Ushuaia, Beagle Channel

This morning we woke up in Ushuaia, where we were greeted by an exceptionally calm and sunny day. Our passengers disembarked before 8:00 am and as is usual during our port days, all crew and staff frantically labored to get the ship back in shape for our next batch of passengers.

Passengers started arriving around 1:30 pm, were checked into their cabins and they were free to explore the ship. We set sail at 8:30 pm, and shortly afterward the Captain Hansen hosted a meet-the-staff-and-crew presentation in the observation lounge on deck seven. People stayed around the observation lounge late into the night, as the Fram sailed down the scenic Beagle channel en route to the Drake Passage.

Drake Passage

Today we continued our northward journey towards Ushuaia and enjoyed a calm Drake Passage. Although the day was not very sunny, the weather was ideal for birdwatching.

Several passengers spent long hours out on deck, scanning the waves for the agile fulmars, petrels and –naturally – the imposing albatrosses.

John Chardine will be leaving us tomorrow, so he also spent quite a while out on deck, enjoying the opportunity to shoot some seabirds – with his camera, naturally! Here are some of his wonderful pictures.

Drake north, day 1

After leaving the South Shetland Islands last night we headed into the Drake Passage- the body of water that separates the Antarctic Peninsula from the continent of South America. The "Drake" is notoriously rough but very variable and today, she treated us relatively gently. Ships make the 600 nautical mile trip in about 60 hours; we will make the journey a little faster and will arrive in Ushuaia early Sunday morning.

The sun shone for most of the day and we were accompanied bymyriad seabirds, including Cape Petrels (as usual), Antarctic Petrels, Giant Petrels and Southern Fulmars. We also saw a loan skua, and a young Arctic Tern making its way south from the northern hemisphere. In the morning we spied some Humpback Whales moving south to the rich feeding grounds of Antarctica. In the morning the Captain invited passengers to the bridge for a visit. All were impressed with the technological sophistication of the Fram.

In the evening we joined Capt. Andreassen for his traditional farewell Captain's Dinner. It was a fine way to close what was a memorable voyage. Now we start to think about packing, leaving the ship and returning home in time for Christmas.

Mainland Antarctica - Almirante Brown and Neko Harbour

This morning we arrived at Almirante Brown, the Argentine base located in the heart of Paradise Bay. Alas, the weather did not allow us to clearly see why it is called Paradise Bay: the fog and snow were so thick we could only occasionally see the ship from the shore. However, the weather did not stop us from climbing the 120 metres to the top of the hill behind the base. From atop, we did manage to get a glimpse of the glaciers around us, and also of the bay. Most passengers decided to return to the landing spot the fun way – by sliding down the hill! At the landing spot, a juvenile leopard seal paid us a short visit.

Our second landing was at Neko Harbour, where the wind was also blowing hard and the snow falling fast. It was interesting to see the gentoo penguins cope with the storm, getting covered by snow. Although the rookery at Neko Harbour is a gentoo one, we saw four chinstrap penguins in the beach, mingling with the local inhabitants. A cruel irony was that the minute we finished our landing, the sun came out. This was not too bad, though, as it meant we had a beautiful sight of the Errera channel as we traversed it en route to the Gerlache Strait.

A true taste of Antarctica

After two days of calm, sunny weather, we awoke to high winds (25 m/s, 90 kph, 56 mph) and snow. This, and the ice in the Lemaire Channel made the navigation extremely difficult and our planned transit had to be postponed until lunch time, when conditions improved. There were still lots of icebergs, bergy-bits and brash ice in the channel, but the good ship Fram under the steerage of the Captain, made it through. Although the visibility was not the best, this is the way to see Antarctica- icy, windy and foreboding. It is not a complete Antarctic trip unless she reveals her darker side.

As we exited the Lemaire and entered the Penola Strait we could see a huge field of icebergs in the region of the French Passage. A towering, cathedral lay to the starboard side of our ship, one that we know has been in the same place for a least a month. At nearby Petermann Island, Charcot overwintered in his ship the Pourquoi-Pas? during the 1909 winter season. Across the strait was Mount Scott, 880m high and named after of course Robert Falcon Scott. This area is full of history!

The afternoon found us at the Ukrainian station of Akademik Vernadsky. In the past the station was owned by the British and called Faraday. It was a great visit as we got to see what it is actually like to live in Antarctica, and conduct research. The station houses the most southerly bar in the world and serves up an apparently pretty good home-made vodka, called Horilka in the Ukraine. Note the station skuas peering through the window opposite!

Our surprise of the day was that we were able to run our special Polar Cirkel boat cruises in the Lemaire Channel from one end to the other with the Fram bringing up the rear! We had planned to do this in the morning but the weather conditions did not allow it. Sixty lucky passengers won the draw to purchase this very special excursion, and it was indeed an incredible experience. The light from the low angled sun through the channel, filtered and coloured by the mist and low cloud. It was quite literally one of those experiences that will stay with us for the rest of our days on this good Earth. We saw both sides of Antarctica today.

Cuverville Is. and Port Lockroy

Today we awoke to a gloriously sunny day, which meant the approach to Cuverville Island was spectacular: this tiny island is hugged by the bigger Ronge Island, and both have the massive mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula behind them. Basically, the peninsula is a gigantic collection of jagged peaks surging perpendicularly out of the sea, all smothered under thick, deep-blue glaciers. Thus, the sight is fabulous.

But apart from the views, Cuverville Is. is teaming with gentoo penguins, and we all had a good chance to look at them during our landing. We spent the morning watching them go back and forth from the colonies to the cobbled beach through their penguin highways; and also saw as the partners greeted and recognized each other before taking turns at incubating the eggs.

After lunch, we sailed south through the Gerlache strait and the Neumayer channel, and arrived at Port Lockroy at 16:00 hrs. We visited the gentoo penguins and blue-eyed cormorants on neighbouring Jougla Point. After having been awed by the powerful jets flowing out of the penguins’ rear end, we tried to capture the defecation process in photos – we basically became pooparazzi! Here’s the fruit of our labours….

land-ho

After a misty but calm day on the Drake Passage the sun came out as we approached the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica- a welcome sight after two days as sea. In the distance to the port side we could see Snow Island, and behind, Livingston Island. The sun reflected off their snow-capped peaks, clearly and beautifully defining them against the deep-blue sky. Outside, near the ship danced Cape and Antarctic Petrels as they followed us to their homes, flying over porpoising Chinstrap Penguins on their way to our destination today of Deception Island. This is the way to be introduced to the Last Continent! You can sense the anticipation amongst those of us who have never visited these parts, and certainly see the building excitement in people's eyes.

We made Deception Island by 1830h and as we entered Whaler's Bay from Neptune's Bellows, a flock of Cape Petrels, which breed on the Deception cliffs, took off from the water in a splendid display. Our landing started at about 1900h and we were thrilled with what Deception had to offer- penguins, both Chinstraps and Gentoos, feeding Cape Petrels, breeding skuas, Kelp Gulls and Antarctic Terns, and a lone Weddell Seal. And all of this was to be seen in stunning light as the sun set behind the hills to the west of us. Some of us climbed up the hill behind the aircraft hanger where we viewed the better part of the whole of Whaler's Bay from that vantage point. Other adventurous souls chose to end their landing with a dip in the icy waters (about 0° C/32° F) of the bay. The last Polar Cirkle boat got back to the ship by 2315h. We are all tired but satisfied with a marvelous day!

Drake Passage

After a bumpy night, we awoke to a rather tempestous morning in the Drake Passage. Oddly, despite the high winds, not many birds were flying around Fram. This, plus the fact that the outside of the ship was cold and very damp meant that not many people ventured out in the morning.

Luckily, around noon the sea calmed down a lot and the sun started shining through the clouds. With sunshine came fabulous seabirds! We were first treated to flocks of agile Cape petrels and erratic prions, difficult to photograph because of their incredibly rapid flight pattern, just inches above the water.

Later came a majestic southern giant petrel, that circled the back of the ship so close, that John Chardine managed to get a portait on which you can count the feathers on its head. The highlight of the day must be the light-mantled sooty albatrosses that approached the ship in a group of five. Seeing just one of these gracious birds is a treat - watching a group of them manouver over the waves was breathtaking!

Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel

The Fram arrived to the port of Ushuaia early this morning. Yesterday's Drake Passage crossing was a little rough but as soon as we entered the channels between the islands near Cape Horn, the water smoothed out nicely.

Upon arrival, the weather in Ushuaia was cold, wet and windy but by noon the sun came out and showed off the mountains around this most southerly city in the world. Changeable conditions like this are very typical of weather in this place.

Our new passengers arrived in the late afternoon and are now settled in their cabins or enjoying the views from the outer decks. Blue jackets were chosen and passengers attended their mandatory lifeboat drill after supper. As the aft propellers started to churn the water, we were away from the dock and heading to Antarctica! Now we are sailing out of the Beagle Channel and the water is nice and smooth. The hills on the shoreline are clad with Southern Beech, which gives a special fragrance to the fresh air in this sparsely populated region. Behind, the mountains are still snow covered even though we are approaching summer.

After the tumultous night...

Yesterday we had seen the weather forecast that a weak low pressure system would be positioned in front of us in the Drake Passage as we sailed north. Once we reached it, however, we realized how strong the system was. In the late evening the Fram started plowing into the oncoming waves and the movement inside could be felt by all of us as we tried to get some sleep. The ship pitched up and down and rolled through the night with a peak at about 2am, with hurricane force winds and waves as high as 15m or almost 50ft. Despite this, the good ship Fram weathered the storm very well and only a few glasses were broken! Many feel that it was important to experience the Drake Passage in this, its characteristically fierce form, and to really understand why the Southern Oceans have such a reputation. By the way, no image can convey the angry, indiscriminate look of the sea on days like this.

Regardless of the short sleep, our lectures and slide shows were attended by many of our fatigued but happy passengers. After the supper we sighted the first land of this great South American Continent, although we were too far away to see the famous Cape Horn. As this is the last night on the ship, we have the sad task of packing suitcases in preparation for returning home tomorrow.

And finally, a word about our Expedition Team on board. We work long hours in incredible places and hugely enjoy our jobs. We quickly get to know each other as family. After a few cruises under our belts it is now time for some to leave the ship for another year and return home. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to Petra, Verena and Rudolf. Those who are staying will miss them, softened only by thoughts of reuniting next year in this most special part of the world. Verena is one of the writers of this blog and you know her through her words and pictures. Hasta pronto to all.

A quiet day on the Drake

After our tremendous adventures in Antarctica, we took time today to rest and reflect on what we have seen, heard and smelled (!) over the last few days. It has truly been a trip of a lifetime for us, even the seasoned veteran Antarctic travelers amongst the staff on-aboard. One major highlight was witnessing a family of Orcas hunting a forlorn Crabeater Seal on an ice-floe near Cuverville Island. We can't help but publish another image on today's blog of this event which is still fresh in our minds. Another highlight was the consistently calm weather and warm conditions we experienced on all of our landings, particularly after the ferocious Drake day we experienced approaching Antarctica.

As is usual in this part of the world, our constant companions were the Cape Petrels, Southern Fulmars and Giant Petrels; tomorrow as we plough farther north, we will see the icons of these waters, the albatrosses. Unusual today was the large number of Antarctic Petrels that stayed with us. They used the wind drafts created by the Fram to glide forward, wings motionless except for the almost imperceptible, twitching corrections they made to stay on course.

This morning passengers had a chance to see the bridge with expert commentary provided by our Capt. Andreassen. As seems to be almost routine now, some Humpback Whales appeared to one side of the ship, and provided a small interlude in our visit. Later in the day the same captain hosted his farewell dinner for all of us.

Deception and Half Moon

Our landing locations today in the South Shetland Islands were very different places. Deception Island (morning landing) is a active volcano and Half Moon Island (afternoon), though volcanic in origin, is part of the geological system of the South Shetland Islands. Deception last erupted in the late 1960s and forced the evacuation of personnel based on the island.

We experienced fantastic weather today with very little wind and bright conditions. Deception Island was spectacular. We walked the chocolate-brown sand beach, hiked up the hill behind the hanger, investigated the remains of the old Norwegian whaling station and British Base B buildings, and watched at 100s of Cape Petrels fed on amphipods along the shoreline of Whalers Bay. Antarctic Terns and Kelp Gulls were nesting in a few places, and skuas, many ringed, were seen bathing behind the whaling station. To top this all off, the tide was very low during our landing, which allowed the hot springs from the volcano to flow down the beach and mix with the 0° water in the bay. This was welcomed by the many Antarctic swimmers we had today, who braved the waters for a quick dip.

After a 3h reposition we found ourselves at Half Moon Island. Weather conditions were perfect for landing (unlike a few days ago as we came south) and we found the local inhabitants- the Chinstrap Penguins- to be rapidly filling each nest with 2 greenish-white eggs. On the landing beach were greeting by a young Elephant Seal and two Weddell Seals. As the sun faded in the early evening the Wilson's Storm-Petrels started to leave their burrows and fly around the island.

A glorious day in Antarctica

The weather has stayed fine for this our second day in Antarctica. Our day started with a transit of the beautiful Lemaire channel. Another 40 minutes of sailing brought us to Petermann Island, our first landing site of the day. The small island is home to Adelie and Gentoo Penguins, as well as Blue-eyed Shags, but it is also a spectacular location on the Panola Strait, with Mount Scott on the mainland opposite.

Over lunch we sailed north back through the Lemaire channel on our way to our second destination of the day, the Argentinean base Almirante Brown, which is located on the mainland of Antarctica. A highlight for many willing to climb the 120m hill behind the base was the fast descent on our bottoms as we slid down the snow-covered slope.

In the evening we were treated to golden light as the sun slowly set. The ice covered mountainous shores of the Errera channel glowed. Waters in the channel were calm which created spectacular, mirror-like reflections.

Are you sitting down?

We ask because we have an incredible experience to share with you!

After a great landing at Cuverville Island, Antarctica, in calm and warm conditions we all returned to the ship to reposition to Port Lockroy for the afternoon. During lunch, the bridge called down to our Expedition Leader, Karin, with a report of Orcas ("Killer Whales") off to the port of the ship. Within seconds the dining room had cleared with everyone frantically running to retrieve their cameras and rush to deck 5.

As we arrived on deck, we realised that we were witnessing a once in a lifetime event. A Crabeater Seal was lying on a small ice floe about 100m from the ship, while a family of 5 Orcas attempted to wash the seal off the ice floe. The way they did this was amazing to watch because it was clear to us that they were communicating with each other and coordinating the hunt perfectly. The family of Orcas quickly approached the ice floe together, side-by-side and at the surface, creating a huge wave that again and again washed the seal into the sea. Every time this happened we expected the seal to be lost but instead it would quickly jump back up on the ice floe. This chase lasted for over an hour, and we were lucky to witness the whole event because our captain stopped the ship for us. After many attempts, the seal was finally lost and the Orcas had a small lunch, which they shared with some skuas and storm-petrels which flew in to pick up the remnants. We suspected that the adult Orcas in the family were teaching the young ones how to hunt seals this way and so let the seal return to the ice floe time and time again. Had they been hunting in earnest, the seal would likely have been taken quickly.

We are all still reeling from this event and cannot believe how lucky and privileged we were to be at the right place at the right moment. To help with our memories we estimate that at least 50,000 images were made by our passengers over the course of the hour we spent on deck 5!