A swell day

Our morning started early and our landing at Bongrain Point was swell – meaning we had large swells at the landing site and the waves produced sufficient surge that required four Expedition Stall to hold the Polarcirkle boats while we loaded and unloaded. By now everyone is now experienced in landing ashore and re-loading the boat for the trip back to the FRAM. One of us timed the events and it took only 1 minute and 10 seconds from the time the Polarcirkle boat touched the shore and unloaded passengers until the boat was re-loaded with 8 passengers returning to FRAM.

As we walked along the cobble beach we encountered Adelie penguins. While some were adult birds others were this seasons chicks and though they clustered near the waves they appeared not quite sure if they should enter the waves and try to swim and feed instead of begging from parents. We noticed an additional threat to the penguins as an exceptionally large leopard seal was on patrol just offshore from the landing site.    

 During lunch the Captain moved the FRAM toward our afternoon landing at the British Antarctic Survey Station - ROTHERA. David Wattam the Logistics Director of the Station, came on-board and gave and us an introduction to the station and its ongoing research programs. To organize our tour of the station we formed into seven groups with staggered tour times and routes. Each group was led by a person from the Station and we toured the field equipment warehouse, the aquarium and the post office and shop. The shop had more polo shirts and pull-overs to offer than we expected and we did our best to buy more than a few items from this seldom visited, remote location that receives only two Expedition Ships like the FRAM each year. In exchange for our welcome and the station tours the FRAM Officers and Expedition Staff were pleased to welcome on-board the FRAM, the Station Leader Mike Brian and most fortunately our afternoon at Rothera coincided with the on-site visit by Professor Jane Francis the Director of the British Antarctic Survey.

 The FRAM was docked at the wharf near the end of the runway. An incoming Twin-Otter aircraft was expected shortly and the FRAM moved promptly away from the wharf to afford the aircraft a clear landing pattern. With much waving and cheering we motored away carrying with us the hope that the FRAM will be invited to re-visit this world-class Research Station.

 Today was a swell day first in terms of the oceanographic use of the word and secondly in terms of the hospitality we received.    

Exploring abandoned bases

Our transit southbound along the west side of Adelaide Island was rock and roll as we had winds up to 20-26m/s or about 45 mph. The winds were from generally from behind the FRAM, there were quite a few bergy-bits and growlers around the ship and as a result the anti-roll stabilizer wings could not be deployed. No stabilizers and occasional seas up to 10m or 33ft caused us to roll quite a bit until about 1am when the FRAM headed east into Marguerite Bay.

 By breakfast time we were headed north toward our first stop at Stonington Island. This was not to be as there was a considerable amount of ice and strong winds at the anchorage site. Our alternative plan then became to head for Horseshoe Island our “planned” second stop. On the way there two lectures were offered: one on penguins and humans which focused on the not always accurate ways penguins are depicted in cartoons, advertising and movies. The 2d lecture covered the species of whales that we have seen in Antarctic waters and their ecology including their migration routes and food sources.

Our afternoon was as planned in that we landed at Horseshoe Island. The horseshoe shaped bay contained quite a bit of floating sea ice and grounded bergy-bits. This bay contains several shallow areas with rocks that are notorious for eating propellers and lower units of outboard motors. The combination of all the bay ice and the tricky course changes kept the Polarcirkle boat drivers on their toes all afternoon. Also because of all the ice in the bay, our landing was across the bay from the station buildings, right near the lounging Leopard seal.

On shore it was about a kilometer stroll around the back bay to the restored station buildings. Originally called Falkland Island Dependencies Survey Base Y when established in 1955 the station closed 5 years later. During its active years the station focused on geologic and topographic mapping plus weather observations. We need to obtain the local geologic maps as the area contains granites, lavas and a nearby volcanic mountain, but the timing and interaction of these rocks and the events associated with them is not known.  

The Base Y buildings were restored more than 50 years after the site was closed. Now it is a joy to tour the buildings and see how the station personnel lived. Notable were old cans of Spam and Marmite, and presumably these tasty treats have not lost their flavor over the last half century. As we left we noted from the station logbook that only one vessel had visited Horseshoe Island since the FRAM’s visit on January 2014.  

Heading South

Our southerly transit south toward Detaille Island took place during the night and our progress was slowed as we encountered several large patches of floating ice. Due to the delay we had the opportunity to insert two geology lectures, one in German and one in English. Wegener the German meteorologist figured out continental drift in the early part of the 20^th century but it was not until the 1960’s and later that seafloor spreading, mid ocean ridges and magnetic stripes provided the information that caused the scientific revolution in earth sciences.

Who should appear just before lunch but a growling King Neptune who announced that we had invaded his Kingdom. Neptune promised us grim sea conditions ahead as so far our weather had been much too pleasant. The King then proposed that by baptizing a few of us into his realm he might lessen his promise of bad weather. Several of us underwent the ritual dousing with ice water, and became subjects of King Neptune.

 

Our continued progress toward Detaille Island was enhanced as we were continually in sight of Minke whales, Humpback whales, Fin whales plus Leopard, Crabeater and Weddell seals. We arrived in sight of Detaille Island and there were several large icebergs grounded in front of the two landing sites. This led to the prudent decision to call off out landing at Detaille Island and head for Marguerite Bay.

Lectures on Antarctic marine life and ecology were presented to enhance our knowledge of the world we are been seeing in our travels. The course of our travels changed following the decision to abandon a landing at Detaille Island. The FRAM headed west then south to the open sea off the west coast of Adelaide Island. The sea here is strewn with a few large icebergs and lots of growlers and smaller bergy-bits. The winds were approaching the FRAM from the stern and picked up to storm force and the ocean swells reached more than 9m or 30 feet as the FRAM rolled along heading south for Marguerite Bay.

THE CONTINENT PLUS MUSEUM/SHOPPING AND PHOTOS GALORE

By about 08:00 our campers were back on-board the FRAM and while we all had breakfast the FRAM moved from Danco Island to Neko Harbor. This site is exceptional! Among the staff no matter how many landings one has done you always retain a wonderful memory of your first visit to Neko Harbor. Of course it is a landing on the Antarctic continent but most memorable is the view of the large crevassed glacier wall that is visible as we skirt the penguin colony. Also visible is the concrete floor of the Argentine emergency hut. The hut was to blown to pieces several years ago by either strong winds pouring down from the higher reaches of the continental glacier front or a very large seiche wave that formed by the calving of a large chunk of the glacier. A year or so after the destruction an Argentinian patrol returned to the site and removed most of the debris.

The Gentoo penguin colony was very active with many large chicks demanding to be fed by their resident parent. The climb to the left around the colony and up-hill gave us an incredible view of the glacier front and from the top-most part of the colony we could look over Andvord Bay with the FRAM below and several feeding whales.

Above the top of the Gentoo colony the Expedition Staff flagged a trail to the rock outcrop and from here, those of us who made the trek, had a spectacular view of the glacier front, the Bay and the three or four mountain ranges in the distance.

While most of us were ashore our Polarcirkle boat cruisers roamed sunny Andvord Bay cruising a safe distance off the calving ice front of the glaciers. During the excursion they also observed  Humpback whales feeding on krill plus sightings of Crabeater, Weddell and Leopard seals.

Returning back on-board we had a sunny transit through Neumayer Strait to Port Lockroy. Our landing at Port Lockroy was challenging as it was low tide and there was quite a surge by the waves at the rocky landing site. But now we are experienced in disembarking the Polarcirkle boats and everyone made it safely ashore. Had this been our first landing, disembarking would have been quite a challenge.

Port Lockroy is a restored research site and we were able to see and photograph the research equipment and radios as well as the types of types of canned food the scientists had to eat. In the 50’s and 60’s the canned food was often “enhanced” with cooked penguin meat. The recipes for cooking penguin include adding spices galore but even then the results were memorable and far below three or four star cuisine. At the store we made our share of purchases with the benevolent knowledge that the profits from the shopping will be used by the Antarctic Heritage Trust to maintain and restore bases and buildings for future visitors to experience the conditions under which the original personnel lived and worked.

Then the day turned spectacular. We transited Lemaire Channel at the sun was setting and the full moon was rising. The light, the clouds, the snow fields and the moon all changed as the light faded. No sense writing and wasting words, just look at the accompanying photos by our photographer, Dominic Barrington.    

Penguinville

Cuverville Island was our morning stop and the Gentoo penguin colonies were rampant with squawking chicks. There were so many adults and chicks at the colonies that we started calling it Penquinville.

Our afternoon and evening was spent at Danco Island. Again these rookeries were rampant with chicks, in fact bigger, probably older, chicks than we saw earlier in the day at Cuverville Island.

The north side of the Island is an array of penguin highways and the busy little creatures were plodding upward while a few slid down toward the water on their bellies. Sometime when watching the penguins come from the sea and take 100’s maybe 1000’s of their small penguin steps up to the nest and chick, one has to wonder does it take more energy, in calories, to climb the hillside than the bird obtains by feeding on krill in the sea. But clearly there remains food and energy for the rapidly growing chicks.

Our Polarcirkle boat cruisers were treated to close-up view of a pod of Humpback whales feeding on swarm of krill. In addition there were several Leopard seals were sighted both in the sea and on ice-floes.

Tonight is a camp-out night. We started by going ashore through some beach boulders and carrying our sleeping bags. This was accomplished without any trouble as we are now well experienced as we keeping our balance in moving from the Polarcirkle boats to the aluminum steps to the wet rocks to the beach. Setting up the tents and placing the floor insulating mats went quickly and after a ‘good-bye’ briefing from Karin the Expedition Leader. We were free to crawl into our tents and unroll our sleeping bags for as much rest and sleep as the wind whipping the tents would allow.    

DECEPTION DAY

Overcast and fog clouded our passage through the Neptunes Bellows entrance to interior of Deception Island. The Bellows is a narrow slot, only 200m or 660ft wide. In the center of the Bellows opening, not far below the sea surface is Raven Rock. To avoid this hazard to navigation the FRAM stays close to the northern cliff wall as it passes through the Bellows. Inside the Bellows we are in the waters of Port Foster, this large bay-like body of water is the flooded center area of the huge volcano that is Deception Island. The volcano underwent a violent eruption in pre-historic time and following the eruption and the center part of the volcano collapsed and seawater flooded in creating the large bay-like feature that today we recognize as Port Foster.

The overcast lingered all day but that did not cause us to modify our planned activities. Our morning started a Polarcirkle boat trip into Stancomb Cove and from there we climbed to the rim of the nearby cinder cone and some of us made it to the top of the adjacent hill. While this activity was underway, the geologic aficionados went on a Polarcirkle boat tour along the coastline visiting several locations where glacial and volcanic processes were visible. Winds picked up in the course of this trip and everyone returned to the FRAM wet and smiling.

Our afternoon at Whalers Bay had several activities. Two groups set out to hike to the large Chinstrap penguin colony at Baily Head. Patchy fog and dense low clouds caused one group to turn back while the other group of hikers had a bit clearer time of it and they made it to the colony before returning to our landing site.

Others of us toured the ruins of the Norwegian whaling station and the buildings of the former British base “B”.  

 During the course of our afternoon at Whalers Bay about two dozen people ran into the chilly waters and thus earned Antarctic swimming certificates. 

Wildlife on the ice – That’s just nice

We spent our morning in Mikkelsen Harbor, on Trinity Island. The expedition team needed a while to find a good landing place for us as we had low tide and lots of big rocks next to the landing side. But of course we managed it to land and we can only say: it was fantastic. A little bay we had to pass through before we could see the penguins, was covered with little ice blocks coming from a calving glacier next bay. We reached the penguin colony walking over soft and melting snow layers. It was wonderful. All the chicks in different ages, fed by their parents, we did not expect to be so in the middle of the wildlife.

All passengers got the opportunity for a 30 minutes boat cruise with our little PolarCircleboats in Cierva Cove in the afternoon. It was amazing to be in the middle of the ice, looking for seals – and we found several Leopard seals – and even two Minke whales. Especially in the later evening the light became marvellous.

The day ended with a show done by several Humpback whales. They stayed next to the ship for nearly one hour. A big thank you to our Captain Arild that he slow down the engine so that we could have this unique experience. How many people on earth can say that they have seen a whale fluke in the orange and golden line of an amazing sunset? 

LUCKY US!

The weather gods continued to treat us kindly, with following seas and winds as we gently rolled along on our way to the South Shetland Islands and our first Antarctic landing. While the sea conditions on our crossing have been very good, the number of sea-birds accompanying the FRAM has been minimal. Only a few Cape Petrels and a single Albatross, have been with us. Our ornithologist, Manuel and the rest of our bird-watchers expect more sightings as we approach the South Shetland Islands.

Early morning began with vacuuming. The goal of the vacuuming is to keep invasive plants and pest species out of Antarctica. Our part in this program is to vacuum our used outer garments that we will wear ashore. Our vacuuming focuses on the pockets and Velcro-straps to remove any seeds and other material that should not be transported and transplanted in Antarctica.

Later in the morning our lecture program began with introductory lectures in English and German. Topics covered included the penguin species we may see and their behaviour and an overall summary of the political and geographic status of Antarctica.

 At about 4pm or 1600 expectations were running high as we approached our first landing site on the offshore Shetland Islands at Yankee Harbor on Greenwich Island. Brisk winds were blowing from the North but the south and west reaching gravel beach protected our landing spot. As a result the boat rides inbound – southbound were smooth and dry. After our landing the Polarcirkle boat rides back out the FRAM were far from smooth and far from dry. As we had been forewarned we stored our cameras away and none were drowned by the salt spray.

Concerning the landing the Expedition Staff gave us a heads-up that the first landing always goes a bit slower as we have to get on our outer-gear and life jackets. Also it is our first time getting in the PolarCirkle boats and out at the shoreline. All of these activities are new to us but the Staff knows that by the second or third landing we will be experienced-old hands at going ashore.

On shore at Yankee Harbor the sun continued to shine and the wind continued to blow. But our walk along the lower slopes of the volcanic island took us to Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguin colonies. Some of the Gentoo’s had brown chicks that were both muddy and wet. Along the gravel beaches we saw Weddell and fur seals. Overhead we were circled by Skua Gulls, Giant Petrels and Antarctic terns.

Our day ended with the fashion show. The models were the ships officers and the Expedition Staff. Needless to say Ralph Lauren will not be calling them for his next Paris runway show. The Norwegian sweaters and other clothes are another story, as even Ralph would be jealous of their colors and warmth.      

An easy sea day

Last evening near midnight we turned out of the protected waters of Beagle Channel into the infamous Drake Passage. At that time most of were sound asleep as our day had started far earlier and for many of us in cities far away. On awakening we became aware that the FRAM, that our new steel home, was rolling gently in response to the seas and winds. The sea conditions approached the ship from behind –the stern - and as a result our first day at sea was a relatively calm and easy start.

Our first full day at sea was full of briefings and fittings. We had two briefings one was mandatory if you want to go ashore in Antarctica. Naturally we all attended and learned the rules and practices that we need to follow in accordance with the regulations of the Norwegian government and of Hurtigruten the owner of the FRAM. IAATO is the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators and Hurtigruten and the other members of this organization have set the rules, for example: no more than 100 passengers ashore as a times and when near penguins and their colonies, stay at least 15 feet or 5 meters distant. The second briefing covered the several extra activities: for example kayaking and camping, that will be available for small numbers of people as our trip advances.

There were also 2 fittings: at the first we received our water-proof and wind-proof Hurtigruten  jackets and at the second we were fitted for the insulated rubber boots that we will wear on our shore excursions.

By nightfall, a bit after 10pm or 2200 we were close to the mid-point in our, relatively smooth and easy crossing of Drake Passage.