James Ross Island, Weddell Sea

We arrived in the Weddell Sea, and yet again, experienced beautiful sunny weather. We made such good progress on account of the lack of ice, we arrived in the vicinity of Snow Hill at around 8:00 to be greeted by eight nautical miles of sea ice encircling the island. We scouted the edge of the pack, but were unable to find a way through to make a landing on Snow Hill. Instead, we landed on a lava-strewn beach on James Ross Island and proceeded to explore our rugged surroundings.

Our geologists informed us that the volcano that formed the island erupted underneath a glacier. A short hike brought us to the top of the island, and the view was truly spectacular –we could see the pack ice around Snow Hill as well as large tabular icebergs on the horizon. It was like we were standing on another planet.
The Fram continued on her way through the Antarctic Sound at the head of the Weddell Sea, passing a large number of tabular icebergs. We were in a state of constant amazement at the shapes, colors and patterns displayed by the ice -- it was as if giants had been at work sculpting these mountains of ice with a hammer and chisel. The sunlight played amid crevasses and fissures in the ice, casting shades of blue and turquoise. Due to the extremely nice weather, many passengers spent time on deck basking in the sun and gazing at the wonderful Antarctic scenery.
The day ended with soft light, the ship still surrounded by an endless number of tabular icebergs – everywhere we looked, there was ice, ice and more ice. Antarctica begins with ice and ends with ice.

Elephant Island and Gibbs Island

A fantastic way to begin the first day of the New Year. Very early in the morning we arrived at Point Wild on Elephant Island, an historic site where Sir Ernest Shackleton’s crew was forced to overwinter, living in miserable conditions underneath two overturned lifeboats. The ‘Boss’ meanwhile, sailed 800 miles in a 22 foot lifeboat seeking rescue from the Norwegian whalers on South Georgia Island – a true epic of exploration. The spit of land that comprised Point Wild was extremely small and open to the elements– it is amazing to consider the fact that no lives were lost on Shackleton’s expedition.

The weather gods continued to favor us. The Fram sailed to smaller Gibbs island located adjacent to Elephant Island. Our Polar Cirkle boats cruised amid towering icebergs and along the jagged shoreline. Icicles clung to rocks high on the cliffs. Chinstrap penguins crowded the beach, coming and going into the water. One lone macaroni penguin, with its distinctive yellow feathering, was mixed in with the chinstraps.

Leopard seals with massive jaws full of teeth patrolled offshore seeking unlucky penguins for food. Southern giant petrels, scavengers of the skies, flew overhead. In the evening, we observed many whales blowing columns of steam into the air. It was a glorious ending to a perfect day in Antarctic waters.

Blue moon in the Scotia Sea

Today all day sailing on the Scotia Sea – luckily we experienced calm seas with gentle swells and no wind. The passengers had tours of the bridge, where we learned the intricate inner workings of our vessel. Captain Hansen patiently answered questions for several hours. Large tabular icebergs appeared on the horizon, many of them followed by a trail of smaller chunks of ice. This indicated we are getting close to the white continent.

Many seabirds followed the Fram, including stately albatross soaring on outstretched wings, smaller pintado petrels, fulmars, antarctic prions and the Antarctic petrel. Bird watching was conducted on the upper decks. Also, today was a blue moon – only experienced every two to three years. This is two full moons in one calendar month. We were lucky to witness this unique lunar phenomenon here in the Scotia Sea.

The afternoon continued with various lectures about the geology, history and biology of the southern ocean and Antarctica. In the evening, we celebrated New Year´s Eve, this the very last day of 2009. A big Happy New Year to our many friends and families back home!