Adios Ushuaia

Between 4 and 5 pm we boarded the FRAM. It was an overcast and breezy day in Ushuaia and at the pier it was a busy day as ships lined both sides of the pier. Before leaving the pier the FRAM held its mandatory safety drill. We all went to our designated muster locations and were duly recorded as attending. We then gathered in smaller groups to listen for instructions that would be given in an emergency and we were able to watch crew member demonstrate by putting on the survival suits. By dinner time we were motoring eastward on the noted Beagle Channel and from our tables we were looking at the cloud covered mountain ridges that border both sides of the Channel.  

About 3 hours after leaving Ushuaia we passed the Puerto Williams. To Chilean’s this is the southernmost town in the world, while to Argentinian’s Ushuaia is the southernmost town and Puerto Williams is only a village or military base..

At the eastern end of the Beagle Channel we dropped off the Argentinian channel-pilot that had guided the FRAM from Ushuaia. Now we would be turning south, leaving the Channel and heading into the open waters of the infamous Drake Passage. Stay tuned as by tomorrow we will report was it “Drake-lake” or “Drake-shake”??    

Experience of a trainee

Being a geographer and an alpinist from Switzerland I have been fascinated not only by high altitudes but also by high latitudes. Having been to different places in arctic areas (e.g. Greenland, Svalbard, Iceland…) I felt that it was time to change the hemisphere and to take a closer look at Antarctica! In the late october 2013 I boarded the FRAM for the first time – as a passenger, crosssing the Altlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Buenos Aires and further on to the Falklands, South Georgia and to the Antarctic Peninsula.

Aboard the FRAM I met a great team of scientists: biologists, geologists – and geographers. On the way back from the Antarctic Peninsula to Ushuaia I seized the occasion to talk to the expedition leader and to some members of the expedition team – and they encouraged me to apply for a job aboard – and so I did.

I recieved an offer to join the expedition team as a trainee for this trip. As a resuIt I came aboard of the FRAM on the 22^th of January 2015 – this time as a member oft he expedition team!

The welcome by the team was very friendly, and I felt that the team accepted me and the other trainee colleague Christine from Norway right from the beginning. I was aware that it would be very different to work on the ship as a staff member. I knew it would be a great experience and I did want to miss this opportunity.

Of course, my colleagues laughed a bit at the greenhorn, who was not able to say if the Seal on the ice flow was a Leopard Seal or a Wedell Seal – or was it a Crab eater??? But I was here to learn and to increase my experiences. Anyway, I always got profund answers to my questions.

It also was a great pleasure to have my first lectures aboard and I highly apreciated the contact with the passagers, who were very interested in all topics about this unique area that we were visiting!

Many thanks to the Expedition Leader Karin and to her staff of the expedition team, to the officers and all other crew of the ship and to all passengers!

Fair winds to all of you – I hope to be back aboard again!

Drake northward day 1

As we transit northward across Drake Passage we have a very acceptable ride. The FRAM  is  rolling slowly and only a few degrees from side to side as we move along. It is easy going as nearly all of us have our “sea-legs” by now.

Today and tomorrow are the days for bridge tours with Captain Arild Haarvik giving a short introduction then answering questions from the passengers.

The expedition staff was busy today and will be busy tomorrow giving lectures on various topics from wintering at an Antarctic station to productivity of the Antarctic ecosystem to the workings of the Antarctic Treaty.

 There was a crew drill this afternoon was between a break in the lecture series. Normally the Expedition Staff stays out of the crews way as these safety drills tale place. That was not the case today, as four of us were staffers were selected to be fake casualties for treatment by the ship’s crew plus the ship’s doctor and nurse. All went well as those of us who were ‘injured’ were quickly located and transported some by stretcher to the temporary medical center on deck 5.

The evening closed with the Expedition Staff answering giving short talks and questions from the passengers assembled in our 7^th deck lounge. During the evening the seas and wind increased and tomorrow may be a bumpy day, but late tomorrow afternoon we expect to be in the semi-protected waters near Cape Horn. Then it is on to Beagle Channel and picking up an Argentinian pilot for the transit to Ushuaia and eventually to our homes.    

The full course menu

This morning at Petermann Island we planned the full course menu as in addition to a scheduled landing we had a Polarcirkle boat cruise and kayaking. The Polarcirkle boat cruising was “Cruising with the Chiefs” as the Polarcirlke boats were driven by the Chief Officer, from the bridge, the Chief Officer from the Engine Room and the Chief Purser. The Chiefs touring was very good as, from a safe distance, we saw glaciers calving and icebergs as they tumbled over. We also had Leopard seals and Minke whales close by. The kayaking group included many people who were on their second or third kayak trip with us. We circled about two-thirds of the island and in the course of our paddling we felt very small compared to the grounded icebergs in the south-facing bay.

On shore we could walk in two directions, the left direction took us to the south facing overlook where we saw the bay that was nearly filled with grounded icebergs. The distant horizon was dotted with many other icebergs. The right hand direction took us near the Gentoo penguin colony and farther on we reached the Adelie penguin colony and the adjacent, but smaller Blue-eyed Shag nesting area.

Our northern transit took us through Lemaire Channel, then Gerlach Channel to Paradise Bay where we passed by the Argentinian Base “Almirante Brown” and the Chilean Base “Gabriel Gonzalez Videla”. Notably in 1948, the Chilean President Videla was the first head of State to visit Antarctica. In the course of our several transits we saw many feeding Minke whales, a few Orcas and so many seals or “hot-dogs” that our bridge lookouts stopped calling attention to them.

Dinner time conversations were interrupted as we spotted breaching Minke whales. Most of us crowded to the port side dining room windows to see this spectacular whale show. This was a fitting closure to our Expedition as we motored northward with the sun shining on a large tabular iceberg and the Melchior Islands in the distance.  

Surrounded by ice

Our rousing sendoff from Rothera Station faded in FRAM’s wake as we proceeded northward under overcast skies with large icebergs in the distance. Morning lectures in both German and English focused on seals the species we encounter and their unique physiology that allows them to survive and dive in the cold Antarctic waters.

Around lunchtime we arrived at the Fish Islands where we intended for some of us to go kayaking and others to land and visit the Adelie penguin colony. An exploration trip along the coast found an unbroken jumble of hard glacier ice surrounding the island. Both of our potential landing spots for our Polarcirkle boats were ice clogged and there was no small landing site for kayak operations. Our plan then changed to Polarcirkle boat cruising, for all of us, among the growlers and small icebergs. We cruised along the ice front and we could clearly see that there was no way we could get through the shoreline ice as it was 200 meters or yards wide. Our transit along the ice front was quite colorful as there were several large bergy bits that were ice-blue. Often the surfaces of these blue pieces were sculpted in an irregular fashion due to wave and wind action. There were two types of other ice, the plain white glacier ice as small icebergs and a few pieces or flat pans of sea ice that were leftover from last winter. As we motored along among the striking ice forms, we encountered a few crab-eater seals, a couple of Adelie penguins and single fur seal.

The day closed as we began our northbound transit toward Petermann Island.    

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.