completely different landscape! Such a stark contrast to what I have seen so far. It felt as though I was walking on the moon.

The crater was actually quite impressive; at first it seemed as though we were jst walking up a big hill and then all of the sudden I was peering over the edge of this enormous crater! Quite a long ways down if one was to misstep.

I spent some time wandering around and I even found some plants! It looked to be similar to the coastal nassauvia I was seeing on the Falkland Islands. The film crew had asked me to keep an eye out for any kind of plant life in order to be able to document it for their film....Daniella Rubeling -- botanist extraordinaire! (?)

After making back onto the ship, we moved quickly over to Pendulum Cove, named by the Foster Expedition of 1829, when pendulum and magnetic experiments were conducted there. Pendulum Cove is reputed to have "warm" water, and a few other passengers thought they might take this opportunity for a polar plunge. The rumour of warmer waters was slightly misleading...
Due to geothermal activity, the water right at the shore's edge was actually very warm. But move your big toe about 4 inches deeper and you're back to approximately 1 degree water! I decided that one day of polar swimming was enough and I contented myself with watching a few others take their plunge.
We made our way back to the ship and before lunch we passed through Neptune's Bellows once more. Just as we were going through the narrowest stretch, three humpback whales were spotted hanging out near the surface of the water -- aka logging. Fantastic! We cruised around them for quite some time with the ship...getting so close! More chinstrap penguins were porpoising nearby. We even got to see some tail! And to top it off, I can now say I know how to identify whale poop! A big krill-coloured (pinkish) expulsion.....

Now, after a nice bowl of soup, I'm getting a little sleepy and am ready for a little nap. Then I'll head back up to the bridge for some whale spotting!

January 3 continued... -- What luck!

Today was living proof that if you don't put yourself out there, you'll never know what opportunities you might miss. I was hanging out on the bridge and overheard our expedition leader Brad talking to one of the zodiac drivers about the film crew that is working on board. [Polar Cap Productions are working on a film called "Antarctic Challenge" about the effects of global warming on the Antarctic.] They were talking about the film crew getting their own zodiac for the entire afternoon and I just decided it couldn't hurt to ask about getting into that zodiac! So ask I did, and Brad told me to approach the film crew th emselves to see if they would mind having me along.

Well I walked past the producer's door about 12 times before I found the courage to knock, and what do you know, he was actually happy to bring me along! I met the rest of the crew right before we headed out for a three and a half hour zodiac cruise, and I was named their 'Radiation Protection Technician' as I was the one who remembered sunscreen. We made anchor at Foyn Harbour, an anchorage between Nansen and Enterprise Islands in Wilhelmina Bay, off the coast of Graham Land. We got to visit the wreck of an old whaling ship which now seems to be a site for nesting Antarctic Terns. The whale oil on the ship had caught on fire and so the captain decided to run it aground before it sunk.

We had so much time on the water!!! Niklas was our driver and we got so close to some massive tabular icebergs. I was able to get some amazing shots. It was such a wonderful experience and the film crew were so friendly and took me in right away. I'm just continuously amazed at how when I just put myself out there, great things happen!

January 3, 2009 -- Antarctic Swim!

Officially landed on the continent today! It was snowing and foggy at first rise this morning...absolutely beautiful. Another view of this icy continent. Large, fat flakes were falling lightly but the air temperature was actually quite nice!

The Clipper pulled into Neko Harbour, off Anvard Bay on the east side of the Antarctic Penninsula. The site is named for the floating whale factory ship Neko, which operated in the South Shetlands and Antarctic Penninsula from 1911 to 1924, and often used this bay. A small Argentinean refuge on the coastline and gentoo penguins all around. Niklas pulled us up to the rocky beach packed with gentoos (and their guano!).

I hiked up to a high point on a ridge above the bay and had an amazing view of the Deville Glacier where icebergs are "born". The shadows!!!! Amazing colours and shades of blue and white. After spending some time watching for calving icebergs, I got to slide the snow on my butt! There was even a point at which the drop-off was straight down.

After the big hike, I took the POLAR PLUNGE! I removed a few layers (snowpants, 1 pair of longjohns, expedition parka, fleece sweater, thermal shirt, rubber boots and socks!) to get down my bikini and prepared myself mentally for what was to come. I walked among the gentoos on the rocky shores, right into the 0 degree waters of Neko Harbour, Antarctica! It was frigid but so amazing! After I exited the water, I felt so invigorated and refreshed that I decided I should go back in. I made a second entrance into the Antarctic waters, dove right in, and as I was making my way back to shore a gentoo penguin porpoised right in front of me!

Ice Terminology

Ice shelf: a large slab of ice flowing on the sea but remaining attached to, and partly fed by, land-based ice

Glacier: a mass of ice, irrespective of size, derived from snow and continuously moving from higher to lower ground, or spreading over the sea

Icebergs: a piece of ice of the order of tens of metres or more that has been shed by a glacier into a lake or the sea

Types of Icebergs

Grounded berg: where the iceberg has run into shallow coast and is unable to move

Tabular berg: flat topped iceberg, usually derived from an ice shelf, may drift for years before melting

Rolled berg: iceberg that has literally rolled over as a result of becoming top-heavy from the lower section melting in the sea water; they tend of have a smooth, rounded shape

Calving: the process of detachment of blocks of ice from a glacier into water

Bergy bit: a piece of floating glacier ice up to several meters across, commonly derived from the disintegration of an iceberg

Growler: a piece of glacier ice almost awash, up to a few meters across, but smaller than a bergy bit

Brash ice: small fragments of glacier ice, smaller than growlers

Sea-ice: ice that forms by the freezing of the sea (**Sea water freezes at -1.8 degrees C, but it depends on the salinity of the water)

Grease ice: early ice that forms as the temperature falls and small ice crystals clump together into congealed greasy ice slicks

Pancake ice: ice spun around in waves and thickened into free floating ice disks (up to 3 meters in diameter)

Pack-ice: formed from ice floes freezing together

Polynya: area of open water within pack-ice, caused by local wind and current patterns

Fast-ice: ice attached to land

Tide crack: crack in the fast-ice caused by tidal movement of the ocean

January 2, 2009 -- Part II

We had our afternoon landing at Useful Island....useful for me as I got to see my first chinstrap penguins! The seas were a bit choppier this afternoon with the wind picking up a bit, which made our zodiac ride and the landing a bit more interesting. We were able to hike through the snow up to the peak of the island. A previous ship's group had packed a nice trail for us, which made it much easier to maneouvre without bothering the penguins. We see other ships from time to time, but most of the time it feels as though we're the only people out here.

There are so many gentoos everywhere...and some people have even begun to say things like "Oh yeah, we just saw some more gentoos." I'M IN ANTARCTICA!!! Can it get any better than this?! I would sit and watch gentoo after gentoo only to spend more time here.

We're just about to go for our afternoon recap, and briefing for tomorrow's landings. The ship is on its way to Paradise Bay where we will be having an Antarctic BBQ on the stern deck! I can't believe this amazing weather....hope it holds!

January 2, 2009 -- Part I

Another splendiferous morning! We had an early rise at 0600h and I was able to enjoy my toast and peanut butter on the stern deck, looking out at icebergs and Antarctic peaks. We headed out in the zodiac with Mark – a renowned whale spotter – into Iceberg Alley, near Pleneau Island. This area is also known as the iceberg graveyard as the shallow ground causes icebergs to run aground here. We saw some absolutely amazing ice and the sun was beating down on us.

As we moved through the brash ice with the zodiac, we attracted the attention of a 3 meter leopard seal who decided to hang around for a while. It was absolutely amazing to see this predator of penguins moving so smoothly through the water beneath our zodiac. As if it knew we wanted to get some good photos, the seal hauled itself out onto a small ice floe for a photo shoot. It soon slid gracefully back into the water and swam off, leaving us feeling awed and blessed.

As we headed back to the ship, we were treated to a group of gentoo penguins porpoising alongside the zodiac. Our morning cruise was capped off with William, the head bartender, delivering us piping hot chocolate out on the water. What a phenomenal morning!

Before lunch we passed through Lemaire Channel -- also known as the Kodak Gap -- with towering peaks (rising 3,000 feet from the water's edge) and large glaciers on either side of the ship. A humpback whale sighting off the starboard bow capped things off.

We've just finished lunch and we're on our way to Useful Island through the Neumayer Channel for our second landing of the day. Apparently more gentoos and some chinstrap penguins will be in store. Another fantastic day on "The Ice"!

...One seemed to have reached the very end of the world...land without form or expression, yet with a certain simple and primitive beauty in the colours of the grey-blue rock, shining through clear air, with the sea-wind singing over them.

~ James Brice ~

January 1, 2009 -- Happy New Years from Antarctica!

I woke up this morning and promptly looked out my porthole....Antarctica! What a way to start the year. I saw my first glimpse of 'bergy bits' (pieces of ice smaller than 100m) and the Antarctic Penninsula islands. Not wanting to miss a thing I rushed up to the lounge to grab some tea and breakfast before I headed up to the bridge to watch Antarctica come into view. I spent well over an hour watching us approach Anvers Island, with its amazing peaks! I don't think I realized how breathtaking the mountains down here would be.

Moving through bits of ice, we made our way to the Ukrainian research station, Akademik Vernadksy, on Marina Point of Galindez Island. Formerly the Faraday Station -- a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) station -- it was purchased by the Ukraine (for the equivalent of 1 pound sterling, so I'm told) in 1996. Some of the primary research being conducted at this location is work concerning the ozone hole and other meteorological studies.

We had lunch on the ship before getting ready to head out. In order to get to the station we had to get all suited up in our bright yellow Clipper parkas, rubber boots, and lifevests and when zodiac group was called (I was in group 3), we made our way down to the boarding room and walked down the slick metal staircase and onto the awaiting zodiac! The brash ice in the bay was quite thick, so we had to manoeuver the zodiac carefully, but we were so close to the ice and icebergs.
The colours were amazing...the icy-blue bergs above water, with the brilliant blue hues glowing through from underwater. Breathtaking! The sun was out, the sky was blue, a leopard seal was hauled out on the ice and gentoo penguins were porpoising through the water.

We got a tour of the station, where I sent some Antarctic postcards -- which I'm told have to go to the Ukraine first, and then on to their final destination, so don't expect them until May 2009. We also got a tour of the bar/lounge at the station, which is apparently where they spend a lot of their time in the cold, dark winter months! They make their own special brew of vodka here, so we had the option of trying some to warm us up from the inside-out!

I also acquired a roomate whom we picked up at the station. Nataliya is a software engineer from the Ukraine who was helping with a project on the base while visiting her boyfriend who had been overwintering on the base. He had been on the base for 11 months before she arrived, and has 3 more months to go! Apparently Nataliya is the first 'girlfriend' to have visited the base, in the entire history of the Vernadsky (Faraday) station! She should have some interesting stories to tell as she was able to stay at the station for 6 weeks.

We made our way back to the ship, and ate supper in the midst of French Passage, with more penguins porpoising on the port side of the ship and icebergs to the starboard side. We ended up near Petermann Island with Mount Shackleton casting a dramatic background! This is where we would have our second landing of the day. This was our furthest south landing that we will do on this expedition, at 65 degrees 10 minutes South, and 64 degrees 10 minutes West.

Petermann Island has large colonies of Gentoo Penguins, Adelie Penguins and Rock Cormorants, so I was excited for this landing (to say the least). We were able to traipse through the snow -- sometimes 1 meter deep! -- avoiding the penguin highways of course and find a spot to just sit and watch the wildlife. The smell of penguin guano was ripe in the air, but I had an amazing time watching the gentoos flop their way up to their little rock nests, the males sitting keeping the eggs warm, the females stealing rocks from their neighbours' nests to add to their own. Some of the penguins on this island even had chicks! But the little ones were spending most of their time hidden under the feet of their parents. I can't believe I'm actually in Antarctica and hanging out with penguins!


Its currently 10:40 pm and the sun is still shining brightly! I even put on sunscreen for our evening landing yet I still feel like I might have a bit of a sunburn. Time for some rest so I can prepare for our landings and zodiac cruises tomorrow!

December 31, 2008 -- New Year's Eve!

Woke up feeling much better this morning! The Drake Passage has calmed down significantly so I was able to sleep without the drawers opening and slamming shut all night. I spent a lot of time up on the bridge spotting whales and birds with Mark ("the whale guy") and they even let me sit up in the Captain's Chair! What a view...it is crazy to just look out and see nothing but water 360 degrees around you!



My day was punctuated with several more little mini-naps, a few snacks here and there and preparing my hat for the "Crazy Hat" contest occuring before midnight tonight. We watched this amazing movie "Under the Antarctic Ice" about a team of photographers that dive under (!) the ice in Antarctica, and have been documenting the marine life that occurs in such cold waters. You'd be surprised at what lies under the ice! I got my inspiration for my hat, and decided to make an "ice garden" on my hat, complete with sea spider, a scallop, a beautiful sea anemone and a bright red brittle star! (I couldn't help myself, I'm an interpreter through and through!)

After having built my hat, I decided to be bold, courageous and test my abilities with a shower! The rule "one hand for yourself and one hand for the ship" is a little difficult to stick to when you're attempting a shower in rough-ish seas! But I managed, and was able to get myself a little dressed up for our New Year's Eve dinner and party.
My hat was runner up in the "Most Creative" category; I lost to an amazing albatross hat, made with a coat-hanger, a pair of socks, a napkin and the fur-ish lining of a jacket hood. Impressive!

New Year's was toasted with champagne, the dance-floor was hopping (and swaying) -- try dancing the two-steps with waves helping you along! We had also crossed the geopolitical boundary into Antarctica, and thus were officially in Antarctica to ring in the new year! All in all, a magnificent way to start 2009!

December 3, 2008 -- The "Drake Shake"

Sleep was punctuated with the drawers on the desk flying open last night, yet all I could do was laugh everytime it happened. I was spending my first ever night on a ship! This had to be part of the package. I woke up to the dulcet tones of Brad Rhees -- our expedition leader -- informing us of our current position, the outside temperature (4 degrees), the height of the waves (still 10 metres), and welcoming us to what is known as the "Drake Shake".
I felt fine waking up, and proceeded to get up to get dressed, thinking I was ready to spend my first day at sea! Upon trying to get dressed without being tossed around the room, I was required to take a rest between socks to calm a queasy stomach; another rest between t-shirt and sweater; and one more rest after getting dressed, before I was able to get the fortitude to actually leave my cabin on the bottom floor of the boat and make my way up the two flights of stairs to the main lounge. Needless to say, breakfast wasn't on my menu this morning!
I made it upstairs and proceeded straight outside to the stern deck for some fresh air. Water everywhere! The deck was a bit slippery with waves crashing all around, but being able to see the horizon and breathe in the fresh sea air was helpful! I saw my first black-browed albatross and blue petrels following behind the boat.
Going back inside, I visited a bit with the very few others who had ventured from their cabins this morning but all of the sudden.....
It was back out to the deck and gone was the leftovers from my last meal! But again, all I could do was laugh, and hope that no one had seen the terribly unnattractive sight of a young woman leaning over the side of the deck first thing in the morning! So it was back to my cabin for a sleep.
The expedition team were giving lectures in the main lounge this morning, and I was so pleased to find out that they broadcast the lectures to each cabin, where the lovely scottish lilt of Carol, the historian, told us about some of the first explorers to visit the icy continent.

I managed to make it back up for a little bit of ginger-carrot soup for lunch, and then it was back to my bunk to listen to Geoff -- the on-board ornithologist from Ontario -- tell us "How to Make the Perfect Bird". After another little nap I managed to make it back up to the main deck for some more sea air, a light supper, and we watched the first part of a movie about Shackleton! How appropriate!

After another big sleep tonight I hope things will be better for tomorrow. We've also been told that the seas should be calmer. I'm looking forward to New Years Eve...we've got a party to attend!

December 29, 2008 -- Setting sail!

Ready for boarding the Clipper Adventurer!









All aboard! And we've set sail from Ushuaia, Argentina heading out of the Beagle Channel. We've dropped of our Argentinian "pilot" (who navigated us through the Beagle Channel) and have hit the open waters of the infamous Drake Passage. We´ve had a fine meal in the dining lounge, I sat with Rupert -- an Australian who travels all over via Land Rover, and a lovely couple from Brazil. I spent some time on the upper deck watching land disappear and will be heading off to bed soon. I've got a cabin all to myself!! The night will be a bumpy one with 10 metre waves! The drawers from my little desk keep slammin open and shut, but so far nothing has managed to fly across the room. I'm feeling fine so far, but have been trying some homeopathic anti-nauseants...we'll see how those hold up against "The Drake Shake".
My cabin steward Ian has turned down my bed (what luxury!) and I'm feeling ready and excited for all that awaits!

The land was gone, all but a little streak away off on the edge of the water, and down under us was just ocean, ocean, ocean millions of miles of it, heaving and pitching and squirming, and white sprays blowing from the wave-tops, and only a few ships in sight...and before long there warn't no ships at all, and we had the sky and the ocean to ourselves, and the roomiest place I ever did see and the lonesomest. -- Mark Twain